I’m off bike trails and back on rural roads again. Seeing a lot of huge lawns being mowed on riding mowers… oh, right, today is Sunday. The days of the week have become irrelevant. The smell of freshly cut grass reminds me of my first paying jobs when I was twelve, cutting much smaller lawns for our neighbors in Connecticut on hot, sweltering summer days.
It’s another beautiful, sunny day with little climbing and I push for 100 miles so I can stop for the night at the “Adventure Bicyclist Bunkhouse” on Donn Olson’s Farm. This special place is almost exactly midway between Anacortes, Washington and Bar Harbor, Maine along the ACA Northern Tier route.
Donn and Sherry take the idea of “Minnesota nice” and crank it up to 11. They’ve been hosting 150-200 cross country cyclists a year since 2006, gradually converting an old barn into a haven for the weary traveler. I’m their 88th guest this year and the latest-ever arrival. It feels like a Darwin award but I’m going to wear it with pride. October 17 is the date to beat.
The latest incarnation of the bunkhouse has a new kitchen with two stocked refrigerators, heating and air conditioning, flush toilet, shower and enough space to accommodate the groups of 25-30 cyclists who come through a couple of times each year.
Donn is apologetic about the water being turned off due to the late season and impending frost warnings but I improvise a shower with my water bag and bake myself a pizza before calling it a night on a comfy cot.
In the morning, Donn comes over with a fresh pot of coffee and shares stories about past visitors. Mine is the first solar bike he has seen so I expect future visitors will hear about, “this one time a guy showed up on a solar contraption he had built.” He clearly enjoys meeting the parade of interesting characters who’ve come through over the years. I try to express my appreciation but it feels inadequate. Having signed his guestbook, I ride off to my next destination.
SOLAR ebike 
Do you have contact info for this place? Planning a trip this spring and I can’t find any info online :/. Nice write up btw 🙂
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Hi Eric. I tried searching for it just now and I also couldn’t find the contact info anywhere. It’s not listed in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Open Street Maps. I can find a dozen or so write-ups on the web with photos and stories but none of them list the address or phone number.
So how do 80-250 cyclists per year end up at Donn Olson Farm? Probably the same way I did. One of my Instagram followers alerted me to the existence of the bunkhouse and I found the phone number and address in my Adventure Cycling Association map: Northern Tier, Section 6, Walker, MN to Stillwater, MN. Although my own experience with using these maps has been mixed (mostly positive), I would encourage anyone planning a long distance US bike tour to check them out and buy their maps. ACA is a non-profit doing good work promoting bike touring.
To the hungry, tired cyclist who is reading this because you are searching for last-minute accommodations and this blog page came up in a Google search: ride to Dalbo, Minnesota and ask for Donn Olson’s place. It’s a very small community so any local should be able to tell you. His place is one mile outside of town.
I’m not going to publish the phone number and address here out of respect for Donn’s privacy but if you contact me directly I’ll give you both: https://solare.bike/contact
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