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)...