Big Dave

If you win one, you're good.

If you win two, you're really good.

But if you win it three times (in a row), it's "Total Dominance".

Congratulations, Big Dave on your third ROY Championship.

Now, just take it easy on us "regular" folks...

Wed. 8/26/09

Met up with the Erik's bike ride group tonight. It was a light turnout, but we eventually ended up with 8 riders. Even though Big Jim bailed at PI, I guess 6+ hours of gravel road riding in one day was enough for him. Can you say, Wuss!

Anyway, the group (Big Jim, Jim G., Jim H., Big Jeff, Jeff G., Steve G., Big Tom, and myself) headed north on thre trail to get out of traffic.

We turned off the trail on cty 3 and headed for PI.

At PI, we turned west (as Big Jim headed for home or more gravel roads...) and followed the river road to cty 11. The group rolled along nicely, and even hung together up the big climb on cty 11.

As we made our way to Roscoe, we got a bit split up, but we came back together before town.

And as we turned east for PI again, we had a slight headwind. But the group did an excellent job of working together to keep the pace high, but not too high that we were splitting up all the time.

Big Tom wanted the PI sign bad, so I graciously let him out of his cage and he was off. Big Jeff tried to catch him, but Tom was too far out.

We headed south out of PI on cty 3 again, then as we neared Douglas, the pace whipped up for the sign, Jim H., Steve G., and I did our Domestique duties for the day and Big Jeff turned out to be the eventual winner of the the coveted Douglas town sign.

Then it was back on the trail for the shop. Big Jeff (and others) split for home as we neared town.

We got back at around 8:15pm, just as the daylight was getting thin.

Great ride, everyone.

Tues. 8/25/09

Did my quick 20 miler tonight. Light winds, so I decided to push the pace a bit (after my warm-up period).

As I was heading out, I passed Gary G. coming in from one of his standard rides and a bit later, I passed Shaun and Harry as they made their way back into town from one of their standard Tuesday rides.

All in all, just a nice night to be out spinning...

Sat. 8/22/09

I got out and met the 8:00am Dunn Brothers group this morning.

Big Jim must have overslept, as he drove in and Marty even graced us with his presence today. He's getting (or should I say has gotten) into shape for the CX season. Boy, I pity the fool that signs up to race against him...

Anyway with light winds, we decided to head for Whitewater State Park.

We made our way across town and then headed south on cty 1 and then across at Pinewood School to Marion Road, then past Camp Kahler and out past the Gun Club (a road I'm all too familar with). We made our way to Eyota. After a quick stop we headed north out of town on cty 7. The group rolled along nicely as we turned east for a bit and then north on cty 7 some more.

From there we headed pretty much east down into Whitewater and then down into Elba for another water stop.

Now for the fun stuff, as we headed west out of Elba, up the steep grade toward Plainview. Once on top, the group reassembled and we worked together all the way to Elgin. There was some road construction, so we continued west until we got to cty 11. Then we turned south and headed for home.

I was starting to feel the pace, so I skipped a few rotations in the pace-lining. But it wasn't too long before I started to feel better and decided I should do some work before the others started to notice I was sand-bagging.

As we neared town, Dr. Tim headed for homw, while the others rolled down cty 11, right past my place as they headed for the Camp Kahler road again.

Nice ride guys (Dr. Tim, Terry, Bruce, Big Jim, Marty, Al, and Zak).

Sun. 8/16/09

I got out for some quick spins on Monday and Tuesday. Mostly to measure my fitness for the Main Event on Saturday.

I decided to give it a go (after being convinced by Silver)...

So on Friday night, I packed the bike, made a couple of water bottles, fixed some breakfast items, and had all my gear either in the truck or ready for the morning.
And at 3:45am, I got up to start the adventure. After I got dressed and loaded the remaining items for my trip into the truck, I was off toward Lakeville.

As I drove up I munched on breakfast and tried to wake up. I got to Lakeville, made a wrong turn and wound up in front of Leg's house. Luckily, Legs was out getting the paper or something, so I chatted with him a bit and he pointed me to Silver's place. I made my way over to Steve's and things looked a bit quiet, so I parked the truck and decided to take a little nap.

It wasn't too long and Espresso showed up, so I decided to head up to the house. Steve, Ted, and C-Ray were all getting ready. Pretty soon Legs showed up and shortly there after the others showed up (Pete, Mike, Edgar, and Shad).

So the nine of us posed for the manditory starting point photo and we were off. We headed out for Northfield at around 6:15am. The sun was just starting to show itself. The roads were pretty quiet as we made our way out of town.

We rolled along nicely into a slight breeze to Northfield, here Senator had to turn back. So the rest of us rolled south out of town and up the climb toward Nerstand. I think C-Ray took the sign at Nerstand. A quick stop at Nerstand for water, food, and breaks. And then it was more south and east to Pine Island. Again, C-Ray took the first set of signs, but Espresso snuck in for the second set.

We stopped in PI, and everyone filled up on much needed food and water. We rolled east out of PI to Mazzeppa. What a nice stretch of road as we headed into Mazeppa and then east out of town on hwy 60, to cty 7. Up the big climb (where C-Ray and Mike put on the hurt), to Chefie's. No one was home, so we made just a quick stop for water and then it was north to Zumbro Falls. I was too far back to see who took the town sign.

We turned east again on hwy 60 at Zumbro Falls and headed up the long climb (where Legs dropped his chain) and then after a couple of miles, we turned north on cty 2 (I think) and headed for Lake City. Again the group worked nicely, as we tackled the rolling hills on cty 2 and then finally back on hwy 63 for the mad dash for the Lake City sign. Again, I was too far back to tell who actually won the sign (I'll give it to Legs)...

We stopped at the convience store in Lake City again for just a bit, but long enough for Steve to get a tongue-lashing from the store clerk about how some of us took ice and water without buying anything else. After a couple of good laughs, we headed SE out of town for Wabasha. It was here that I started to notice my left hamstring was starting to let me know it was there.

The group rolled along with a nice single pace-line all the way to Wabasha. But along the way Rob got attacked by a "killer bee" and in the process of defending himself, his Oakley sunglasses went flying onto the road and right under my front wheel. I was sure they were toast, but Ted picked them up and other than some scratches on the frame, they were fine. Another endorsement for Oakley Eyeware (now where's my check). We continued on into Wabasha without incident and then up and over the bridge to Wisconsin. C-Ray decided he wanted to be first into cheese-country. We stopped in Nelson for lunch and everyone took full advantage of the sandwiches, chips, soda, and beer (Edgar). As we were getting ready to leave, I bumped into a couple of high school classmates (they were there on their motorcycle enjoying the ride around the lake).

We headed north toward Pepin, Stockton, and Maden Rock. Edgar got a nice motor-pace from some friends on a motorcycle, but he came to his senses and came back to the group. Soon it was time for the big climb of the day. I had settled in for the climb, when I noticed C-Ray and Mike openning up a gap on the group, so I decided to join them. As we headed up Mike started to drift back and it was C-Ray and I from there. I really needed to keep a tempo that I was comfortable in, and when C-Ray slowed a bit I decided to just grit my teeth and keep the tempo going. I made it to the top and decided to book it down the other side for the Bay City town sprint. To my surprise, I made it into town without C-Ray coming around. We stopped in Bay City for water, food, and to regroup.

From there we headed north and then west across the bridge into Red Wing. After a quick water stop, we hit the Cannon Valley trail for Cannon Falls. The "trail of tears" was once again, not a disappointment, as the pace was high with everyone taking turns at the front (mostly C-Ray, Mike, Silver, Ted, and Legs) working it hard. The trail was very quiet for a change, except for a couple of people who knew Edgar. Once we got to Cannon Falls we stopped at the local grocery store for food and water.

Then it started to sprinkle and I was sure the "fun" was just about to start. But as we headed out of town, the rain stopped and we rolled along all the way back to Lakeville without the drenching that I was sure we were in for.

We rolled back up to Silver's at about 8:25pm, dark enough that I had to put my sun glasses away. And after a quick couple of group photos, my wife (who had been to the Twin's game with my daughter and her boyfriend) drove me to McDonalds for a couple of cheeseburgers, fries, and a large vanilla shake.

Then the rain decided to show up, so once again our timing was perfect.

Great ride guys and thanks for all the hard work out there (Ted, Rob, Steve, Shad, Pete, Mike, Edgar, and of course Carleton)...

Sun 8/9/09

I met up with Jeff this morning for some easy miles.

With the winds out of the WNW, we headed west from Jeff's toward cty 4.

Then we turned north to Douglas and at Douglas we went east and north out of town.

We passed the Sunday morning group as they were heading south into Douglas. They all gave a wave and/or shout as they passed. I'm not 100% they all shouted nice things...

Jeff and I continued north and west until we got to cty 5 were we turned west and south on cty 5.

Eventually, we made our way back to the Genoa hill road and turned east for Genoa.

There were a number of riders out with maps of some sort, I'm not sure if there was an organized event going on or just happened to see multiple folks with maps in hand.

Anyway, Jeff flew down the Genoa hill and I eventually caught him before we had to tackle the three rollers into Douglas.

We continued east out of Douglas and then south on the frontage road and back to Jeff's.

Just the right amount of miles and tempo for my tired (and weak) legs.

Sat. 8/8/09

It was raining this morning, so I decided to skip the standard 8:00am ride and get out later on my own.

About 10:00am the roads were dry and the skies were showing more and more blue, so I headed out for a SE route (into the SE winds).

I made my way to Eyota and then continued east to Dover. At Dover, I turned south and headed for Chatfield. The wind had shifted to more southerly at this point, so I was pretty much into a 20+ mph wind for the next 10+ miles.

Once I got to Chatfield, I realized it was the city celebration day again and roads were closed in preparation for the big parade.

I stopped at the Kwip Trip for a snack and to get some more to drink, then it was off to find a route west out of the city. After some fancy back road turns, I made my way out past the horses and up the cty 2 hill.

By this time the winds had turned to the SW, so you guessed it, no rest for the wicked...

Finally, as I turned north on cty 1 I got the tail wind I was hoping for. By this time the temps (and the humidity) had increased to the point where I couldn't see at times because of the sweat in my eyes. But I got to roll along at a decent pace without my legs screaming at me to slow down.

I turned on cty 11 and headed up and over the big hills for home.

I finished with over 50 miles, very tired legs, and a helmet that weighed twice as much as it should have.

Mon. 8/3/09

Just a quick 20 mile out-and-back tonight.

After yesterday's ride, I just needed to stretch my legs.

I was surprised I didn't feel worse today, but I actually had to tell myself to take it easy at times.

D to D is still a big question mark for me...but we'll see.

Sun. 8/2/09

Terry had sent out the S.O.S. for riders to make the epic journey to Northfield and back on Sunday morning. So, I decided I could use the trip as a measure of my D to D fitness level.

We started at Dunn Brothers south at 7:00am. There were 8 other riders, but a few of them were turning back at some point. They were: Terry, Dr. Tim, Al, Chris, Bruce, Big Steve, Big Jim, Tim B and myself.

The winds were out of the SW and picking up throughout the day. Not the best day to go NW. But we took off heading west to Byron by way of Salem Corners.

The group was moving along nicely with a double pace line. At Byron, we continued west to Kasson and then after a short pause (to let the train go by), we headed for Dodge Center.

We stopped at the Kwik Trip in Dodge Center for more water, gatorade, and muffins.

Dr. Tim and Al decided that this was a good spot for them to turn back, while the rest of us headed north out of Dodge Center.

We then turned west again and made our way to West Concord. We continued west for a couple of more miles and just as we hit road construction, we turned north. The tailwind pushed us along at a nice 22+ mph pace as the 7 remaining riders got into a single rotating pace line.

We cruised on into Kenyon and after a short stop, we continued north and then west again to Nerstrand. From there it was west, north, then west again, down and up over some nice little climbs and finally down into Northfield.

We stopped at the Blue Monday Coffee shop for water, juice, coffee, bagels, and other assorted treats. We stayed there about 30 minutes or so, while everyone got good and refreshed. Then it was off back the way we had came, this time the tailwind was not so favorable.

We basically doubled-back to Kenyon and made another quick stop at the convience store for water. By this time I was starting to feel my lack of fitness, so I opted for a Mountain Dew and a Salted Nut Roll.

We made our way east out of Kenyon and I made sure to stay in the draft of the other 6 as best I could. The group rolled along at an incredable pace (+23 mph) considering the strong cross, headcross, and head winds we encountered as we made our way to Roscoe and finally Pine Island.

We made another stop in PI for water and food (I grabbed another Dew). And we finished of the epic trip on the Douglas Trail. I was glad to be out of the winds, as I was at my limit by now.

Once we reached Rochester, I turned east and headed for home.

140 miles in under 8 hours, not bad.

I wish I could only say I contributed more to the return trip than I did.

I really need to thank Big Jim, Big Steve, Big Chris, Big Bruce, Big Terry, and Big Tim for pulling my sorry a$$ all the way home. THANKS GUYS!!!