MN Randonnneurs Munger Bungo 600K

I needed a 600K to complete my SR series for 2013, and a variety of conflicts prevented me from riding a 600K closer to home (Naperville, IL), so I ended up in MN riding a 600K again - but hey, aside from the long drive it's a great place for cycling. This ride took place on Sep.07-08.2013.

Stillwater to Duluth

Stillwater (6:00 AM start) - On the last 600K I rode in MN (2012) I started 45 minutes late to a missed wakeup call. This time I got up on time at 4:45 AM and made it to the ride start around 5:30. After getting my gear together, collecting my brevet card and cue sheet, and passing the light inspection it was time for the pre-ride talk. It mostly focused on how we needed to carefully follow the cue sheet when getting across Duluth. Then 26 riders were off. With a couple of riders off the front, and the rest off the back, a group of 12 formed as we rode out of Stillwater and north into the country. The miles passed pretty quickly with this group.

Taylor Falls Control (7:53 AM, 33 miles) - Unfortunately the bakery that Michelle had raved about was closed, so we stopped at Adium where I got a ham-egg croissant.  I noticed that my one side of my front water bottle holder had broken. I’ve been carrying around zip-ties for years and this was the first time I needed to use one. It kind of secured the broken part to the frame. I took off solo and caught up to 2 riders, one of which was Joel Sandberg who was on a Velo Orange setup very similarly to mine. They went on when I stopped to take a picture an enormous drive-in gathering for a snowmobile grass drag (something I have never heard of). Not long after that I noticed a calf along the road that had gotten out of the fenced area where all the other cows were. This seemed slightly dangerous so I stopped at the next farmhouse but no one answered my knock. Idling along feeling the headwind and wondering how hot it would get, a group came up behind me so I jumped on, it was Mark Olsen and some other riders and I stayed with them until we got to Rush City where RBA Rob Welsh had setup a tent outside a Cenex with cold drinks and snacks. I bought some duct tape and wrapped a couple of turns around my broken water bottle holder to secure it better.

Hinckley Control  (12:11 PM, 92 miles) Some of us wasted time in a long line at Subway but it gave me a chance to talk with other riders Bob Elias, Bruce Jones and Richard Miller.  Got a 6” sub and a big bottle of Coke. I’d ridden the last few legs of a hot 600K in 2012 with Richard. Bob I recognized from the 2012 and 2013 Midwest fleche rides. Bruce I found out later was from Sioux Falls, SD. Bob was riding a bike frame which he designed and built himself. After a short ride across town, we got on the first of four legs on the Munger trail. It’s paved and generally flat, with a mix of canopy and open sections.

By now the north wind was pretty steady and it was humid and up in the high eighties. We cruised along until when off the back I got a flat from a tiny little stone shaped like an arrowhead. Mark came back looking for me when I was about finished and we rode back to the group. Around 2:30 we stopped in alongside the trail in Willow River for some cold water. I poured a couple of bottles over my head.

Moose Lake control (3:21 PM, 125 miles) - I was not feeling that great with the heat and all, and feeling sleepy. Got some V8 and two hash brown patties and loaded a bottle with 2 hours of Infinit. Back on the trail I was still feeling parched and stopped for a big bottle of cold water at Mahtowa just after 4:30. As we approached Duluth we started seeing sections where the trail had washed away during heavy rains in 2012. Rode a long descent into Duluth with many gravel sections where the trail had not yet been repaved.

Munger Inn control (6:16 PM, 163 miles) - Very happy to get here where they had some snacks and drinks- had a Naked beverage, tahini sandwich, chips, watermelon, Clif bar, cookie. Got arm warmers and put on a poly-pro undershirt. Glad to see Lara Sullivan who was helping out with Kit and Michelle. Our group of five then took off on the ride across Duluth which had lots of turns, RR tracks, and bad pavement. Richard got a flat along the way, Mark stayed behind, would meet at the lakefront. Along the way we passed a train museum where a steam engine was firing up, and passed under three-story RR tracks running from the bluff to the ship docks. 

The lakefront was very nicely redeveloped, including bike paths on which we were riding for quite a while. Continued on to Two Harbors with Mark and Richard as the sun was setting.

Heading north the wind was still strong and we could hear waves crashing when close to the shore. At one point I heard the steam train blowing its whistle on its way to somewhere. Saw two riders coming back as we approached Two Harbors.

Duluth to Two Harbors

Two Harbors control (9:25 PM, 198 miles) – Glad to get to Culvers before it closed at 10PM.  Real food – mushroom/swiss burger, turkey noodle soup, and a chocolate malt. Noticeably colder when we started  back, and the wind had died down. It didn’t seem long until we could see the lights of Duluth in the distance. Along the way saw riders going the other way – 1 solo rider, 2 groups of three, then 2 more solo riders. Just after 11PM we noticed that Bob was no longer with us – Mark went back to look for him while we waited next to what turned out to be a sewage pumping station, smelly, and even worse when some pumps kicked on and a wave of sulfurous odor washed over us. Turned out Bob just had a flat. I found out later that Bob was very sleepy on this stretch, and kept falling asleep on his bike. The ride through Duluth seemed smoother on the way back, with fewer people on the paths and little traffic.

Two Harbors to Duluth

Munger Inn control (12:49 AM, 232 miles) – Less than 150 miles remaining, food, and a sleep break! A couple of riders (Ilter Saygin and Vilanouth Inthasorot) who had not yet left for Two Harbors were there. Ilter waved at me as I headed for a shower. Then I ate salad, noodles with a meatball, breadstick, lemon soda, a cookie, and some chocolate milk. Crawled into my cot around 2AM, tossed around for a bit, then Lara was waking me up at 5:49 (I slept through the 5:30 attempt). Had cereal, yogurt, coffee, chocolate milk, cookie. It was cooler so I had a wind vest and another poly-pro undershirt, plus arm warmers. 

Duluth to Stillwater

We rolled out at 6:31 AM.The temperature was deliciously cool and there was no headwind so we were cruising. Shortly after getting back on the trail we passed a fellow rider sleeping on the side of the rode. Bob woke him up by asking him “if he was OK”.








Mark and Bruce fell behind at some point, we waited on the old RR bridge until they came in sight but they fell behind again. Since Mark is such a strong rider Bob and I kept going and soon caught up with some other riders and formed a small peloton all the way to Moose Lake. Had some food and waited a bit as other riders took off - still no sign of Mark and Bruce when Bob and I took off, we again caught up with other riders and continued on all the way to Hinckley where a miscalculation took off route to Tobies just before noon. Not a problem as I got a tasty doughnut along with Starbucks energy drink, and some vitamin water which I mixed with my remaining 2 hours of Infinit. We backtracked to the route and it started to rain, enough that I put on my rain jacket.

Pine City control (1:22 PM, 316 miles) – Met up with some more riders, others went ahead, some had fallen behind.  Ate a hot dog, and took off my rain jacket as it was not raining that hard. Bob and I took off and passed some riders, then not long after finally saw Mark’s orange jersey behind us leading a small group. Turned out that Bruce had been doing some hurling after the Munger Inn which slowed them down for a while. 

North Branch control (3:02 PM, 339 miles) – Had another donut, and some sort of hot chicken tender snack. This next stretch had most of the hills at the end, but only 40 miles to go!

Stillwater control (end, 5:53 PM, 379 miles) – still felt good as we hit the last control. Rob and Vincent had snacks and drinks waiting for us. I had a Coke, a beer, watermelon, then took a shower. Kathy and I then hit the road and after getting lost due to road construction, got onto I-94 East heading for home.

Thanks to the great support crew - Michelle, Rob, Lara, Vincent, Kit, and Ed.  This 600K was very well-organized, especially the overnight control part. I ride alone a lot, it was great to ride in a group for most of this ride.