Unofficial Steve Sighting

Found this picture of Steve (I think) on the Internet...

Hwood makin' em pay...

zip 'er up there, big guy.

And Big D had a nice showing with 1 first, 2 seconds, and 2nd overall. Nice...and leading the ROY race.

Wed. 5/28/08

We had a huge crew last night (16, I think), plus we added Jeff and Big D out on the road. I'm not going to even try to remember all the names (you know who you are). Marty mapped out the ride beforehand, but was scared to attempt the ride himself. The pace was above average as we headed out of town (I guess with this many people there is bound to be some oneupmanship). As we rolled toward Salem Corners, Jim took off quite a ways out, but held off the group to take the sign. From there the hurt was on, as we continued to Rock Dell. I was on the back trying to pull the group together, so I have no idea who took the town sign. We finally started to regroup at the top of the climb to the south of Rock Dell. But as we turned onto hwy 30 and into the wind, the group quickly split again. We turned north on cty 15 (about the same time as a group of Recyclers were coming from the other direction on hwy 30). And again the pace stayed high, until we stopped to formally regroup at cty 104. From there the group stayed together as we headed back into town. As the group headed north to the shop, I turned into more wind and headed for home.

Here is the route (sort of):



I really hope this pace is not the start of things to come...

Tue. 5/27/08

Had time to sneak in a quick 20 miles from home. Winds out of the ENE, so headwind out and tailwind back. Need to double check my right shoe cleat, it feels like my right foot is slightly more forward than my left. No wonder I keep pedaling around in circles...

Sat. 5/24/08

Well the morning started out in the low 50s with light winds, but as the day went on the winds picked up to 20-30mph and the temps got into the lower 70s. I started the ride out on the cool side, but warmer up after the first few miles. With the winds expected to increase throughout the day we headed NE. Out of town on cty 9, then north on cty 11 and east into Potsdam. Then northward onto Millville. Boy, the road down into Millville is nice and smooth. Dr. Tim smoked everyone for the coveted Millville town sign. From there we turned along the river and headed for Hammond. The wind really was starting to swirl around in the valley and it seemed like you could never really find a good draft. About this time, Jeff noticed that Bruce's shorts were a bit thin and the comments started to fly. I won't get into too much detail, but Beebe interjected some doozies. I had promised myself I wasn't going to mention any of this, but I couldn't help myself.



Anyway, I did think of a solution for Bruce:









Well, back to the ride. After Hammond, we headed for hwy 63, then north toward Chef-Tel's and west on cty 7 for Mazeppa. We stopped in Mazeppa for water and then continued west to Pine Island, where we stopped again for more water and food. After a nice round of bananas and doughnuts, we hit the Douglas Trail for Rochester. By now the winds were really starting to pick up, so the shelter of the trail was much appreciated. Once in town Trevor and I turned east towards our homes, while the rest of the group continued back to Dunn Brothers South. The last few miles in the open wind were brutal, but I made it home. I finished the day with almost 83 miles.

Great ride guys (Jeff, Big Jim, Jim T., Beebe, Terry, Trevor, Dr. Tim, Eric, myself, and of course Bruce).

Here's the route:

Thur. 5/22/08

Just had time for a quick out and back from home tonight. With the light winds out of the NE, I had a headwind on the way out and nice tailwind on the way back. My legs felt a bit heavy at first (probably because of last nights ride). But they warmed up and as I turned around (with the tailwind remember), I turned it up a notch. Light traffic and no sign of Steve...

Wed. 5/21/08

Let's see if I can remember everyone's name from the Wednesday Erik's ride. Steve, Marty, Todd, Tom, Tim B., Jim, Sam, Paul, Paul (new), Aaron, John (new), Al, and myself. How's that? We had north winds from between 10 and 15 mph, so we headed north to Oronoco. Tom and Sam battled it out for the non-existant town sign. I'm not sure who won (or when). From there we headed toward Mazeppa. On the way, Sam went (again) for the county sign, I think Al chased. We turned just before Mazeppa and headed to Pine Island, but not before Sam went for the county sign (since it was not on the official route, no points were awarded). The group took turns as we wound our way to PI. Just before town we passed a group going the opposite direction. Someone thought they saw Jeff in there (but no Steve). As we neared town on the climb into PI, someone yelled for us to "take it easy at the top". I assumed to regroup. But as we crested the hill, here come the usual suspects for the town sign sprint. I need to understand the definition of "take it easy"... Anyway, we regrouped and continued into town and then south out of town on cty 3. With a nice tailwind, the pace stayed nice and high. We turned south on cty 5 and up "Palmer's hill", from there the pace stayed high all the way to Douglas. At this point everyone got into the town sprint action, with Marty winning it (I think). Again, Todd did most of the work. We turned east and headed back to the hwy 52 frontage road, then south and west abit. And finished up on 50th Ave and the Douglas trail.

Great ride everyone...



See you next week.

Tue. 5/20/08

Bill and I did the 20 mile out-and-back route from my house. With the strong NNW winds we had a nice tail wind all the way out, followed by a nice steady head wind back into town. Nothing major to report, but it sure seemed like the traffic was lighter than usual.

Sat. 5/17/08

We had 10 to start our Saturday ride. With winds out of the NNW and predicted to pick up during the ride we decided to do the Windmill route backwards. So we headed out from Dunn Brothers going west to Salem Corners. There Dave and Tom slugged it out for the town sign, I think Dave took it. We regrouped and continued west and then turned north to Byron. Where again, Dave and Tom went at it, this time I think Tom was the victor. We regrouped again and turned west on the frontage road out of Byron, heading to Kasson. Tom went again for the Kasson sign and I went with, but I didn't have the right gear (or the legs) and Tom won the sign. Dave, Tom, and Sam turned and headed south and then back to Rochester, while the rest of us continued west to Dodge Center. We thought Bruce might have went with those guys, but he had stopped to chat with Dave and eventually caught us at the Kwik Trip in Dodge Center. After a quick refuel stop, we headed south on hwy 56 (man, does that road need to be resurfaced), where the pace picked up (as usual). We held a nice pace all the way to cty 4, where we turned east. Now we had pretty stiff crosswinds, so we got into some nice pace lining. And the group kept it together for a nice stretch, until a fiesty little farm dog came at us and broke up the group. He chased for quite awhile and made one last attempt at Jim T's ankle, then went home. We continued east into Rock Dell and then turned north (into the wind). By now the ride was starting to take it out on pretty much all us, except Bruce and Jim P. So, we let them do most of the work on the windy sections. We turned east at Salem Corners and headed east to Rochester. Jim P. turned off at cty 104 and headed for home, while the rest continued into town. There were a number of riders out on this stretch of road as we neared town. Dr. Tim turned north as we got to Circle Drive and the 4 remaining riders made our way back to Dunn Brothers. I headed home from there.

Here's the route:



Great ride guys (Dr. Tim, Dave, Beebe, Jim T., Big Jim P., Jeff G., Sam, Tom, and Bruce).

Millar

Now that's a bike throw...

Kinda reminds me of Steve (or Jeff).