Dawn to Dusk 2012 - Complete.

Another 200 mile day in the bank.

Dennis and I got up at 3:45am on Saturday for the drive up to Lakeville.

We arrived with plenty of time (could have gotten another 15 minutes of sleep, dang).
We loaded the suburban with several coolers and lots of duffle bags.

We had about 18 to start, so after a quick (dark) pitcture, we headed out.

By the time we got out of Lakeville, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon.

We rolled along nicely all the way to Northfield.  Here we picked up a bunch (30+) riders while at the same time a couple of the early starters headed back to Lakeville.  They were not planning on riding the whole day anyway.

Things got a bit confusing for Dennis, as it was hard for him to figure out who was riding 200 and who was just tagging along for awhile.  And as the group split up, he got behind several slower riders and lost contact with the D to D group for a few minutes.

But as the Northfield group turned off, Dennis caught back up with us on Cty 1 heading for Pine Island.

We stopped in Pine Island, got some water and food (either from the coolers or from Kwik Trip), then headed for Mazzepa.  Another quick stop at Chefy's, but he wasn't home so we didn't hang out there.

Then on to Zumbro Falls and north, east, and north to Lake City.  Where we stopped again at the lookout spot near the marina.  After another refuel, we headed down 61 to Wabasha.  We had a nice pace going and the group stayed right together the whole way.

Steve had to break off at Lake City, but he would catch us again in Cannon Falls.

Lars also left the group at Lake City as his back was giving him some trouble.
Dennis offered up the passenger seat, but Lars had already called for someone to pick him up.

At Wabasha, Ted's in-laws had a terrific picnic lunch setup for us, with sloppy joes, chips, pickles, watermelon, honey-dew, grapes, cookies, and rice krispy bars.  Yummy!
Always a fantastic meal.  Many, many thanks to Sandy and Lynn for their gratious efforts.

Quite a few guys brought a kit change and swapped out the morning kit for a fresh one at Wabasha.  Next year, I'm doing that as well (if we have a SAG).  That was a smart thing to do for such a long day in the saddle.

Anyway, across the Mississippi to Nelson and then north on 35 (i think) to Pepin, Stockton, Maiden Rock, and Bay City. 

With 120 miles or more in our legs, everyone felt the 1.8 mile hill just before Bay City.  The group split a bit, but I felt pretty good.  Here is where you need to not get too fired up, because it is still a long way to Lakeville and you don't want to burn all your matches.  So I settled into a nice pace and made my way to the top. 

On the way down, I ended up catching up to Mike, but I couldn't see Edger and one other rider who had crested the hill ahead of me.

We stopped again in Bay City and regrouped and recharged, then it was across the bridge into Red Wing.

One more water stop before we hit the Cannon Valley Trail to Cannon Falls.  Dennis went on ahead to meet us in Cannon Falls.

The trail was the long steady 21+ mph deathmarch it has been famous for, but we all arrived in Cannon Falls together.

Refuel and water, while some took advantage of the great chicken at the grocery store.

Then we were off for the final 30 miles, back to Randolph, and then on into Lakeville.

We arrived back in Lakeville with about 10 minutes of sunlight left.

I felt good all day and had plenty of energy as we rolled home.
What a great day, with great friends!!! 

A BIG THANKS to Dennis for the all day support, it would not have been near as much fun without having him along.

Here are Ted's pics: http://www.silvercycling.org/slide_shows/DtoD_16/index.html