Tour de Fargo: Day 3 & 4

Well, it is official! Talleiv "Tolly" Vollen, our Tour de Fargo cyclist arrived at 3:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon to Fargo and completed his 250 mile journey from Minneapolis. While there were just a few slight bumps along the way, it sounds like the trip was a wonderful experience for Tolly. Better yet, it helped to raise funds for the Sons of Norway Foundation’s Helping Hands to Members Fund, Oslo International Summer School Scholarship (OISS) Fund and for Trollheim 1-511’s Scholarship Fund. Supporting great events like youth barneløpets, Project Framtid (Adopt-A-School) programming, eight week study abroad programs at OISS, camperships to Skogfjorden Norwegian Language Village and much more. To donate, click here.

 Day 3,  Sunday 8-19-12: Alexandria to Fergus Falls and to Rothsay.
Left about 8:00 am for a rendezvous at Garfield, 8 miles from Alexandria, for a wonderful "feed station" provided by District 1 President, Barbara Olson, and husband, Chuck, with a large Norwegian flag waving in the breeze. We enjoyed rømmegrøt, lefse, and coffee. Also joining us was District 1 Youth Director, Marilyn Syverson. We spent nearly two hours there, and then on to Fergus Falls via The Central Lakes Trail, with a two-hour stop at the DQ. A beautiful day for biking about 70 miles with some head wind, but sheltered for long stretches of the bike trail.

Day 4, Monday, 8-20-12: Rothsay to Fargo
After a hearty breakfast at a truck stop cafe, a local person inquired about my bike trip. He proceeded to tell me about his 95-year-old father who speaks good Norwegian and would enjoy meeting me. He lived about six blocks away and I followed Paul, his son, to his father's home. I had a delightful visit in both Norwegian and English with this spry, resourceful gentleman. He is the creator/building supervisor of the prairie chicken statue, next to I-94. He is also an inventor and has a wealth of life experiences.

Another great day for biking, slight NW wind, with a stop in Barnesville and Sabin, before entering Moorhead on Old 52, crossing into Fargo on the beautiful Veterans Bridge. Arrived at the home of my sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Ken Kautzman, at 3:30 pm. Had a fairly easy day of biking of 42 miles. The Tour d Fargo totaled distance was slightly over 250 miles. I truly enjoyed the journey and the many experiences it brought to me.