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.