52 53 arriving in a bigger portland

52 it was a sad morning. we packed up and road to Hardies for breakfast, our last meal with the englishman. Making fun of his accent, his height and calling him french, is how we said our goodbyes. Reminiscing about our last two weeks as we chowed down on greasy breakfast burritos. Having alex travel with us has been great. I think excpiecally for Alex, traveling alone can be hard and I'm pretty sure he thoroughly enjoyed his American experience with us. Attempting a century a day to make it to the coast by September first. He wrote us a goodbye note in Evan's journal:

bonjour
A message from Alex the Frenchman
I have much to thank you crazy lazy bunch of retards for. Without my American Experience I would never have known what a spork is, would never have discovered the delights of snuss, would never have eaten a Mcdank, such wonders amaze me still.
and now a message for each of you:
Evan: Go home!
Beau- Stop sleeping in the street
Hank- nice mustache, come cycling in Europe
Kane- I hate your face
Donald- Think manly thoughts and the beard will come.
And now i Bid you adieu for the time has come to leave. Someone keep Sonia warm for me.
Alex, the foreigner

Watching Alex ride off a couple of tears rolled down our cheeks as we stayed for lunch as they switched the menu from breakfast to lunch. Our maps took us into Minneapolis via country roads, making the journey a 120 miles. Hank decided to re-route the ride down to 60miles following 169, a direct shot into town. The interstate was not as bad as we thought. A very wide shoulder, and not horrible traffic, just a bunch of debris, that we would point out as we headed south in our very practiced paceline. Hank and Kane began to miss Alex even more as they tried to bend i8nto the others very,very small slipstream. Hank led the group off the interstate and onto a country road that followed the Mississippi river. Camping 20 miles outside of the city in a KOA in maple grove, we watched videos and photos of Evan's and Hank's San Fransisco trip, and Donald threw his rain fly on a tree to let it dry, knocking three baby birds onto the ground in the process. We sat and watched the mother teach her babies how to fly and rescue them.

53Portland has won the most bike friendly city for 6 years in a row, last year Minneapolis was given the platinum award. This got us very excited to see the cities bicycling infrastructure compared to Portland. Riding into town was a little harsh, the streets were split and littered with potholes. After 20 miles of dodging road hazards we saw huge building peaking over the horizon. Riding closer and closer certain areas reminded us districts back home. Pedaling through "Beaverton" and weaving through cars in "Hawthorne" we entered downtown. Gigantic building towered over us as we tried to figure out were to pull over and sit down and find our bearings. Our first conversation was with a homeless drunk complaining about the government. Reminds us of home. Hank stated to search online at a website called WarmShowers. A huge network of fellow cycle-tourist that offer their home for bikers coming through town. Offering either a shower, bed, lawn space for tents, kitchen space, laundry and sometimes even food. The first person he called was excited to have us stay with him. On our way to Andrews house, we passed an old museum made from an old mill sitting on the river. Lured by the modern architect hidden inside an old mill from the late 1800's we stopped and strolled in. Unfortunately the museum was closing in 20 min and we could not take the glass elevator to the top. Bored and tired we started for Andrews house, riding on a bike path that follows the Mississippi river. Finding his house in a neighborhood that resembled Belmont, we set our tents up in his backyard and went on a tour of the area. After visiting the local bar we headed back to the house and met Andrew. A very friendly guy who invited us into his house for a beer and a chat. Introducing us to the bike systems in the city, he showed us massive trail systems that spread throughout the city. We talked more about our tour, and also some of his past trip to Europe and the pacific coast. saying goodnight, we went to sleep, eager to explore the city the following morning.