By Morgan Wolfe/Murphy News Service

Many college students were packing swimsuits and flip flops for their recent spring break trips, but Quentin Super and Ryan Brandenburg were preparing for their break with winter jackets and gloves as they geared up for a road trip to Canada.

Their adventure didn’t involve jamming along to the radio in a car for a long distance road trip, instead, they pedaled bicycles 550 miles listening to a different tune – nature.

“Everyone goes south during spring break for warmer weather, and we thought it would be fun to ride north and get out of the country,” Super said.

Brandenburg is a junior at St. Cloud State University studying business management. Super, an Osseo High School 2010 graduate,  is a senior studying fine arts. Super and Brandenburg have biked on and off since they were kids, but it wasn’t until college when they gradually began venturing for longer distances.

Despite their friends’ doubts, the two formulated a plan to bike to Canada after they completed their longest trip they had biked at the time, to Brainerd from St. Cloud.

“We kinda just took the bull by the horns and finally did it,” Brandenburg said.

The duo began mapping out their route to Winnipeg over Christmas break. They made hotel reservations ahead of time for rooms in Pine River, Clearbrook and Karlstad for the northbound excursion, and for the return home.

The original goal was to avoid biking on larger, busier roads, such as highways and interstates. On only a few occasions did they resort to biking on busy roads. They stayed on smaller roads for their safety, including biking along trails running parallel to the Mississippi River.

Brandenburg said he was almost hit by a semi truck on the way up when they were on a busier highway. And that wasn’t the only close call, Super was attacked by a dog.

He said they were cruising down a back road when a dog suddenly emerged from a junkyard and attacked him, then chased them for more than a mile.

The excitement continued to build as they got tried to cross into Canada, where they encountered trouble with the border patrol.

“The guys thought we were lying. They weren’t very nice until we showed them a St. Cloud news article written about us before our trip,” Super said. “Then, they realized we were legit.”

The border patrol let the two into the country where they spent the next three days recouping in Winnipeg before they began their journey home.

Super and Brandenburg are avid bikers, but admitted the trip was a haul for them. Every hard mile left them with a rewarding feeling, they said, after making it back home to St. Cloud.

“When you first start the day, you know the miles you have, and the closer you get you get more of a rush,” Brandenburg said. “You can’t explain it unless you’ve done it.”

Making it back home safe was a relief for them, but they will never forget the people they met along the “trek,” such as the owner of a liquor store in Karlstad, Minnesota, who gave them a free case of beer and the owners of Karlstad’s North Star Motor Inn, who treated them to the best hospitality they experienced throughout the entire trip.

“We ride because we love to meet people. You never know what you’re going to encounter,” Super said.

As for more treks in the future, both said they don’t have any planned, but they would like to ride the trails around Minneapolis and its suburbs. But long-distance trips are not a thing of the past for Brandenburg and Super, they said.

“We’re college students and spent a lot of money on the trip to Canada,” Brandenburg said. “But in my future, it is my goal is to take a trip across the country.”

Reporter Morgan Wolfe is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.