out there, on the edge of the prairie

I encountered a very large man along the ride today.

The great prairies and pine forests of Minnesota are his home, over which he seems to look with pride. That's where we are, Hinckley, Minnesota, in the east-central portion of the state. Things have flattened out again, and we are now somewhere in the range of tall prairie grass to even taller pine trees (we are in Pine County, after all). Hinckley is one of those small midwestern towns that only people like Garrison Keillor ever tell you about. Though beset with economic troubles, the town still seems to maintain an inflated sense of itself, most visibly by means of the Grand Casino, a flashy steel frame standing amidst arguably more pervasive rural poverty.

I have to make this one quick, as the library is closing in 5 minutes, but I haven't posted anything in a while, so I suppose 'tis time. We had a great ride today, along a bike trail for 22 miles, and some nice wide shouldered roads. We were traveling north and east for most of the day, and of course there was an east wind. Probably the only day of the year the wind is out of the east, which also happened to be one of the few days we're actually travelling east. Figures.

Okay, gotta run, the librarian is kicking me out. We'll be riding to Duluth tomorrow, and staying for another day to build.