We have braved the seventh ring of retail purgatorio and ridden away unscathed, save for bruised pockets and battered baked goods consumed from infernal constructs such as Shake Shack and Great American Cookie Co.
Our rest day at the Mall of America (MoA) saw us blessed with more friends and family hospitality — delightful lunch of ramen, boba and gourmet chocolate with Mateo’s great aunt and uncle Linda and Kent followed by a surprise healthy homestyle dinner of cornbread, chicken, rice, beans and more from Roch’s family friend, Meredith, an experienced adventurer in her own right. We are so grateful to you all for the kindness and generosity so often shown to us. You can hear the morale shooting skyward like a bottle rocket after these encounters.
Today also saw us saying our final goodbyes to Dane. We then stared blankly at Google maps like Kubrick’s chimps before a monolith, ultimately grunting approval at our next destination, Wabasha.
Tomorrow we shall pedal 98 miles into temperatures hotter than HAL. Coincidentally, our mileage will also pass 2001, properly apace for our odyssey.
We’re now down to our core half dozen Trekkers: Emerson, Mateo, Noah, Oscar, Roch and Shaun. We miss all our friends who rode with us along the way and will carry your spirit over the cracks of Coney Island’s boardwalk and into its palm-lined, sapphire shores.
Time to stock up on morning sausages and tuck toast into our pocket protectors before this odyssey zips us out of the City of Lakes and back towards Ithaca. Adieu.