#acaNoTier Sauk Centre to Dalbo, 100 Miles | Another Century, This One Not a Gimme

Riding Stats

Accommodations

Route Tracker

We were still celebrating our second century ride of the trip from Pelican Rapids to Sauk Centre when we decided we’d shoot for another century the following day and ride to Dalbo, Minnesota for our last night in Minnesota.

Yep it was a stretch goal since it’s a bit challenging to ride two 100 mile rides in consecutive days, the winds were not in our favor and it was a bit hotter. But… it was a stretch and those are the most gratifying goals to hit.

We got up with the sun at 5am, quickly packed up and decided to get breakfast on the road. But that wasn’t before serving as a breakfast buffet for the campground mosquitos as we did our planks and pushups before leaving. Little pests!

By 6am we were back on our fave Woebegone Trail that was an offshoot of the Central Lakes Trail.

By 9 am we had 15 miles under our belts, tires pumped up, breakfast at Charlie’s Cafe and we even were able to get to Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Freeport, MN.

We said goodbye to trail cycling a little east of Bowlus and alas returned to the road.

Tom found a place to get a haircut and decided to go “all in” or rather “all off” and requested a “1” all over. He is even faster now with that extra weight dropped and improved aerodynamics.

We could tell when we were getting close to a new town when grain elevators, water towers or a clump of trees appeared. We were clicking off the towns until Dalbo but still, with heavy bikes, loaded bags and a headwind every time we turned south, it wasn’t a gimme.

We saw two cyclists from England riding coast to coast in the opposite direction, Alb and Bod and we stopped to chat. They confirmed our goal and said, “Oh you don’t want to miss the Bunkhouse.”

Per the usual we never know exactly where our campground or hostel is located. We were wondering if we’d missed it when Tom said let’s go up one more house. Sure enough we spied the sign for Donn’s Bicycle Bunkhouse.

And it did NOT disappoint. There is everything a bike traveller would want. You can tell it’s a passion for Donn and Sherry. Their home, the property and the hostel are indescribably hospitable in impeccably clean.

Bunkhouse bunkies included Dan and Emily, westbounders traveling from Boston to Banff, and Roger and Kyle eastbounders like us on the Northern Tier route. Then Doug showed up while he was out on his 170 mile ride. He decided to stay the night too. All good peeps!

In fact, The Bicycle Bunkhouse is so comfty and clean we might do first AND second breakfast here.

Looking forward to entering Wisconsin tomorrow!