If you have time for a multi-day ride in June, the Tour of Minnesota (formerly the Klobuchar Ride) registration is still open to the 26th of May. Reminiscent of the years the ride was run by newspaper columnist Jim Klobuchar, this year’s tour begins and ends in Jackson, a southeast Minnesota community.

photo by John Hays

Approximately 160 miles from downtown Minneapolis, the ride leaves Jackson for Worthington, where you can take in the Windsurfer National Championship. Then it’s on to Luverne for two days, where the Buffalo still roam in Blue Mound State Park. Day four enjoy the scenic route to Pipestone and see the majestic Winnewissa Falls, along the three-quarter mile trail near the Pipestone National Monument. Leaving Pipestone ride on the oldest bicycle trail in the state of Minnesota, the Casey Jones Trail, stopping in Slayton and then Windom on your way back to Jackson for a taco buffet celebration.

photo by John Hays

Long time Klobuchar Rider and now advocate for the Tour of Minnesota, Doug Wilhide says it best. “We are old now, though we pretend not to be, as we mount our bikes like youngsters – step down on the pedals banishing pains in knees and thighs with frivolity, laughter and hope.

We form in lines out in the early morning sun noting the long shadows, mists rising from fields,
red-winged blackbirds warning us away from their sovereign territories as grasses in the wind wave us along from one small town to the next.

Into the wind, into the rain, along the uneven roads, through the inconveniences, we ride like people half our age, on a lark, turning a myth of youth we almost believe, into our peculiar reality.”

“We are old, but far from finished. We will cycle miles and miles until the day ends and be tired as we step down in the evening from better bikes than we ever rode as kids, alive in our understandings of ourselves and each other.

photo by Karl Blazevic

Then we welcome life’s essentials: a cold beer, a hot shower, a good night’s sleep and another morning to ride.”

If you have heard about the fun many have had on past  Klobuchar Rides and would like to explore the Southwest corner of Minnesota, there is still time to register. Fill out the ride registration form up until May 26th (Memorial Day). And if you have any further questions, send Bob Lincoln, the  new tour director a quick e-mail.