MRT Riding Day 5 - 8/5/2026 - Brainerd to Little Falls - 37 miles

We enjoyed the final 14 miles of the Paul Bunyan Trail this morning as we left Brainerd and the trail wound its way beside the Mississippi.   Once off the trail, the route was along Highway 371 on the east side of the river.   371 had nice wide shoulders so we felt relatively safe.  But the traffic was definitely noisy.   There were several frontage roads along the way to provide relief from the high noise.  While the route was totally flat the main challenge was a strong headwind with gusts of up to 25 MPH.

Still following the MRT (Mississippi River Trail) hike route signs.

 Navigators photo over the pilot's shoulder.  The road was a bit busy but the shoulders were good.

We learned that the Minnesota highways have ATV lanes in the side ditches!

The Mississippi is steadily growing as we ride south.

 

MRT 8/4/2026 - DAY OFF - Enjoying Brainerd MN

Saw some sights in town.  And here is the Mississippi from the Brainerd bridge.  After 100+ miles wondering south from Bemidji it is a bit wider. 

MRT Riding Day 4 - 8/3/2026 – Pequot Lakes to Brainerd – 25 miles

Today the Paul Bunyan Trail led us to Brainerd. We continued our journey along many lakes and through dense forester.   The trail was almost completely flat.  Besides a steady headwind, the weather was again ideal.

 

Stopping at Nisswa for morning coffee and tea right next to the trail.   Taking a relaxed pace today with a short distance to ride.

 

MRT Riding Day 3 - 8/2/2026 - Walker to Pequot (Pee-Kwot) - 37 miles

 Continuing riding the Paul Bunyan Trail today.  We had a pretty good headwind today.  The great tree lined trail helped with both the wind and the heat.    There are several nice small towns on the route spaced just right for taking a break. So many lakes along the way.  Today we learned that to be called a lake the body of water must be at least 10 acres in surface area.  Minnesota has 11,842 such bodies of water.  Whoa !

 

We will be following the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) on most of our trip. 

 

Lucette statue at Hackensack – Paul Bunyans girlfriend

MRT Riding Day 2 - 8/1/2026 - Bemidji to Walker, MN – 34 miles

 Today the real riding starts!  However, we like to ride shorter distances early on so that we can get used to the touring lifestyle once again.

 

The route from the Bemidji to Walker was all on the paved Paul Bunyan Trail.   Beautiful lakes, river crossings, and many streams.   All the water ways along our route drain into the Mississippi which is wondering around between the lakes just east of us.  We will be following the Mississippi closely in the coming days.   The trail had a few rough spots but in general was wonderful.   Pretty good surface for being this far north.

Beautiful, level, paved trail all the way today. 

 

MRT Riding Day 1 - 7/31/2026 - Bemidji, MN - 12 miles

Bemidji Lake is the farthest northern most part of the Mississippi River.  This is where we are starting our Mississippi River Trail (MRT) bike trip, riding south to St. Louis / St. Charles, MO.   Yesterday we stopped on Itasca State Park, MN to see the Mississippi River headwaters just south of Bemidji.

 

The Mississippi Headwaters at Itasca State Park.  Lots of people swimming at the headwaters - that was unexpected. 

 

Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox at Bemidji

The size of the Mississippi as it exits Bemidji Lake

 

Cross Florida Bike Tour February 2026 Summary

February 8 - 12, 2026

5 Riding Days

240 miles riding

 

Sherri and decided to join  Crossroads Bike Tours once again for the late winter ride across Florida.  This was a great way to start the 2026 season.  As usual Crossroads provided the room reservations and route maps.   As typical, we carried our own gear.   We had done several short day rides in Florida before, but this was to be our first actual bike tour there.

 

Turns out Northern Florida has several hundred miles of paved and wide bike paths - very nice.   A cold front had moved thru the state just before we arrived, but the temperatures were just about perfect for our tour.   The only windy parts of the tour were at or near the coasts.   There was no rain on the trip, in fact Florida was experiencing one of its worst droughts in many years.

 

• February 7  Clearwater - Residence Inn

 

Crossroads typically makes accommodations for you the day before your tour starts, close to your tour end point.   This allowed us to leave our car parked at the hotel until our return. 

 

• Day 1 - February 8, Shuttle to New Smyrna Beach, Ride to Debary 45 miles

 

The shuttle picked us at 8 am sharp at our Clearwater hotel.  There was one other couple joining us on the tour.  And we passed the time on the shuttle ride sharing our various past bike touring experiences. 

 

The shuttle dropped us off right at the beach in New Smyrna.   The start was very windy and chilly, so we quickly put on our jackets and pants before starting.   The route took us through the side streets of New Smyrna, which was very busy with tourists.  The traffic here was not an issue.  We were shortly on the cross Florida trail system and riding thru pleasant shaded forests.  The route today was almost completely on trails with a few miles of roads at beginning and end.   We saw lots of different birds and a fox on the trails.

 

Mark and Sherri at the beach and ready to ride

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• Day 2 - Debary to Clermont, 50 miles

 

Today's ride was around the Orlando metro area.   Once again there were biking trails most of the way, but the route took us thru the metro area.   The trail had many (we lost count at about 40) street crossing, the majority of which were 6 lane busy roads.   And since we were on the tandem all the starting and stopping was very tiring.   The last 5 miles presented the only real climbing we had all the trip and was actually a pleasant change from all the earlier street crossings.  Not our favorite day.

• Day 3 - Clermont to Brooksville, 58 miles

 

Today was a pleasant change from the prior day, with lots of riding thorough remote areas and beautiful backcountry.   It was quite warm today and very dry.  At one point we asked a kind person for some water at a road side park because we had just run out.  He immediate produced several bottle of water and we were very grateful!

• Day 4 - Brooksville to Trinity, 60 miles

 

The route took us through beautiful remote forest over the first third of the day and for the last 20 percent, with a long stretch of trail paralleling the freeway in the middle.  At just about halfway, at Spring Hill, we got to see the Wind Chime Memorial Tree, where people place wind chimes on the tree limbs in remembrance of lost loved ones.  Today was completely on paved trails.   These trails are really wide compared to any other bike trails we have been on in the US.

 

The Wind Chime Tree

• Day 5 - Trinity to Clearwater, 28 miles

 

Most of the route today was on bike trails once again.   The first third of the day we rode through pleasant and quite parks.   As the trail turned south, heading to Clearwater, we paralleled the popular beaches and the trail become very busy with other riders, walkers, and runners.   We stopped at a coffee shop by the trail in Dunedin to relax and watch all the bikers ride by.  

 

We reached the Clearwater Residence Inn in time to clean up, head to the beach, and enjoy the sunset.