Sat. 6/28/08

The skies were bright blue, but on the western horizon there was some much darker clouds heading this way. So I headed for Dunn Brothers, just in case there was anyone waiting to ride (there was no chatter on the email). As I rode by, I didn't see anyone standing there. So I kept heading west out past Bamber Valley school and out on cty 8. As I cleared the hill, I could see the rain coming in. I hoped that I could get to the airport turn before it hit, but I didn't make it. So, I rode almost all the way to Simpson in light rain. Then the roads dried up a bit as I turned north on cty 1 and headed home. Not as many miles as I would have liked for a Saturday, but at least I didn't get too soaked.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the basement...and cleaning my bike.

Wed. 06/25/08

Got out with the group from Erik's last night. We started with 12, quickly added Jeff, and added Bill M. out on the road. There were two routes mapped out, so the group decided to do the south route, primarily because of the wind direction. We headed down the Douglas trail to Valley High, then followed the path south to 19th St. We headed west on 19th until we got to cty 104. We follwed 104 south to Salem Road. We turned west to Salem Corners, where a long sprint took place with Marty claiming the prize (Jeff's new bike has it's first taste of defeat). We turned south towards Rock Dell. We tried to get a paceline going, but there were too many people who were having a hard time figuring out how a paceline should work. So we dropped back into a two-by-two configuration, but not before Jim and Big Jim decided to beat up on each other for a bit. Eventually they slowed and the group was together for the Rock Dell Sprint. Todd took a strong lead, with a group of 4 on his wheel. Out of nowhere comes Big Jim to blow by everyone and take the sign.

Just south of Rock Dell we passed Steve (I think). He waved:

We kept moving south, where we met Bill, who decided to join us for a bit. We continued south across hwy 30 and onto cty 6. From there we turned east for Stewartville and some water. With the tailwind, the pace picked up and everyone took turns at the front. After a quick water stop, the group headed back to High Forest and then back to Rochester on cty 8. I continued east on hwy 30, then north on cty 20 and into Simpson. From there I headed for home. I finished with just over 55 miles and I was a bit tired (and thirsty).

Great ride everyone.

No Schells tonight, but there is always tomorrow...

Mon. 6/23/08

Did the quick 20 mile out and back. Had a slight headwind on the way out and nice tailwind back to home. Passed several others out on the ride. Then I had a nice juicy grilled steak. Yum.

Oh, and a couple of Schells...

Sat. 06/21/08

Got to Dunn Brothers for the traditional Saturday ride. 5 others were there ready to go (Tim B., Jeff G., Big Jim, Dr. Tim, and Jeff S.) Jeff brought his new bike so we all drooled over it for awhile. The winds were out of the west and predicted to pick up and change to the NW. I offered up a route that I had really wanted to do fro some time and everyone seemed to be OK with it so we headed to Salem Corners and on to Byron. From Byron we kept heading west to Kasson and then on to Dodge Center. We stopped at the Kwik Trip for water and at the time Dr. Tim and Jeff G. headed back to Rochester. The 4 of us continued out of town heading west on cty H and then we headed south on cty 5. With the tailwind, we really started to move along (between 22 and 25 mph). We stayed on cty 5 past hwy 30 and all the way to cty 1, where we turned east into Waltham. We continued east to Sargeant and stayed east until we got to cty 10, where we headed north. Cty 10 turns into cty 6 as it heads east to High Forest. We turned north on cty 8, but we were running out of water, so we made a quick stop in Stewartville and then headed back to cty 8 and on into town. Just before Bamber Valley School an oncoming car hit a deer that had jumed out of the north ditch. The impact sent the deer spinning across the road, just ahead of Jim and just behind Tim. We stopped and made sure the elderly couple in the car were OK, called 911, and then proceeded back into town. Just as we got to Salem road, here came a large group of covered wagons, who were heading out of town on cty 8. From there I headed for home. I finished with around 93 miles, tired legs, and a hungry stomach.

Here is the map:



Oh and BTW, Jeff broke in his new bike by showing it how to win 6 out of 6 town sprint signs.

P.S. We all let him win, so the new bike didn't see how slow he really is...

Fri. 6/20/08

Man, it was warm today. I did the 20 mile route and was really soaked by the time I got home. Passed Gary "the G-man" as he was heading back to town and on my way back I passed one other fellow. Sort of windy on the way back, too.

Wed. 6/18/08

We had 13 riders start from Erik's. I'll see if I have them all, first Team Erik's (Marty, Steve, Scott "The Bossman", Chris "Nice Helmet") and an assorted cast of characters (Todd, Tom, Paul, Al, Jim T., Kristi, Steve R., Pat, and myself). Marty had the route mapped out beforehand, so we headed north on the Douglas trail. At Douglas we hooked up with Jeff. We turned west up Genoa hill (Steve wanted the sign real bad), then north on cty 5. We missed the turn on cty 22 (so much for the pre-mapped route) and continued on cty 5 until we got to PI. From there we turned west on the river road all the way to Berne. The group was working real smooth at this point and everyone took their turn at the front. We turned south on hwy 57 and headed for Mantorville. Marty and "The Bossman" were on the front and with no room to spare, they had to pull us most of the way to Mantorville. Where Tom and Scott duked it out for the sign. Some needed water (others needed to get rid of some water), so the rest continued up the hill to wait at the golf course road. After regrouping, the group headed east past the golf course and again kept a nice rotation of fresh riders at the front. We turned towards Byron, where Tom wanted the town sign even more than Steve. At Byron, the group headed north and eventually east on cty 4 for Rochester. I headed south at Byron for Salem Corners and then back into Rochester and then home.

Here is my route:



Great ride and maybe next time Jeff will bring his good bike...

Tues. 6/17/08

Got out for a nice ride and decided to head for Dover. Once I got there, I was feeling good enough (or so I thought) to continue to cty 9. I followed cty 9 (with a nice headwind) all the way back to Rochester and then jumped on cty 11 for home.

Here's the map:



Nothing to report, except I was more tired than I would have liked...

Mon. 6/16/08

Tried the ride from DAHLC last night to see what the ride was like. I had heard that the previous week was more cut-throat than advertised. We had 6 riders for this ride (3 guys and 3 gals). Charlie and Deb were leading the ride and had the 20 mile route pre-mapped. With the NW winds we headed for the Douglas trail. We rode that until Douglas, then turned east to the hwy 52 frontage road. Then south and west on 65th. Then we headed south on 50th Ave until we got to cty 4. Here we turned west for a short stretch then we turned south through the new development and came back in from there on the road the runs past the RAC. I headed for home after we got back to the DAHLC and decided to put on some more miles up by Century. Then turned for home.

Sun. 6/15/08

No time for riding this weekend... :( With my parents 50th Anniversary Party at our house on Saturday, I had plenty of things on the "You Better Do" list. And there were still a bunch of clean up details left over for Sunday. Sorry for missing the 8:00am ride Big Jim and Jeff...

I hear Jeff has a new ride. I didn't get to see it up close, yet.
But here is a picture Big Jim took:



I suppose now Steve will need a new toy...

Thur. 6/12/08

Was going to do the normal 20 mile route, but I felt too good to stop. So, I continued south, then east to cty 10. From there I went east on cty 10 and then north into Dover. At Dover, I turned west and headed back to Eyota. I finished with just over 34 miles. No mishaps to report...

Tues. 6/10/08

Got in a quick 20 miles and then had to get the fertilizer on the lawn before it rains. Even though it didn't rain last night, it might today (bad for the Wednesday ride)...

Yesterday, I did finally find out Paul's secret to going fast. I caught him at his favorite snack shop (Carrol's Corn) eating popcorn. Not the caramel or cheese, but the regular popcorn. So if you want to keep up with Paul, better get yourself some Carrol's Corn today. Heh, I sound like an info-mercial...

Hopefully the bad weather holds off for the ride Wednesday ride (I hope, I hope, I hope).

Mon. 6/09/08

Did the 20 mile out and back tonight. Had a real nice tailwind going out and a horrible headwind coming home. Oh well, miles are miles...

Sat. 6/07/08

Even with the threat of severe thunderstorms, we had 7 foolish guys to attempt the Saturday ride (Dr. Tim, Big Jim, Al, Jeff S., Dan, Jeff G., and me). We headed out on cty 1 for Simpson. AS we neared Simpson, we noticed the skies to the west were getting quite a bit darker (a sign of things to come). After Simpson, we turned east on "rattlesnake" road for Marion. At Marion, the group split, as some wanted to go through town and avoid hwy 52, while others rode up hwy 52 to cty 19. I went through town with that group. As we were heading out of town, a lady driving a van pulled up and told us that severe thunderstorms warnings had been issued and were going to hit the area at 9:30am (it was 9:00am at the time). We caught up with the others and told them the good news. Dr. Tim and I decided to head for home, while the others continued south on cty 19 for hwy 30. Dr. Tim and I headed north on cty 19 headed for the back side of Chester Woods. At the top of the big downhill, it started to sprinkle. By the time we hit the bottom, it was pouring. We turned north and then east on the "gun club" road. Dr. Tim turned on the "Camp Kahlor" road and headed for home, while I continued north and home. Needless to say I was soaked by the time I got there.

I wonder how the others faired???

I just finished cleaning my bike (I dumped about a 1/4 cup of water from the frame).

Wed. 6/04/08

We had 14 people start out from Erik's on Wednesday. Let's see if I can remember the names (Jeff S., Big Jim, Beebe, Tom, Marty, Steve, Todd, Jeff G., Al, Kristi, Paul, Sam, Steve R., and myself). Marty laid the law down before we headed out and everyone on the group agreed to keep it civil and have a good, safe time. We decided to do the P-R-P (Pine Island, Roscoe, Pine Island) route backwards. We rolled out to Douglas on the trail, then continued on the trail until we hit cty 3. We turned west and headed for PI.

Just before PI, we encountered some recently released juvenile deliquents, one of them decided he was done with his happy meal and threw what was left (including his chocolate milk) at us.

The helmet-cam caught a picture of the passenger:

He must have wanted the Pretty, Pretty Princess Pony, instead of the Hot Wheels race car for his prize.

Anyway, the group kept a nice pace going all the way into PI, then we turned left on the "river road". The pace picked up to a nice steady tempo as we rolled west. When we got to cty 11, we turned north up the big hill, ouch. We rolled into Roscoe and turned east. This stretch of road is very nice and I think everyone in the group enjoyed the nice pace. About this time we got into a pattern of everyone taking short, hard pulls at the front and we really moved along, until the PI town sign neared, where the game was on. I think Steve took the sign, just ahead of a hard-charging Marty. We rolled into PI, then south through town and back to cty 3. We stayed on cty 3 all the way to Douglas. Jeff was polite and waved at Jim's yard ornament, as we went by. I think it waved back. As we crested the hill just north of Douglas, everyone released the horses and the game was on again. Lots of shifting and jockeying for postition. Ultimately, it was Marty squeaking by to claim the big prize.

The helmet-cam caught a picture of Tom at the finish line:


We regrouped again and headed for the trail. Big Jim decided he needed more work and headed for the Genoa hill, I turned east and headed for home, while the rest of the crew headed back to Erik's (I think via the trail).

My legs were pretty shot by the time I got home, the helmet-cam caught my reaction to the ride:

I hope that isn't a rash developing...

Nice ride everyone.

BTW, Steve S. was mildly upset he missed the fun:

Sun. 6/01/08

We had 7 guys take off from Dunn Brothers South. With light WNW winds (but expected to increase) we headed for Salem Corners. The sprint for the town sign was close.













Then we continued to Byron, where again the sprint was close.
This was a slight downhill finish.

We headed to Mantorville, where again the big dogs faught it out.

After a quick water stop we headed north for PI. Along the way, we passed Big Jim heading south. He gave us a wave (I think it was a wave) and tore down the road.
At PI, the sprint was on again, this time a slight uphill finish.

After some more water and food, we headed back to Byron. Along the way we passed Jason out for his ride. I think he waved also. At Byron, the battle was on again.



Then onto Salem Corners, good thing there is no sign there. Then we continued on into Rochester, where Big D broke off for more miles. Then I headed for home.

Here is the route:



Great ride guys (Jim T., New Shorts Bruce, Al, Jeff G., Tim B., and Dave).