Challenges overcome
After hearing about the miserable weather encountered by the leg 1 riders, those of us on leg 2 were watching the forecast closely. As our departure day came closer, it was apparent we were not going to worry about the weather. Light winds, sunny skies, and favorable temperatures were going to be the norm for our ride. Justin Elder, Kyle Swartout, and John Konrad had been preparing (or underpreparing) for weeks to get ready for the ride. Support driver Matt Stepanek was busy over the weekend putting together supply lists and gathering the necessary food and equipment to support the heavy calorie deficits produced by the riders.
Justin was already up north with the RV, and was set to meet the other riders for leg 2’s first day at the Mesabi Trail trailhead in Grand Rapids, MN. Even though we’ve ridden the Mesabi Trail several times, we are always surprised at the quantity and severity of the big climbs. The Mesabi Trail is built on old logging and mining roads on the Iron Range, and around every corner is another steep climb but the scenery and views are by far and away the best of any MN trail system. Here are some highlights of our segment:
-After just commenting on day 1 that they were going to run out of water before reaching the lunch stop in Hibbing, Justin and John came upon some young entrepreneurs selling lemonade in Keewatin. Regular or pink lemonade were offered, and after some pleasant conversation with the kids and their mom, we agreed it was the very best lemonade stand we’ve ever been to. I’m sure the fact we were physically drained after some big climbs had something to do with it. It was a true oasis, and the kids were pleased to have some appreciative customers.
-Justin got a flat tire after our lunch stop in Hibbing, and with 11 miles to go it was decided he would retire from the day’s ride. Kyle seemed to question whether the flat tire was bad luck or good fortune. The riders were on a time schedule to complete their miles, get to the campground and get showered, and find a place to watch the Timberwolves play. There was no time for an on-the-fly tire change, and fortunately Matt was nearby with the RV to give him a lift to the finish. Matt and Justin had a nice stop in Buhl to look at Grant Pit Lake, an old mine-turned-lake, and pondered what mysteries lie beneath the deep black waters.
-Upon our arrival at the Sherwood Forest campground in Gilbert, MN, Matt got busy hooking the RV up to utilities, and went to dump the waste water. To his surprise, someone (ahem?) from leg 1 left the grey dump valve open, so when Matt removed the waste cap to attach the sewer hose, he was greeted with a rapid flow of waste water onto his arms, hands, and his lap. As this was happening, he was paralyzed with surprise and fear and the flow was too strong to replace the cap. Justin was watching the scene unfold and after a brief laugh to himself and a vocal “whoa,” he saw the valve was open and ran over to close it. If you could have only seen the look on Matt’s face. Oh, the things he does to support our ride. He wasn’t planning to take a shower that evening, but his plans quickly changed. Matt was a good sport about it, and a good belly laugh was had by all.
-Apparently basketball is not the sport of choice on the iron range (who knew?), and finding a spot with drinks and food and would be open past 9pm to watch the Timberwolves proved a more difficult task than anticipated. After numerous visits to places in Gilbert, there were no establishments that met all the criteria. Even in Virginia, MN, the first “sports bar” we called refused to stay open past 10pm for us to watch the end of the game. But we eventually found Boomtown Bar & Grill. They accommodated us quite nicely, and the food and drink were fantastic. The game didn’t end the way we had hoped, but we still had a great time.
-Pancakes and bacon were on the day 2 breakfast menu, and after some lengthy delays for conversation, tire repairs, and work meetings, the riders took off around 11:30am out of Gilbert, destination somewhere to the northeast. On day 3 Matt outdid himself for breakfast, making sausage, egg, and cheese bagels. Paired with some Red Eye coffee, it couldn’t have been any better.
-Matt met us with the mothership (RV) each day with a fantastic lunch spread of sandwiches, watermelon, trail mix, chips…whatever we wanted. It never gets old rounding a bend and seeing the motorhome waiting for our arrival. At the end of day 2 in Ely, he even pulled 3 individual-sized foil pans of pulled pork nachos out of the oven, a wonderful snack for our hour-long RV ride back to the campground.
-A newly paved section of the Mesabi Trail went from Tower to Ely, and it was our first time riding this portion. We concluded it was the best section of trail anywhere we’d ever been on. It was well marked, had unbelievable scenery, and the trail was in perfect condition. About halfway from Tower to Ely we rounded a bend and there was a bear on the trail! We all yelled “BEAR!” and came to a quick stop. The bear heard us yell, looked at us, and quickly bounded off into the forest. That was pretty cool and added to the positive experience on this section of trail.
-Day 2 concluded with Cuban sandwiches on the grill. Kyle graciously pre-smoked and pulled a pork shoulder just for us to make Cuban sandwiches on the ride, and as per usual it was as good as it gets. John’s was not a true Cuban however, as although he proclaimed that he enjoys eating pickles, he did not want one on his sandwich. So his was just a pulled pork, ham, swiss, and mustard sandwich. The rest of us had Cubans. They were delicious and were accompanied with tater tots hot out of the oven and coleslaw. John’s wife Melissa made some scotcheroos that were had for a late night dessert.
-After being heckled for not wanting pickles on his sandwich, John redeemed himself. We needed firewood to enjoy a bonfire, and there was no firewood to be found anywhere. We thought John was taking Kyle’s truck to go up to the camp office for firewood, which he was. But there was no wood there. We became a little worried after 45 minutes had passed, as the camp office is only about 80 yards away. John was resilient, unsuccessfully scouring the town of Gilbert for any firewood. We’re not sure where everyone goes after 6pm in Gilbert, but the town quickly becomes eerily vacant. So John ventured outside the greater Gilbert area and found himself miles away in Virginia, where his mission was successful. He was relentless and would not give up easily until he returned with our firewood. He came back with stacks of the driest firewood we’ve ever had the pleasure of igniting, and the result was a fantastic evening by the fire under a clear starry night sky spent laughing and futilely trying to convince Kyle he will enjoy a Disney trip despite his deep-rooted consternations. It’s quite possible we only made his negative convictions stronger, and he seemed more annoyed by our assertions than anything. We’ve never seen Kyle display a bad attitude about anything he ends up doing, so if he goes we know he’ll make the best of it.
-All in all it was a fantastic 2025 ride. Perfect weather, lots of food, nice trails, lots of laughs, and great friends made for a glorious few days on the iron range. And above all, it is always a great feeling knowing we’re riding to support Kids ‘n Kinship.
