The Great River Adventure Complete

I reached Lake Itasca State Park on Friday, June 27th. It was a challenging ride to follow the Mississippi River north through Minnesota from Minneapolis.

Bringing along 21 copies of The Fox Trails, I rode the same bike that took me from the Twin Cities to New Orleans last fall. As you can see from the picture below, I had quite the load to carry. I’d estimate that I have 150 lbs stuffed in that kid carrier. I may need to invest in a motor.

 

Minnesota is gorgeous in the summer. So green and lush, beautiful skies and friendly people. The large amount of rain that we’ve already received has the river’s water high with a raging current. I took a few pictures along the way.

Before reaching Lake Itasca, the river passes through Lake Bemijdi. I spent a couple of days in Bemidji and stayed in the State Park on the north side of the lake before making my way to Itasca. The river gets smaller and smaller as you approach the source.

30 rocks span the width of the Mississippi at its source and it was a special moment to walk across these stones. I’ve now seen the river in its entirety and that’s something that few can claim.

A great storm came on the night that I camped in the State Park and water damaged the majority of the books I had left to sell. Oh well, I ended up giving them away to the campers around me. That felt right and I met some wonderful people along the way. However, after a week of facing storms and winds in excess of 20 mpr, I’ve decided to postpone the summer tour through the west. This wasn’t an easy choice and it took some serious meditation but this may be one of the most responsible decisions I’ve made in a long time. The west can wait.

I stopped in Brainerd today and I’ll be riding through Minnesota en route to spend the Fourth of July with my family. The path ahead will take me through a number of places that hold a personal significance to my past and I look forward to being home and and reflecting before the next endeavor. This has been a perfect closure for the Great River Adventure and I now have what I need to write The Fox Trails sequel. That starts now.

Happy Trails,

-MJ

 

 

The Paul Bunyan Trail

Reporting from Hackensack, Minnesota on the Paul Bunyan Trail. Biking was hard the first two days. It was either sun burn or rain and the bugs are Jurassic Park but my gear is dry and I’m moving on to see Bemidji before Lake Itasca State Park. After getting to know the Mississippi from Minneapolis to New Orleans, visiting the river at its source will be a special moment on this trip. Last night the rain had me delayed in Pequot Lakes but I had a great dinner with locals and sold 4 books at the bar. Thanks to Bill and Sara for the hospitality. Their boys were a riot. I found a nice place to sleep last evening and broke camp early this morning arriving in Hackensack where I stopped for coffee . I met a Korean War vet named Harley and his wife Aeva. They’ve been married for 66 years. Although I know they’ll be shocked in reading The Fox Trails, I sold them a copy. A young man named Nick overheard our conversation and he bought one as well. That’s 10 lbs of books that I got rid of in the last 12 hours. My load is lighter now and my muscles are adapting to the road again. The care packages received from friends before this ride have been awesome to have. Thanks for the kind support. I should get back to it but I’ll check in again soon.

Happy Trails,
-MJ

Unfinished Business

Hello friends,

Just a quick update on the trip…I write to you from Little Falls, sunburned exhausted. Biking north on the Mississippi has been challenging and the pace is slower than I had anticipated. Bringing along 30 lbs of books may have been a very silly idea. Lake Itasca State Park will slowly get closer though and seeing the source will make this all worth it. I just woke up from a 2 hour nap in the library. Back on the rode..

Happy trails,
-MJ

Ready For Departure

Dear friends,

The book release and music showcase on Wednesday June 11th at Moto-I in Minneapolis was a blast. I sold all of the books that I brought with and signed each personally. Thanks to everyone that purchased one of the first 10 copies printed. On Friday the 13th, I packed my gear and left the Twin Cities for a 90 mile bike ride home to see my parents before the summer tour begins. Leaving around 10:30 am, I rode a familiar route through the city, crossing the river at the Stone Arch Bridge and made my way to Falcon Heights, stopping in at the apartment where I lived last summer before leaving on the Mississippi River adventure. In St. Paul I hopped on the Gateway State Trail which was lovely. Definitely worth riding if you’re in the Twin Cites. Click the link for a map if you’d like to learn more… http://mntrails.com/poi/gateway-trail. The trail took me out of the metro and north of Stillwater approaching the St. Croix river and the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. I faced some challenging climbs but the speed I picked up entering the river gorge made it all worth it. Crossing into Wisconsin at Osceola, I stopped for a rest and called my dad, letting him know my route and approximate arrival time. I was originally considering camping for the night but the combination of my excitement to be back on two wheels and the threat of a storm inspired me to keep pushing.

I wanted to stop at Interstate Park and dive off the cliffs but kept going north, following the River Road. North of St. Croix Falls, I found a spring and paused for a rest. Out of the blue, my parents pulled up on a Harley and stopped to say hello. That was a nice surprise. My dad pointed out some Honey Suckle growing along the road and tasted a few petals. He always blows my mind with random nature knowledge like that. After a brief visit, they rode out and so did I. With only 30 miles left to go, I found my second wind and continued the trek through Wisconsin. What a beautiful ride! The sunset was amazing and I saw at least 50 deer at the magic hour. As darkness fell, the full moon rising reflected the sun with an amber hue and the lightning bugs came out to play. So did the mosquitoes. They seem to be thriving with all of the rain that we’ve had. I’ve never seen the bugs so thick. I made it home shortly after 10 pm and it was a great day of training. It’s been a wonderful Father’s Day weekend with family and my dad and I even rode our bikes to the river for some fishing. My gear is old but trusty and I’m confident that it should hold up for the journey west. Final preparations are being made now and I’ll be returning to the Twin Cities on Friday the 20th to pick up an order of books and say some final farewells. I’ll be blogging and tweeting along the way so please do follow along. https://twitter.com/MichaelJasonFox

Happy Trails,

-MJ

What Happens Next?

June 10th, 2014

Dear friends,

My left eye bugged out while I was camping this weekend. It’s swollen and red, puffy and painful. I play music and talk about life in front of an audience tomorrow night at Moto-I for a music showcase/limited edition book release. Timing is the essence of comedy. I’ll add the eye and the ego to my list of things to talk about between songs.

Camping was a wonderful experience otherwise. My gear survived the storm and my legs showed great strength, training on the steep hills of the Mississippi River gorge. Physically, I know I’m ready to bike to Washington and down the coast. Hills, headwinds, severe weather, hostility…They’ll keep me humble hopefully.

Being in the Twin Cities for the book launch has been crazy! The highlight so far being the Nick Swardson stand-up show at Acme Comedy Co. the other night. Hard to believe, but at one time, I was an amateur stand-up comedian who performed on that same stage. I was horrible. He’s hilarious, you should check him out. What else did I do? I dated casually, on the cheap. I activated my cupid account and had a few adventures, picnics and bike rides with interesting ladies. I still like to party. Most of my time in the city was spent on the computer though, working non-stop on The Fox Trails publication and promotion.

My book is selling well! I believe the read will be absolutely shocking to some people and that my opinions and philosophies will definitely push buttons. I grow and evolve through writing though and I’m not embarrassed to share this process with the world as it happens. When I imagine The Fox Trails books to come, I think of a series that begins in a confused place, wondering and daring but that moves on to new lessons and evolved ways of being. I’ll most likely have white hair and talk a lot less by the end of all of this, maybe I’ll even live on a mountain but at this point, I’m still a curious, confused young man and I have a billion things to learn. It doesn’t pay well to be an author but the cost of living is low and the lifestyle is fun and sustainable for me. I love to write.

I type on a 2007 Dell Inspiron. It’s the only laptop I’ve ever had. It was quite the undertaking to write and publish a book in eight months. Traveling, transcribing, editing, formatting, blogging, researching, social media, website design, publishing, promoting, online sales…all new learning curves. My eyes are tired and the screen sucks me in for hours and hours. To ride into the setting sun is on my horizon.

Tomorrow will be a magic night of song and story with friends and then the summer bike tour begins shortly thereafter. In homage to the Mississippi, I’ll start the ride west by first traveling north to see the river’s source at Lake Itasca. Then I’ll wander westward and follow the Missouri River along the Lewis and Clark Trail for a spell before pedaling up to Glacier National Park, braving the mountains and pushing on to see the ocean. From there, it’s all up in the air. I’m thankful to have you following the journey. We’ll see what happens next…

Happy Trails,

-MJ