DAY 1 - 72 miles. Camped outside Hutchinson, MN

After Aaron and I foolishly left our lady friends monday morning, we were given a send off by our pals Joe and Juri. Joe rode with us to Hopkins. The ride was good. We ate lunch outside St. Bonafiscious. Shortly after disaster struck, and I learned an important lesson in the necessity of screw tightening. My rear rack fell backwards, but stayed attached at the bottom. While I searched the highway feeling dumb and looking for a missing piece, Aaron rigged my rack back up in a way that would have made MacGyver proud. It's still holding tight like a champ three days later. We checked in at a nice bike shop in Hutchinson and they repaired some cable housing for me and directed us to a spot to camp nine miles down the Luce Line trail. Thanks, guys. After setting up camp we ate way too much velveta shells and cheese mixed with chili. All in all it was an excellent and educational first day.