Sun. 4/17

I got out for a later afternoon ride and made the whole 51 mile Chatfield loop.

Ths sun went behind the clouds about halfway through the ride, so the temps did dip a bit on me.

Overall, I felt pretty good and I was glad I salvaged some of my weekend riding...

Fri. 4/15

Nasty weather approaches, so it's indoors for a few days.

The past couple of 60 degree days really know how to spoil ya...

I actually got out on Tuesday in just the bibs and short-sleeve jersey.

Sat. 4/9

Chef and I made it up to Lakeville for the big Silver Coffee Ride.

It was supposed to be nice and warm, but it was a tad cool so I kept a couple of layers on with hopes of being able to peel some off as we went.

It was a large group (as you can tell by Bob's pictures):

Everybody on the ride

And there were quite a few Silver as well:

Silver Cycling 2011

We had a nice group ride to Prior Lake, stopped for coffee, and then back to Lakeville.

Things split up on the way back as one guy from Northfield got a flat and some of the group waited and others decided to keep rolling. Chef and I were in the "waited" group.

We rolled back into Lakeville with about 35 miles and lots of fun memories.

Thanks Silver (Steve K), for getting this organized!

BTW, the sun never really came out, so I'm really glad I put the extra layer on...

4/6

Got in the same route as yesterday, except no Chef and no flat.

The winds were out of the NW, so the stretch home was a bit less fun (and more work).

I was still tired from yesterday, so I took it a little easier.

Feels good to get some decent base miles in (I think I'm ahead of last year, even without the Arkansas trip).

4/5

I packed my bike today, as the weather was supposed to be pretty nice.

It was so, I took off from work and headed south out of town.

As I got near Bamber Valley School, here comes Chef heading back into work after a quick spin. He looked like he had a great time and has been doing some riding this spring. We chatted for a bit and then we both headed our opposite directions.

I continued south past the airport, to High Forest. From there I kept heading south to Racine. About a mile or two from Racine, I noticed the back tire getting bouncy, so I stopped in Racine to change the tube.

After the change, I continued east to cty 1, then north past Pleasant Grove and down an up through Fugel's Mill. Then into Simpson, north to cty 11, and then east and north to home.

I finished with about 48 miles. I felt good and my flat was just some loose "guts" in the valve stem.

Good thing I saved the tube.