Day 28 Owatonna, Minnesota (72 miles)

Downtown Owatonna

Today's ride will be on rolling hills with some small and large towns and farm country in between New Ulm and Owatonna. The riders will end up at the Steele County Fair Grounds for their camp tonight.

Something about Owatonna: Founded in 1854, Owatonna is now a city of just over 25,000 people, and is the heart and the heartbeat of a greater community known as Southern Minnesota. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair in August which is the largest free fair in Minnesota.


Steele County Fair Grounds

How Owatonna got its name: As the story is told, Princess Owatonna, daughter of Chief Wabena, fell ill. She was so ill she couldn't lift her head to drink the smallest pool of water. The chief had heard of the wonderful curative effects of water bubbling from the ground in what is now Owatonna, and decided that only their magical restorative properties could save his daughter. After being given the water by her father, Princess Owatonna was miraculously cured, lending her name and image to both the town and the newly minted bottled water company. A statue of the princess appears in Owatonna's Mineral Springs Park, next to Maple Creek, a tributary of the Straight River, and a fountain where visitors can see the springs and drink the water that saved Princess Owatonna.


Sign in Mineral Springs Park

Today's weather forecast for Owatonna:
Temp 79 °F
Scattered Clouds
Humidity: 57%
Dew Point: 63 °F
Wind: 10 mph from the West
Pressure: 29.88 in (Steady)
Visibility: 10.0 miles

Talked to Chuck a few hours ago. He said that last night was simply miserable in the dorms at Martin Luther College. Their was not much air movement in the dorms so everyone left their doors open to their rooms. There was a door at the end of the hallway that would slam because of the suction from the windows/doors to the rooms being open every time someone went through it. He also got a roommate in the evening. Dave, former Big Ride Across America rider and former Big Ride Pacific Coast and Big Ride Glacier leader, has joined the group to help with SAG for a week. Chuck said he felt bad because his stuff was spread out all over the room when Dave arrived. They talked for awhile before Chuck got to sleep.

Because Dave joined the group for this week, Frank Wilson, who has been doing sag support since the start of the ride, got to ride today. Chuck and him get coffee early in the morning on all the rest days and even on some of the ride days. Chuck said that he rode the whole day with Frank. They stopped this morning for their morning fix at Caribou Coffee in Mankato. Chuck said that Mankato is strip mall hell and has a lot of sprawl for a rural mid size town.


Frank and Chuck took a wrong turn and ended up going by Janesville. They joined back up with the rest of the riders. Chuck said the way they went was shorter...

The day was laid back and easy as they had fairly cool temps and yet another tail wind. They stopped at Barney's Drive Inn, near the lake at Waseca, for lunch. Chuck said that there were very few people at the lake this year compared to two years ago. Many of the riders took some time to play a round of putt putt golf.

Traffic started picking up after leaving the lake and the two lane road without a shoulder was fairly hair raising/fingernail biting for all of the riders. They were glad to get to camp at the Steele County Fair Ground. Chuck said that dinner was a $12 night buffet at the new Hy-V grocery store across from the fair ground. The new store had a very good deli with tables and chairs to sit down and eat at. The Hy-V also had free Internet for the riders to take advantage of.