Smackdown in Fountain Town
Morning broke early, at least for the riders. The support drivers, on the other hand, were a bit slow to rise. They quickly made up for the slow start, however, preparing a complete breakfast of avocado toast, eggs, French toast and bacon. After several cups of coffee and this full breakfast, we were on the trail just after 9:00 am, headed up the long, steady climb to Fountain. Near the top of the climb, with one last uphill push, Kathy heard the all too familiar whir of e-bikes behind her. “Ching, ching” rang the bells, followed by “two riders on your left” as two men (much younger than Kathy, by her accounting of the tale) blew past her with ease. Still grumbling as she pedaled on, she heard another “ching, ching” and “two on your left” as two women, apparently in skirts, makeup, and high heels, cruised past Kathy. This was just a bit too much for Kathy to take, so she yelled out, “Glad you don’t have to pedal your bike!” What happened after this verbal altercation is a bit unclear, since there are no living witnesses to the ensuing debacle, but needless to say, Kathy finished her trip to Fountain with a smile on her face.
The ride back down from Fountain was splendid as we sped along the trail back to camp. After a quick break we continued to Peterson, Rushford, and back to Peterson for our late lunch break. Doug parked the truck in campsite number 1 of the municipal campground and unloaded everything we needed for lunch just as a couple pulled into the campground with their camper. We debated whether we were occupying the one reserved site in an otherwise empty campground. What are the odds? Sure enough, the couple asked us to move since we were in their spot. Of course, we had no issues with this; we actually struck up a nice conversation with the couple.
Next, we agreed to meet in Whalan at the Aroma Pie Shop. We had been told that Saturdays are really busy and the pies are usually gone by 1:00. Nooo! It can’t be. Luckily, there were plenty of pies left when we stopped. We picked up a whole apple pie plus a slice of blueberry pie for Kathy. We were set for tonight’s dessert!
We rolled into the Old Barn by mid-afternoon. While relaxing and discussing e-bikes, we saw a very unusual site: a man was riding an e-bike past our campsite, towing a woman on an e-bike with what looked like a sweatshirt or some other clothing item as a tow strap. I guess that answers the question of what to do when your e-bike runs out of battery power. Later we took our lawn chairs to the Root River, sat in the shallow water and enjoyed the cool river flowing over our feet. What a refreshing feeling after a hot day on our bikes! Our grilled chicken dinner was delicious, but dinner was merely a vessel to get to our featured pie ala mode. The pie was well worth the wait; we enjoyed every bite of the fabulous dessert, just what we needed as we finished the night and headed to bed.
