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.