Tue. 5/17/11

I felt good the first part of today's ride, but started to run out of gas with around 12 miles to go.

I think I went out a bit too hard and the slight headwind didn't help much.

I went east to Eyota, then continued on to Dover. From there I headed south to Chatfield, then west on cty 2 to cty 1.

From there I turned north for Simpson and eventually home.

I'm not sure if the wind changed from E to NNE while I was out there, but it sure felt like I was in the wind most of the ride.

Anyway, another 51 miles on the books.

Mon. 5/16/11

I got in 35 miles today after work.

I headed east into the stiff NNE winds to Dover, then did an aboutface and got a nice push all the way home.

Needless to say, I went much faster on the return leg.

Weather looks good the rest of this week with rain for the weekend (figures)...

I hope to get in a few more nice rides this week.

Tues. 5/10/11

Warm and toasty, with high humidity and stiff SSE winds, meant that my ride today was hot, sweaty, and 2/3 of the ride was into the wind.

Needless to say, I was tired and drained by the time I rolled into the driveway.

But I did get the entire 48 miles in, so I don't have to hang my head in shame...

Saturday, May 7th

The skies looked to be clearing and the roads were drying up nicely from the early morning rain, so I made my way down to Dunn Brothers South for the Saturday group ride.

We had 10 riders and the group decided to head toward Spring Valley for donuts.

We went out of town on cty 1, though Simpson, Fugel's Mill, Pleasant Grove, and on into Spring Valley. Cty 1 was a bit busy for a Saturady morning and the road is really starting to show it's age in spots, but we all made it to Spring Valley safely.

After a quick stop at the donut shop and a quick nature break at Kwik Trip, we headed west out of town on a nice rolling cty road. We had a nice tailwind on this section, so the pace stayed nice and high. We crossed over hwy 63 and continued west to cty 8. From there it was north (and with a stiff east crosswind) on cty 8 to High Forest.

Shortly after High Forest, the pace picked up and the group split. I was with the slower group (of course). But we kept a nice pace all the way back into town.

I split off at Bamber Valley School and headed west to home (into a stiff headwind).

I finished with 72 miles and very tired legs.

Back on dry land...

Just got back from a week-long cruise vacation.

So the miles have been mostly treading water.

I did sit on an indoor bike a couple of times, but the pool-side chairs and cold Corona kept calling me back.

Now that my sea legs are gone, it's time to get back on the bike.

It looks like this week, the temps will start to cooperate as well.

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.