Side-view Mirror

I was having a very hard time being patient today. The rain that was predicted to end around 11AM stopped at 2PM. I decided to inject a little extra intensity into what now had to be a shortened ride. Hills! Short, steep and lots of them. I wasn't very nice to the old hairy quads, but after each hill I slowed and let them recover. They are only mildly miffed now.
I haven't been on some of these roads for several years. In younger days, I'd hit these hills a couple of times a week, and wasn't very giving when it came to recovery after each ascent. Now, I really don't have a say in whether there is a recovery or not.
The hills on this route, end with a succession of 4 rollers, spaced with no time to recover, each getting progressively steeper and longer. Serious oxygen deprivation awaits at the top of the last one, along with a right turn into Purgatory Creek Ravine. Fortunately it's a long gradual descent before the long gradual ascent out of Purgatory.
Along Excelsior Blvd where it intersects with Wiliston, I stopped on the right side and behind, not beside, a delivery van. It had its right turn blinker on. I was surprised that it didn't turn while the light was red. I looked up and into the side-view mirror and saw the driver trying to determine where I was, then a woman's face appeared in the mirror. She was looking to see where I was. They looked at each other. They both looked in the mirror again and we all saw each other. I motioned that it was clear for them to turn. They looked relieved and appreciative and made their turn. It felt really good to know that there are some drivers out there that are being really careful. 50/18.4

After I got home and showered I went to a bike display, swap and sale at the Hexagon Bar. Live music, beer and only people younger than me were there. These are a few of the bikes I saw.

Sun

Sure was nice to see it again. 33/17.2

Short Cloudy And Cold

Another cold one, in the low 40's, and that north wind was noticed. I got out on the "B" bike, but kept the ride short (hour and a half). 25/16.9

Before my ride I was out running some errands and saw this guy hanging out on an electric pole by Bush Lake. I was pretty far away and slowly moved in taking these shots, but he got spooked, so this is the best I could get.
Normandale Lake

Sometimes Nothing Else Will Do

Even with the 15 to 20 mile an hour winds, temps in the low 40's and rain all day, I needed to be out in it, on a bike. Rain gear, Evil and slow was just fine, but I needed to be out. Soup and a hot shower when I got in. 20/14.7

Minnehaha Creek Is Running Full

Feelin' The Freedom

It was nice to feel the wind blowing through the hair on my legs yesterday and today. It's been awhile. 33/17.1

Downtown Behind Budding Weeping Willows Today

Glorious Easter

Easter Services began promptly at 10AM. Amy, THE WINNER, and I rode out toward Wayzata and met up with Mike and Paula. Couldn't have been a more spectacular day. Sun everywhere. It was so welcome. We all just cruised along, seriously considering never going home, hoping this could last forever. 52/17.8
Reality, and the fact that we do love other things besides cycling, got us all home to our various other Easter activities, eventually.
I was visited by grandlumps. I provided many sugary treats, that made them love me, but brought on other feelings, towards me, from their parents.
Taylor liked Grandpa's homemade molasses cookies.

Kelsey, Elijah and Bryson planned their next game.

Yeah, Right!

I'm a lucky man.

Celebrate!

These sun glasses have more miles on them than any of my bikes. They have also seen the 105 degree heat indexes and the 25 below windchills. None of my bikes can say that.

I did the same route today as last week, but this time solo, and I did Christmas Lake Hill and Purgatory Creek Ravine. The link below shows the climbs. Christmas Lake Hill is at the 70 mile mark. It's short and doesn't look all that ominous, and Purgatory, at about 72 miles, looks even more benign, but trust me, after 70 miles those suckers really hurt. Purgatory just seems like it will never end. 81/19.0
www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/20270182#climbs

Felt great to be out, despite the cool, cloudy day. Missed my friends who were all racing.
Amy WON! her cat 3 women race, and finished in the top 5 overall.

Off

Cold, wet, drizzly and gray, perfect for a day off the bike. Looks like a solo effort tomorrow, as everyone else is racing.

Isles This Afternoon

Feeling Lucky

I walked in the door feeling pretty good about tonight's ride. It was a cold one though. I saw tons of friends out tonight, including Mark Wirt twice. I just did my typical Hopkins loop, then headed east to the Mississippi, to the falls, back along the creek to the lakes and home, for 33 miles.
So just as I walked in I heard what sounded like wind, a couple of times. I looked out my balcony and saw that it was blowing like crazy and it had started to rain, pretty hard. Making it in before the cold rain made the ride even nicer. 33/18.0

Wisdom?

Went out with the fast goodlookin' bike this evening. I'm not sure why I decided to ride it. I know this though, I sure look faster and better on it. I do need all the help I can get too. 33/17.4

Saw some cool stuff today.
Trumpeter Swans While Working Just South of Belle Plaine
Sunset Behind Clouds and Over Isles

I've always been a self-pusher. Never a follower. It's been rare for me to be afraid to take something on, by myself. Having to do what somebody else said...I'd walk away from that.

As my body succumbs to the incessant tallying of years, I've finally found something that I'm afraid to take on by myself. I've got to slow down, decrease the intensity. The challenge is no longer to go faster and longer, but to accept, be patient with, and realize I need to ride the brakes on the descents and through the corners now. Maybe I can start measuring personal bests in wisdom.

Short Cold and Slow

That was today's ride. 25/16.2

Easy Living

Needed some easy in my ride today. Just turning the cranks. 33/16.8

Doesn't Get Any Better

Another pretty spectacular weekend of riding, friends and family. Saw Eth on Friday and Brit for a few minutes today. Beers with Gordy on Friday and dinner with a friend last night. A very hard ride yesterday. I haven't been that sore and tired for a long time, but I was riding with good friends. Another very nice ride today. There were 6 of us and we just did a simple loop around Lake Minnetonka. Winds lightened up and the sun kept getting stronger as the day wore on. Got rid of some of the sore, but the tired is still hanging around. 43/18.1
This evening Elijah and I went exploring along the Minnesota River.

A Cold Wind

Despite how pretty the dusting of snow was on the trees and lawns, there was lots of unpleasantness today. Temps never got out of the 30's, and it felt like the wind speed never went below 30. Spent most of the first 35 miles in the small chain ring. Charles was taking a pull along Cty Rd 19 south of Hanover and a Winnebago came within 6 inches of taking him and all of us out. I've been buzzed before, but this was the closest and most dangerous one I've experienced. We all stayed steady and up. Just for the record all of us were within the confines of the shoulder. Our stop in Delano (see picture below) was very welcome, but it took many miles to finally start feeling warm once on the road again. The tail wind was welcome, of course, and we were well into the 20mph range after Delano. Even 10 degrees warmer would have elevated the pleasantness factor, but, this is Minnesota in April. I got to ride with really good, strong, smart cyclists today. It's always dangerous riding with winds this intense, but because of their talents, not one problem. 82/18.8 (amy's computer registered 19.2)

Friday Off The Bike

Great talking with my son, Ethan, at lunch today. Maybe two and a half - three hours. Nothin' better. Hung out with my old biking buddy, Gordy, at Tryg's tonight. We talked bikes for about 15 minutes. The other three hours can't be repeated. Nice day!

Back

Rode with some old reliable friends, that I'm getting kind of tired of. I've been dropping them for the last several weeks, but today I had no such luck. Tights, winter jersey, toe covers, and insulated gloves, caught up with me and hung on tonight. It's still early in April, so days like this are to be expected. Real sure I'll be off the bike tomorrow. I feel like I'm fighting something off. Just sluggish, no other symptoms. 25/16.1

Got home and made some shrimp and brown rice. It's a favorite of mine. Pretty simple. I mix up onions, garlic and red bell peppers, with a sauce I make out of soy sauce, corn starch and a little sugar, then just let it cook until it comes to a boil, thickens a little and the shrimp is completely thawed. Throw that on some cooked short grain brown rice and I'm smilin'. (juice and water from the shrimp mellow out the 1/4 cup of soy sauce I use in the sauce)

A Nice Ending

Feeling a little tired. It's been a good week of riding, with plenty of miles and some pretty good speeds. Let the legs dictate the effort tonight. 33/16.9

Had my homemade bruschetta for dinner after my ride. This stuff is fantastic!
Dice up the Roma tomatoes Add basil, onions, garlic, salt and sugar

Toast a sliced baguette on an oiled griddle

Sit down and eat (all my ingredients are fresh and cold)

Then get outside and enjoy the sunset with some geese. I even heard Loons on Lake of the Isles tonight.

A Couple Of Things

Did a lot on the bike today. Spun into downtown Minneapolis and crossed the Mississippi over St. Anthony Falls, on the Stone Arch Bridge. Lots of water and spray coming over those falls. 28/16.7 Met Amy at a local amateur race and watched the team. Our women did well, taking a second in womens cat 4 and third in the womens cat 123.

Another 20 miles for me at 15.8mph for a total of 48 miles today.

Easin' Into Monday

After a second great weekend of cycling, today I stayed away from hills and just kept it nice and easy. 33/17.2 My youngest daughter turned 23 today.

Beautiful SSR

Amy and I climbed on our steeds for a leisurely ride around Lake Minnetonka. It was a surprisingly warm day. The cool breeze off the still frozen lakes was refreshing, which is much different than a few weeks back, when the breeze stung. Just talking and enjoying the scenery. Very nice! 52/17.9

That Was Fun

About 20 of us showed up for a team ride in Red Wing, Minnesota. We rode around Lake Pepin taking the Wisconsin side south along the river to Nelson and then crossed over to Wabasha. A very enjoyable tail wind pushed us north on the Minnesota side back to Red Wing for some well deserved food and beer.

Some pre-ride organization Some post-ride recovery

The sandy roads took their toll on our tires and produced 7 flats. It was a damp day, kind of foggy, and even though the temps were near 60, it was on the cool side. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of sweating going on. The hill out of Bay City, I'd guess a 5 % to 6% grade for 2 1/2 miles, got us warm pretty fast.
Lots of tactics were practiced, with numerous attacks, challenges up hills and rollers, but surprisingly the city limit signs went uncontested. The Bay City hill split the team up and burned some matches early. We regrouped at a stop in Maiden Rock. Not a whole lot of friskiness until we got to Wabasha, when the tail wind got some of the young bucks feeling a little feisty, and the games began again. Finally about halfway between Wabasha and Lake City a group of four of us got away and stayed away into Lake City, where we regrouped and very civilly and without any feisty incidents rode into Redwing. Total Blast Today! The old guys showed the young bucks a thing or two. 73/20.7

Friday Night Fixie Ride Resumed

Three lakes tonight. 12/???

Lake Of The Isles
Lake Harriet Loring Park

Lake Harriet

My Sweet De Rosa Fixie