Detroit Lakes, MN to Mahnomen, MN

Monday, September 1, 2003
Road Miles: 35 miles
Total elevation gain: 210 feet

After we got off the train, we took our bicycles in the boxes into the train depot waiting room. The train station was closed, but there was a lighted room we could work in. We took the bicycles out of the boxes and proceeded to put them back into riding condition. Except that it was hot in the waiting room, this went very well. Becky, Gary and Ann finished before Mary Kay and I. They went to the motel where we were supposed to have a room reserved but the lady had reserved the room for September 1st, 2003 instead of August 31, 2003. She confused the time Mary Kay indicated that we would arrive as 3:00 PM instead of 3:00 AM and did not have a room for us. Here we were at 4:30 AM without any place to stay and no way to ride a bicycle in the dark not even considering that none of us had much sleep in the past two days. At 5:00 AM, we went to a Perkins restaurant and when we got their found out it was closed until 6:00 AM. They took pity on us and let us in so we put on our bicycle clothes and tried to take a nap for an hour. At 6:00 AM we ate breakfast and by 7:00 AM we were riding our bicycles to our nights lodging at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, MN. The road had great wide shoulders, and very little traffic. It was a great ride for our first day, however we arrived at 10:00 and had to wait until 1:30 PM to get into our rooms. After showers, etc. we walked around town, then supper and a much need night of rest.