Update

I don't know if anyone reads this anymore, but I just wanted to let everyone know that my car was broken into roughly two weeks ago and a fair amount of valuable things, such as my backpack with my computer and several important files, were stolen. All of the checks had been handed over to Global Volunteers by then, so no need to worry about that aspect. However, the theft has delayed my thank-you letter writing project to all donors since the donor database was in my backpack. Thus I apologize if you get a thank-you too late. Just wanted to keep everyone informed and updated.

Hope all is well as the summer ends.

Happy Trails,

Mike

Donation Totals To Date

As of today, 6/12, $4,967.77 has been raised!

Many thanks to all donors for their amazing generosity.

Day 6: Pine Island to Home :)

Finish! 

Mike: Pine Island 

Done!

As of this morning's 13 mile run from Pine Island to Rochester via the Douglas Trail, the Great Transversal of Minnesota is officially over. I only have time for a quick update now, but more pictures and posting will be coming shortly.

Day 5 Complete!

After 114 miles of biking, day 5 is now finished. Only 1 more day left! 

I was blessed with a strong tailwind for the entire day, making the miles roll by much faster than yesterday. However, some strong rain in the morning and temperatures in the mid-50s meant that after the first hour I was soaked to the bone and in the beginning stages of hypothermia. It was an eery replay of my rollerski trek two days ago. However, my faithful support crew saved the day again. After putting on dry clothes, spending some time in the RV with the heat blasting, and eating the last of our leftover pizza (and a few snickers bars on the side), my outlook improved by several orders of magnitude.  

I reached Pine Island in good spirits after covering 97 miles. Once there, I decided to ride the remaining 17 miles back to my house. Although the official plan called for stopping in Pine Island today, it isn't too often that I have the privelege of riding with a tailwind on a point-to-point course. Thus I decided to prolong my ride. Even though I made it to Rochester today, I will still run the 13 miles from Pine Island to Rochester tomorrow.

Finally, a big thanks to my brother Ian who biked with me for about 10 miles around Nerstrand, MN. It made a very lonely part of the ride much more bearable.  

Day 5 Pictures: Stillwater to Rochester

Day 4 Pictures: Biking from Hinckley to Stillwater

Mike, Ian and Kelsey: Pine Point Park, MN

Ian and Mikey: Gateway Trail 

Mike: County Highway 61

Day 3 Pictures: Rollerskiing on the William Munger Trail

Mikey and Henry Walker on the trail 

Are these my poles?

Ian: post-bike

 

Ian, Mikey and Henry

Day 5. 11:04 am

Mikey is currently recovering from hypothermia in the RV. He has covered 42 miles and will be back on the roads momentarily. 

Day 4 Complete!

Day 4, the bike leg from Hinckley to Stillwater, is now complete. Total distance for the day was 73 miles. There was a constant headwind, however, making it more difficult than I had anticipated. Hopefully the winds reverse tomorrow!

Pictures from yesterday and today will be coming soon. 

Day 3 Complete! And Halfway Done!

Day 3, with 60 miles of rollerskiing, is now complete!. After looking at weather reports that called for up to an inch of rain throughout the day and a high temperature of 47 degrees, I figured it would be better to just start skiing from the access point at the campground rather than at the true start of the trail. Doing so cut off 10 miles, but it turned out to be wise decision as it started downpouring on Henry and I after about 15 minutes. In less than 3 miles we were soaked to the bone. This turned out to be quite dangerous, however, since it was also about 40 degrees. By the time we made our first stop after 28 miles, we were in the beginning stages of hypothermia. 

Yet things improved drastically after this low point, as the deluge let up to more of a drizzle and the temperature climbed another 5 degrees. Furthermore, we stopped approximately every 10 miles, making the trip physically and mentally much easier. 

A huge shout-out to Henry Walker, my partner in misery, who made the ski today infinitely more enjoyable. Not only did Henry not balk at my idea of the Transversal when he first heard it, he also thought it would be great fun to do the ski portion with me. Not too many people would drop everything on a Monday and ski for 7 hours without complaining about a 40 degree rain. I honestly don't think I would have been able to complete the ski if it weren't for Henry. Many, many, thanks. 

Pictures should be coming soon (whenever I get more time to upload them). I also think took some video footage on our camera, which means we should be able to upload the footage at the same time we do the pictures. Check back soon!

Day 2 Pictures

Lake Superior Video

Day 2 Pictures

  Whitecaps 

Mike: Scenic Highway near Duluth 

Energy!

Kelsey and Birkie our mascot :) 

Day 2 Complete!

Day 2 dawned rainy, cold (42 degrees), and very, very windy. The wind transformed the previously tranquil Lake Superior into water with huge swells and whitecaps. Since kayaking would have posed an extreme risk of capsizing, I decided to run the distance instead of kayaking. Thus, I ran 17 miles along scenic highway 61 (the same route Grandma's marathon uses). The pictures that follow document my run. Enjoy!

Day 1 Pictures

Mikey and Ian racing to the finish 

Starting off 

Day 1 Complete!

After 7 hours, 22 miles, and 4 snickers bars, day one of the Great Transversal is complete! Some pictures from the day can be found above. More pictures and commentary to come. Also, plenty of video footage was taken, but that will be uploaded after the trek is complete. Enjoy!

A Note on Pictures and Video

As the week progresses, I will do my best to upload pictures of the day's events. My sister will also be filming the endeavor. However, all videos will be uploaded after the trek is completed because we do not have the cords that allow for video uploads to the computer. Pictures, however, will be uploaded daily, assuming I find adequate internet connections along the way. Bottom line: be patient! There will be plenty of video feed and pictures taken, but there might be a slight delay in posting them.

A Few Big Shout-Outs

I have two huge thank-you's after today: 

First, to Dan Soderberg for loaning me two kayak sprayskirts for a week. For free. Not only did it save me countless hassles from bypassing the rental scene, it also gives me the privilege of using some very, very nice equipment. Dan's generosity is even more amazing when one considers that I posted my request on an on-line bulletin board and he, who had never met me, responded so quickly. A huge thank you to Dan!

Second, to Rochester Cycling and Fitness (http://cycling-fitness.com/). Specifically, to Matt and Deb, the owners. Even though there was a week-long backlog, they gave my bike a thorough tune-up on an hour's notice. For free. And they threw in a spare tube at no charge. Many thanks for their extreme generosity shown to my cause. For all of you Rochester residents, and even non-Rochester citizens, support this shop!

Pictures!

The images that follow should give you a better idea of our transportation and support setup. 

Top to bottom: RV compartment with gear; another RV gear compartment; food shelf. 

Plenty of Red Bull and Gatorade!

The big rig. Affectionately named Rex.

Our trailer with kayaks loaded. 

Decorations complements of my sister Kelsey. 

Donation Totals To Date

As of today, $3,450 have been raised. That means that in the past week, a whopping $900 was donated! I am continuously astounded by everyone's generosity.

General Information About The Great Transversal

It was recently brought to my attention that this blog doesn't give a good explanation of why I am undertaking this journey. So, to address this deficit, I have copied the letter I sent to about 100 friends, family, and acquaintances below. Everything should be explained in the letter: 

Last Christmas break, I was given the opportunity to volunteer at the Puericultorio Perez Aranibar (P.P.A.) orphanage in Lima, Peru. The trip was organized by Global Volunteers (www.globalvolunteers.com), a St. Paul, MN organization that specializes in international volunteer experiences. During my time at P.P.A., I was thoroughly trounced by the orphans on the soccer field and learned, first hand, the challenges of holding the attention of 3^rd graders for more than 3 seconds. Perhaps the most humbling aspect of my trip, however, was a realization of the gaping chasm that existed between the vast number of opportunities I had been given that others had not. This realization prompted action to at least partially address the imbalance. In this way, the idea for the Great Transversal of Minnesota was born. 

 

Limited Internet and cable access in Peru provided ample opportunity for undisturbed reflection. My thoughts always led back to my arrival, how it was marred by delay after delay and the intense frustration I felt at being a victim of circumstances completely out of my control. I realized the intense frustration I felt during my trip was something the children of the orphanage live with every day of their lives. No one consulted them about being born in a shantytown with a family unable to care for them, or worse, want them. They didn’t choose to live in a walled compound while other children their age got to enjoy unimaginable freedoms: trips to the zoo, the movies, vacations with their families, and the like. It was then I realized that of everything the children lacked, the most glaring was opportunity. At the same time, I learned of Global Volunteer’s academic sponsorship program. The idea is simple: a sponsor provides money to send a qualified student from P.P.A. to college. Yet even though it costs a mere $500 per year to sponsor an individual, the program was forced to turn away several deserving students in 2008 due to a lack of funds.

 

My conviction to sponsor the children of P.P.A. in their college education was catalyzed by an anonymous quote read by a fellow volunteer: “Because I have been given much, I too must give.” From this conviction, the idea for the Great Transversal of Minnesota slowly crystallized: I would apply my passion for endurance sports towards raising scholarship funds for the orphans and hence transfer some of my abundant opportunity to the underprivileged orphans of P.P.A. On June 6th, I will begin a 400-mile, 7-day trip across Minnesota.  Travel from the North Shore of Lake Superior to Rochester will be solely human powered, involving kayaking, swimming, biking, rollerskiing (similar to rollerblading but with ski poles), and running. My goal is to raise $5,000 dollars in sponsorship. All funds will be donated toward college scholarships for the orphans. More route details will be forthcoming, but the adventure will begin with kayaking in Lake Superior and will finish when I run the final miles into Rochester, my hometown.

 

The orphans and I would be grateful if you would be willing to consider sponsoring this trek. Please let me know at torc0002@umn.edu. Checks can be made out to “Global Volunteers” and sent to my Rochester address: 4418 Ettenmoor Ln. SW, Rochester, MN 55902. If you wish to make a donation online, go to http://donations.globalvolunteers.org, click on “select a fundraising page to view”, and then search for “Mike Torchia” to view my page. Since Global Volunteers has 501(c) status, all donations are tax-deductible. Finally, refer to my blog, www.greattransversalofminnesota.blogspot.com, for the latest news on the adventure. Thank you for taking time to consider this request and I hope to hear from you soon.

Day 7

I have included an extra day in this trek in case bad weather and/or extreme exhaustion forces me to break one day of traveling into 2 separate days. Thus, although the Transversal will take 6 days if everything goes perfectly, I have included an extra day to account for unforeseen circumstances.

Day 6 Route

This is perhaps the most straightforward of all the days. I will simply begin in Pine Island, MN and run to Rochester, MN via the Douglas Trail. It will end up being 13 miles of running. A link to the trail can be found here: 

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_trails/douglas.pdf

The route for day 5 was described as bringing me all the way to Rochester. However, I will be making a slight modification to the route described in the previous post and ending in Pine Island, MN so that I can run the final miles into Rochester on day 6.

Day 5 Route

Day 5 will involve both swimming and biking. The swimming portion will occur in the St. Croix River and will be about 1 mile in length. This leg of the journey is the most up in the air right now due to water currents. If the conditions are too dangerous, I will skip the swimming and just begin the day with biking. More details regarding the swimming leg will be available as the week progresses. 

After the swim, I will begin the bike leg. I will pick up where I left off on the Gateway Trail, following it all the way to its end in downtown St. Paul, MN. From there, I will make my way to the Sibley Memorial Highway. You will see below that I have copied the directions given to me by a fellow biker who showed me a good route to get from Sibley Memorial Highway in St. Paul to Rochester: 

From the west side of the river you grab the road right there (Sibley Memorial Highway 13) along the river until you can cross over to Pilot Knob (Minnesota 31). Pilot Knobb is busy with traffic all the time- so you can ride Johnny Cake Ridge road for most of the way through Eagan and Apple Valley to the southern suburb flat lands. Johnny Cake comes to a "T" at 42, and Pilot Knob will keep going for a while. Either way you have to make your way over to Hwy. 3 (Robert Trail which renames to Chippendale Ave). Hwy. 3 goes all the way to Farmington then Northfield- nice big shoulders and smooth blacktop but busy and fast cars. Take a left once you get to old downtown Northfield onto 246. Follow it as it turns East/South East. Before you get to Dennison, 246 turns right/south and if you keep on east it is now 31. But don't keep east on 31, its better on 246- take it south, less traffic and nicer shoulders. Coming out of Northfield is a bit sketchy with no shoulders and traffic. So follow 246 south, some nice climbs and woods to ride through; next take a left and head through downtown Nerstrand. Follow what is Hwy 246 Blvd it is called, keep East through Nerstrand, it will "S" turn on you a ways out of Nerstrand. But essentially you run into 56. Take 56 South to Kenyon. Follow 56 through Kenyon, head SE out of Kenyon on 56. Take a left in West Concord onto 24...you'll keep going East through Concord. Past Concord you'll come to a "T". Take a right onto 22. Follow 22 across 57 all the way to 11. Take a quick right on 11 then left off 11...essentially staying on 22. 22 will "T" at 5. Take 5 south to Byron. I'm sure you know the route from there. 

Route for Day 4

Although posting a map here for the 4th day's route is not feasible due to clarity issues, I have included links where appropriate. So, the route: 

Beginning in Hinckley, I will take highway 361 to North Branch. In North Branch I will pick up the Sunrise Prairie Hardwood Creek Trail, which runs approximately 24 miles to Hugo, MN. In Hugo, I will head east on 170th St. and then south on Manning Ave. N. Finally, I will head east again on 120th St. until I intersect the Gateway Trail at Pine Point Park, and take that south until I run into country road 96, which will take me to Stillwater. I anticipate the day will end up being around 80 miles of biking. Here are links to the two bike paths I will use: 

Sunrise Prairie Hardwood Creek Trail:    http://www.ccbiketrail.org/sptmap.html

Gateway Trail:  http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_trails/gateway.pdf

Donation Totals To Date

As of Wednesday, 5/27, I am more than halfway towards reaching my goal of $5,000. Adding up all contributions gives a figure of $2,550! Thank you all for your extreme generosity.

The route for days 4, 5, 6, and 7 is still to come, as are short interviews with my support crew.

Again, thank you all for your kindness.

 

Route for 3rd Day

The 3rd day of the Transversal (Monday, June 8th) will involve 70 miles of rollerskiing on the Munger Trail. This state trail runs from Duluth, MN to Hinckley, MN and is paved the entire way. A map can be found at this site: 

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_trails/willard_munger.pdf

General information on the Munger Trail can be found here: 

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_trails/willard_munger/index.html

My "game plan" will be to ski in 3 hour installments, with a 15 minute break after each segment. A longer break will be taken for lunch after the second 3 hour segment. I don't anticipate the trail taking longer than three 3-hour segments (9 hours total), although the presence of a strong head or tailwind could change that estimate drastically. Either way, I am preparing for a long day on the trail. 

Route for First 2 Days

The first two days of the Transversal (June 6th and 7th) will involve kayaking on Lake Superior. I'm still experimenting with a good way to post the map online without drastically reducing its quality, but for now I will include a link. I will be using the Lake Superior Water Trail, which can be found online at: 

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/kayaking/lswt/index.html

Click on "maps" on the above page and then focus your search to mile 42. This corresponds to Split Rock Point, where I will begin the first day. The goal is to make it to Agate Bay in Two Harbors, MN (mile 25) for a total of 17 miles of kayaking the first day. I plan to be on the water between 6:30 and 7 a.m. and average between 2-3 miles per hour. This means that it will be a 6-9 hour day on the water. 

Day two will begin where day one left off (Agate Bay). I hope to reach mile 0 of the Water Trail corresponding to Franklin Park in Duluth which would mean 25 miles of kayaking. However, my plans may change depending on the activity of large shipping vessels in the port. I don't want to be competing for space with the gargantuan boats, so if I deem it too dangerous, I will stop at Brighton Beach (mile 6) and then run the last 6 miles. 

Again, the landmarks and mile markers I am referencing can be found by following the above link. Hopefully I will soon find a way to import a quality picture of the map. 

Support Crew

This adventure would be impossible without the dedication and support of my family who will also be riding along in a rented RV as my support crew. They will provide food, water, reconnaissance, mental support, and a place to rest. Without my support crew, it would truly be impossible to complete this endeavor. Thus their contributions will not be glossed over. Look for interviews with select members of the crew to be posted here soon. 

May update (and a much, much, needed one)

Once again, I am starting out my post with an apology for not keeping this page updated. Between finals and a trip to help my girlfriend move to Seattle for a summer internship, things have been quite crazy. However, I will be working through the last details of the adventure in the coming weeks, so check back here often.

Route details in the form of maps will be posted here over the weekend. For now, I will describe the route in words. 

Days 1 and 2 (Day 1 = Saturday, June 6th): 

Begin kayaking at Split Rock Point on Lake Superior. This point corresponds to mile 42 of the Lake Superior Water Trail. End in Duluth, Minnesota on Day 2.

Day 3: 

Rollerski from Duluth, MN to Hinckley, MN via the Willard Munger state trail.

Day 4: 

Bike from Hinckley, MN to Stillwater, MN via highway 61, the Hardwood Trail, the Gateway Trail, and highway 96.

Day 5:  

Swim across the St. Croix River at Stillwater and then bike to Pine Island (too many roads to list here, but check back in the coming days for a map).

Day 6: 

Run the final 13 miles via the Douglas Trail into Rochester. 

Please note that while the actual route is not likely to change, the specific activities that take place on each day will likely be tweaked. For example, I might choose to bike instead of rollerski the Munger State Trail instead  if weather conditions or other circumstances warrant it. Or, I might decide to run more on the last day or add some miles of running to certain days, depending on the conditions. Again, while the route will stay the same, the activities on each day are subject to change. 

Much more detailed descriptions to come soon in the form of maps with actual milage distances!

Online Donation Protocol

Don't forget about the online donation option. Simply go to:

http://donations.globalvolunteers.org

Then click on "select a fundraising page to view" and search for "Mike Torchia". My page should pop right up. 

 

A Much-Needed Update

I'll admit it- I've been doing a pitiful job of updating this blog. The past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and a rollercoaster of emotion. It started with a trip to the Collegiate Triathlon National Championships in Lubbock, Texas- 17 hours of driving there, one day of competition, and then 17 hours back. I was extremely pleased with my performance, but this was tempered by the news that one of my teammates had crashed on the bike portion and broke her collerbone. Upon arrival back in Minneapolis, I literally collapsed into an exhausted stupor, only to force myself up a few hours later for our campus Rhodes Scholarship interviews. I think the committee took pity on me from the dark circles under my eyes, because I learned later that day I had received the University's endorsement for the Rhodes Scholarship. With the prospect of 3 upcoming tests, a triathlon grant proposal deadline, and countless meetings, however, there wasn't much time to celebrate. So, my post today signifies that things have calmed down to a reasonable level. I hope to henceforth devote the majority of my time to the Transversal. 

My short-term goal this week is to finish sending the last of the donation letters and work out the last details of the route. This week also marks my official start to training again after a one week post-nationals break. The delay in the route details comes from figuring out which roads are suitable for rollerskiing from a safety perspective. In the longer term, I hope to begin talking to businesses and publicize the event in local publications.

Hope all is well as summer draws closer.

   

Route Details

Final route details are slowly crystallizing. I don't want to make any concrete, rigid plans with the route because so much of this adventure depends on flexibility. For example, weather might force me to make route changes for safety reasons. Or perhaps an injury that will not allow me to run will force some changes in the plan. Since I can't predict a lot of factors, I will simply approach the Great Transversal with an attitude of flexibility.

That said, however, the big picture will look something like this: 

Saturday, June 6th: Begin kayaking in Lake Superior. Kayak approximately 30 miles.

Sunday, June 7th: Second day of kayaking in Lake Superior. Another 30 miles that ends in Duluth, MN.

Monday, June 8th: First day of rollerskiing, covering approximately 50 miles.

Tuesday, June 9th: Second day of rollerskiing, covering another 50 miles. 

Wednesday, June 10th: Get on the bike for approximately 100 miles. 

Thursday, June 11th: Swim 1 mile across the St. Croix River, then bike approximately 100 miles.

Friday, June 12th: Run the final 20 miles into Rochester.

Soon I should be able to post a map of Minnesota that shows the specific route and mode of transportation for each segment. 

Online Fundraising Option

There is now the option to make donations online! Simply go to http://donations.globalvolunteers.com, click on "select a fundraising page to view" and then search for "Mike Torchia". Since Global Volunteers has 501(c) status, all donations are tax deductible. 

-Mike

The Inaugural Post

I'm 4 days from my 21st birthday, a college student, and a millenial. From this demographic information, one would naturally assume I'm fully comfortable with this blogging business. Wrong. I'm hopelessly slow at texting (and thus hopelessly out of the loop), haven't looked at my facebook page in days, and didn't know what "twittering" was until a few days ago. In short, this is all new to me, so be patient as I experiment. This will be my medium of choice to communicate with you, the donors to my adventure. It is your one-stop source for all updates on the Great Transversal of Minnesota. 

Speaking of this adventure- its probably one of the crazier ones I've cooked up. Actually, I don't deserve all the blame. My teammate and I were in the middle of a long run, and, after a lull in the conversation, began brainstorming some "sweet" things to do over the summer. The funny thing about long runs in 80 degree weather is that anything which sounds "sweet" after 90 minutes of running would appear absolutely insane to a person in normal circumstances. Thus, our idea of biking across the United States while surviving on roadkill was deemed a little too extreme in the days after it was conceived. One idea, however, was just crazy enough that it sounded somewhat legitimate when we weren't in the middle of a run. Essentially, we would kayak, bike, run, swim, and rollerski for 400 miles in a north to south direction down Minnesota. 

Being young, idealistic, and impressionable, I kept the idea in the back of my mind. Only months later, when I was brainstorming ways I could raise money for college scholarships for orphans in Lima, Peru, did the idea to use The Great Transversal occur to me. Suddenly everything made so much sense. This crazy little idea, conceived many months ago in the sweltering heat of the Minnesota summer, has finally come to fruition.

Hopefully this gives you a better idea of the context surrounding this trek. Check back soon for route details. 

Happy Trails,

-Mike