A few weeks (already ?) after, it is debriefing time.
First of all, I won’t give people names, in case they wouldn’t want it to be shared, but if you recognize yourself, please know that I want to thank every single person that hosted me, gave me the contact informations of people, looked for those contact informations, gave advices, cheered on me, or all those other (even very little) things I can’t remember about.
Before telling what happened, I have a few questions to answer.
- Why ?
- Plane tickets cost a lot of money, and I didn’t want to go to the USA “just” for unicon. I also have a custom frame made for unipacking, and even though it is also really good for road race, I wanted to use for its intended use.
- How did I choose the goal ?
- Since I didn’t want to have problems with my gear, I decided that my trip would start in Minneapolis, in order for me to let my stuff in the city, and just take what I needed for the trip. From there, I looked what was around Minneapolis. At first, I wanted to follow the Mississippi, but there was no end goal (maybe going all the way to New Orleans, but it isn’t a 1 week trip). But, there was a big city that was not too far, allowed me to follow the Mississippi for a while, and had trains to go back to Minneapolis. That is why I chose to go to Chicago.
- How did I choose the daily length ?
- I wanted to see as much of the US as possible, one week seemed like a good duration, and I wanted to stop around 4 pm max everyday. I also decided that I wanted to push myself and go “semi ultra” mode. So I said 100 to 130 km a day was a good amount (hard but not too much).
Now that the questions are answered, how was the trip? Let’s go for a day by day story (There is only seven of them, so it shouldn’t be too long).
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Day 1 : Minneapolis - Chicago - Jour 1 | Strava
I originaly planned on leaving Minneapolis at the south of the MSP airport, but the family which hosted me offered to drop me in a better part of the trip, which shortened the day and allowed me to start with a “warm-up day”.
I started by following the south side oh the Mississippi for 40ish km, until I reached Hastings, where I ate my first meal in a Mexican restaurant.
Then, I crossed the Mississippi, did a few km of trail, and reached the Highway 35. It was a 2 lane highway with a big shoulder and not that many things. It was really beautiful everytime there was an overview over the river. I stopped once in my first gas station of the trip (not the last though).
By the end of the day, I arrived in the first camping in Maiden Rock. I quickly installed my hammock and tarp, before realizing there was no shower. I could recharge my phone, ate something in the closest gas station and went to bed for a really bad night due to the wind, coldness and sweat. -
Day 2 : Minneapolis - Chicago - Jour 2 (correction d'erreur) | Strava
This was my longest day of the trip with 148 km. It started at 7 am with 90 km of highway 35 (the same one I followed for 50 km the previous day). After it, I arrived on a beautiful trail which I followed until Lacrosse. Once arrived in Lacrosse, I followed advices and went on grandad’s bluff. The climb was pretty hard with 140 km already on this day, but the view was worth it, and then I went to my hosts of the night place. The warm shower, good meal and real bed were heaven. -
Day 3 : Minneapolis - Chicago - jour 3 | Strava
On day 3, I followed the Elroy Sparat trail. It was not that memorable, except for the tunnels which were really beautiful, fresh and basically the highlights of the day. They are defintly a must go if you are close to them.
The most memorable of those tunnels was the first one. I was climbing a hill for quite some time, with a really hot weather (the day started with cold mist, but it heated really fast). And suddenly, I saw water on the side of the trail, and as I was thinking that it was really beautiful, the temperature dropped suddenly, mist appeared, and then the tunnel entrance appeared. I loved it. This day was 108 km long, on a lovely trail which only lacked view points. -
Day 4 : Minneapolis - Chicago - jour 4 | Strava
That was probably the worst day of the trip. It started with 30 km of trail, which was really great, and then it was backcountry roads with no shade, sun, and no gas stations. I ended up running out of water after 80 km, thankfully really close to the next gas station. It was also a pretty long day with 119 km, especially with the heat. I ended my trip in Madison for my second night being hosted (first one using warmshowers). -
Day 5:
At not so memorable day. I followed trails from Madison to Milwaukee with a lot of heat and humidity. I was extremely sweaty, and all my clothes were soaked with water for the first half of the day. I met a cyclist which I ended up riding with for like 10 km. I finnaly arrived at my hosts place after 137 km. -
Day 6 : Minneapolis - Chicago - jour 6 | Strava
During the previous night, there was a big storm, which flooded trails. The first one I came across had like 20 cm of water which made my feet wet, but it was not that bad. The second one was way worse. At first, it didn’t seem that bad, but at some point I had water above the hub, and couldn’t go back to the unflooded part of the trail. I ended up UPDing in the water.
After that, I followed the lake border without seeing it once. I also got a pretty bad fall on a uphill (a pedal unclipped and I fell on my knee before rolling on my back and sliding on my camelback).
I ended my day by arriving at some other unicyclists place. They were a bit far from the lake, and I had to follow a big highway which felt really unsafe. But they had access to a lake, which was a blessing. It was a 120 km day. -
Day 7 : Minneapolis - Chicago - jour 7 | Strava
Last and shortest day, with only 82 km. Not so memorable. There was quite a lot of trail, but also a lot of city. I enjoyed the lakefront trail, but there was too many people, which felt unsafe because of passings.
Overall, I loved this trip. It was 819 km long over 7 days.
If you have any question, feel free to ask