49.1 miles/ +946.3 ft/ Total miles 1961.6
Later start today, due to driving back to Shafer from St Paul. The cloudless sky gave way to cumulus clouds, and the friendly clouds gave way to the big black clouds as the day went on. In the meantime, the wind blew most of the time, out of the northwest, and my route zigged and zagged, first heading north, then heading west, so I could compare which travel direction had the stronger headwind. At times, I was in the trees or for some other reason the wind would die down for a while and I could make some better headway.
After my lunch stop in Harris, the black cloud won out, and just as a squall hit me, I saw on open garage door at the house right where I was riding, and I headed for that. The squall went by in less than 10 minutes – not bad. The second time the rain got me was just as I pulled in to Dalbo, so I parked my bike and headed into the bar for a sandwich. Not bad. I rode the last mile from Dalbo during a break in the rain, so I never got seriously wet the whole day.
Best part of the day is my stopping point tonight: the Adventure Cyclists Bunkhouse on Hwy 42! The farmer here has converted the barn to a bunkhouse for cyclists, complete with a shower, kitchen, TV, wifi, food, coffee machine – everything a cyclist needs. Two west-to-east riders are here tonight too, and we are trading info on roads, places to stay, and other important intel.
The owner came over and introduced himself, and told us how the bunkhouse got started. In 2005, on a hot day, he saw two cyclists out front on the highway, pushing their bikes through the sand (road re-paving underway but not done). He asked if they needed any help, and they asked if they could camp on the lawn. He said sure, and they told him about Adventure Cycling and the Northern Tier route. Up until then, he didn’t even know his farm was right on the cross-country bike route.
He enjoyed meeting the cyclists and hearing their stories, and he later contacted Adventure Cycling and told them that cyclists would be welcome to camp on the lawn at his place. So Adventure Cycling put that info on the Northern Tier map, and in 2006, he had cyclists stopping by on a regular basis, which got to be quite a bit of trouble, because he had to let them into the house to use the bathroom and the shower. So he got the idea to put in a shower and an outhouse. Then some cyclists asked if it would be OK to camp inside the barn, which was full of stored equipment. So year by year, he cleared out the barn, built rooms inside, including on the upper floor, added the kitchen, put a couple of cots in the silo (which now has a door, windows, and a light! Next he is going to install a heater and air conditioner. Too amazing. In the silo, he has many photos of the bikers who have stopped by in the past few years.
There are a couple more of these cyclist camps/ bunkhouses, and my plan for tomorrow is to stop at one that’s about 45 miles from here. Both places were recommended to me by other cyclists.
What amazing generosity! The people you meet on a bike tour are just fantastic.
Judy's Bike Ride 2017 
Wow, that is the neatest thing that he’s done. Like you say – amazing and generous!