A Fair and Festival Weekend

Rode the cross bike to the Renaissance Festival with Lynne and Nicole. We had a very nice time, but I think we were all kind of tired. We walked around and found some good food, but I think our favorite spot was under a tree in the shade. At least that's where we spent the most time in one place.
We followed the LRT out to Chaska and then zipped out 41 to the festival. The trail is great. It even worked out so that we had a nice tail wind home. 46/??

Photos Of The Century

Minnesota River at Bloomington

Jordan Horse Farm

Minnesota River Valley Jordan

Top of climb out of Jordan

Another veiw from top of climb out of Jordan


Minnesota River at Belle Plaine

Belle Plaine Corn Field

Belle Plaine Farmstead

False flat about half way up Lime Street Hill out of Carver

A perfect day for a boy, his bike and camera. 96/18.8

I Smell Cheese Curds!

Rode to the Fair today with Lynne, and spent the day getting fat and watching others do the same. Lynne was an official spotter for the tube top warning system, and seemed a little disappointed that she never got to sound the sirens.
OK here's the list of food I'll be riding off for the next 3 months.
Cinnamon Roll
Pig Lickers (chocolate covered bacon)
Foot Long Hot Dog with onions and ketchup
Cheese Curds
Large Root Beer Float
1 Cob of Corn
Large Lemonade
Single Scoop Bridgeman's Cookies and Cream Cone
2 Chocolate Milks
1 White Milk
1 Scoop Chocolate Raspberry Wine Ice Cream
1 Linnie's
21/??

A Pretty Late Summer Evening

40/16.9

Unbelievable

Tonight along Minnehaha Creek right at the Nicollet Ave bridge I saw three wild turkeys. 38/17.2

Good Company

Did my Mendoat Heights route (part of the BW women's route) with Lynne tonight. 37/16.6

Monday Recovery

Just my usual recovery ride tonight. Slow and flat,flat,flat. 33/17.0

Coffee Ride

Haven't been on the coffee ride lately, but got there in time today. It was really nice to hook up with everybody again. I'd gotten a little bored with the ride. It has gotten a little monotonous. Maybe the trick is to just do it 3 or 4 times a year. Just had a nice time and it was another perfect day. 66/17.1

So Nice

Bright sun, cool temps and delightful company made this another perfect ride. Amy, Catie and I fought the wind up to Hanover, and then got some beautiful views of the Crow River, as we turned southwest and headed for Watertown. Once the wind became our ally our speeds increased into the upper 20's and low 30's. Flying low to the ground past farm fields, barns, horses, trees, lakes and rivers is one of the great pleasures in life. 88/19.7

Friday Ride Pictures

I was coming around on the east side of Calhoun, right along the swimming beach, and I see a kid, maybe 13 or 14, running pretty fast right for the port-a-poddy. I felt sorry for him, figuring he was in a little distress. My view was blocked for about 10 seconds and then I passed about 10 feet from the port-a-poddy. I heard a huge commotion, like someone pounding kind of slapping on a door, then a girl screaming. I'm hoping it was his big sister, because if he was trying to impress a girl by doing that, he is a dead man...one I highly respect, but a dead man nevertheless.

A couple of pictures from Lake of the Isles tonight.


11/??

Don't Do This At Home

A blustery, humid, mid-summer Minnesota day...you don't have to be a weather man to know that rain is on the way. Left at about three with Brian, who I did the TTT with a week or two ago. We kept it very simple, but worked hard at avoiding any hills. The company and conversation was great. Stopped off at Brian's for a second or two at the end of the ride. He lives close to Lake Harriet so I figured one time around the lake wouldn't hurt. On the southwest side of Calhoun, I got behind a pick up with a large totally enclosed trailer. The draft was fantastic. I was able to stay on with no problem at all and was doing 30 mph with very little effort, even coasting at times. The only issue was I'd lose the draft if I was more than 3 feet off his bumper. There were no problems though. We came to a stop sign, and he took off very quickly, I almost didn't catch back on, but gave it one last effort and popped into his slipstream again. Very sweet with little effort, although riding 2 to 3 feet off the back of trailer, that you can't see around, or over, going 30 miles an hour, keeps you from enjoying the scenery around the lake. 39/17.1

Nice Night

Seemed a little cooler out tonight, but as I came to Lake Harriet out of the tunnel of trees from the creek, I could see the humidity in the air. Nice night 37/17.1

Out to Mendota Heights tonight. We might not have mountains in Minnesota, but we've got cool lookin' clouds. 37/16.9

A Little Recovery

I'm embracing end of season riding. 33/16.5

Aimless

I was just looking for miles today. I thought I might ride the coffee ride, but didn't make it over there in time. I just kind of meandered around on the east side of Minneapolis, from the fort into downtown. I got really hungry at about 40 miles, so went home and got some more food. Once the tank was full again, I called a friend and we took off on the LRT to Chaska. Nice, easy, no traffic, and good company. 66/16.5

Stopping and Smelling The....

Now that my rides are more about the miles than the speed, there will probably be less words and more pictures in my posts. Today's post is a good example.






I guess I see more when I'm movin' a little slower. These pictures were taken out in Medina around County Road 6 and Tamarack, less than a mile from Greg Lemond's house. Oh by the way, he told me to say hi to everyone. 94/18.9

Friday Night Ride Pictures

17/??

Out Of Energy

Not a whole lot of anything in the old legs tonight. Just wanted to get home.
33/16.5 and another 11 for errands during the day.

What To Do?

Couldn't decide what to do. I thought about riding the Bwood hill ride, but just wasn't excited about all those hills. I left in time to stop by the cafe and join the hill ride, but the closer I got the less I felt like doing it. I wound up riding my Mendota Heights route. Along Summit Ave Charles Breer came up on me. We talked about bread and carbs until I turned off at Oakland. Felt a little tired tonight 38/17.1

Dodging The Rain

It was one of those odd weather days. It rained while the sun was shining, when it wasn't raining the streets were wet. Went into downtown across the Stone Arch Bridge to the U of M and then along the river. I came on the TCBC hill ride which was just starting out shortly before my turn at Ford bridge. I saw a couple of old buddies and road with them for maybe 1/2 a mile. I turned and headed home along the creek. 38/17.5

10 to 10

Slept for 12 hours last night. Guess I was a little tired. Just did my recovery route this evening, with a quick stop at Grand Performance. 35/17.4

TTT Report

I woke up at 6am. You know how long it's been since I've been up that early? I can't remember. I never use an alarm clock, but I sure needed it this morning.
I rode over to Brian's who was kind enough to give me a ride to the race, which was about 5 miles north of Stillwater. The 4 of us met at the race start, signed in, and got our start time. We went over a couple of protocols, and then went out and warmed up, pulling up to the line about 5 minutes before our start time.
It was a perfect day, maybe just a little cool, but once we started riding there was no issue. Within about 3 miles we were up to and already averaging 25 mph which was the goal. We settled in and worked really well together, especially for a team that had ridden together only once before, for about 1 1/2 hours.
It really was an uneventful race, we just worked and made sure we stayed together. With about 5 or 6 miles to go, one of the team just couldn't stay on any longer and told us to go on without him. We only needed to finish with 3 of the 4 man team. He had been having problems on the hills, and was only fading off just a little. We tried to crank it up a little and make it a good finish.
We came across the line with my computer showing a 25.3 mph average. We placed 6th, or last in our category. This was a very fun race. We were a little disappointed that we finished last, and didn't break the hour mark, but we are already talking about next year.
It was great seeing a lot of friends. As I came back to the finish line after cooling down, I heard a yell from the side of the road "Tom...Tom Russell" . I looked over and saw Jay and his wife...huge smiles. I didn't even look both ways, but immediately turned and rode right to them. I wanted to give him a hug so bad, but...you know. Jay's been fighting cancer for at least a year now, and within the last 3 weeks has been diagnosed terminal. He'd ridden to the race and like I said was all smiles. This guy is so fuckin' brave! We talked for about 5 or 10 minutes. It was great...just great.
Like I said it was a beautiful, perfect summer day. I got a ride to the race so I could ride my bike back home. It seemed like, for a second or two, the other guys were a little jealous, that I got to keep on riding. One of them even mentioned that I'd have a tail wind home. But like I said, that only lasted for a second or two.
The race was 25 miles, and I warmed up for another 11 miles.
Totals for the day 76/20.4

Easy Saturday....Yeah Right

Did my Jordan route today with two other riders. Perry is a friend from about 5 years ago. We hadn't seen each other for 3, and then he goes and shows up today. That was cool. He looks just the same, tall, lanky, great to draft off of, and man can he climb.
I've been a bad boy. I was suppose to take it easy today. We mixed it up and lit 'em up a few times getting out of the saddle once or twice. Yeah, I know...
I get out in he country and see some wide open land and I... it... well...
That's part of the reason I don't like racing, I can't do what I want when I want.
Hope I have legs tomorrow. 83/20.0


I've had a hard time being inside over the last month or so. I just need to feel and breathe real air. I took off at about 5:30 and rode my Schwinn for another 10 miles. I also had my camera with me.

All On My Schwinn

Rode to Bunny's and had dinner with my brother. Came home and needed to see some water so rode over to Lake of the Isles. 7/??

Perfection

Temps in the low 80's, light winds, long shadows and not a cloud in the sky. It was one of those evenings when I didn't want to stop riding. I did my recovery route and saw Lynne by the Depot just east of Hopkins. She rode back into the city with me down to the river, the falls, along the creek, to the lakes and home. We were moving along at a pretty good clip, but still managed to soak in all the scenery. The leaves on the trees changed the low evening sun to thousands of individual lights, that fell like yellow spears on all who dared leave the shields of their cars and homes.
33/18.0 and 7 more grocery shopping and 4 more for other errands.

TTT

So I agreed to race in a team time trial this Sunday. I'm pretty nervous. I haven't raced a TT in 6 years. I sold my TT bike a little more than two years ago, so I'll be racing stock. One more thing. I'm racing in the category where our ages totaled have to be no less than 160. There are 4 of us. Three of us alone meet the age requirement. I'm the second oldest.
We went down to Lilydale Road and practiced tonight. It was really fun. We just practiced our protocols in the line, and got a feel for what we can do. I feel much better after practicing with these guys. It's a 40k (25 miles) TT. We think it's reasonable to come in under an hour, and based on our practice tonight, it seems doable. I rode over there, then we did 4 out-and-backs along Lilydale, and then I rode home. Good looking view of downtown from the Hiawatha Bridge, with the sun setting tonight. 42/19.5

Even a Shiny Chain

Beautiful summer evening. Rode my Mendota Heights route tonight.
Cleaned up my bike before the ride, put on new tires, chain, cassette and greased the headset and bottom bracket. The Orbea was shiny, silent and squeak free. 38/17.9

A little recovery on a beautiful summer evening. 33/ 17.5

Slowing

A few more clouds today than forecast kept the heat down. I rode on my own, but did see the Bwood coffee riders coming up out of the fort by the falls.
I took it very easy today, and will be doing that all this coming week. It's the end of the season. It's always a hard transition, but one that I really have no control over. I mean I just run out of energy, and it's time to be slow. 54/16.5

Don't Panic

Slowest Saturday ride since April. I got out my records from last year, and found that I rode farther and faster today than the first Saturday of August in 2007. Whew! I guess the end of summer has kind of sneaked up on me.
I love this Afton route. Although, today I found my self wondering if there was a road or two that would just go around some of the hills, instead of straight up them. And I can now add Mrtyle Street hill to my list of Hills I Hate. There seems to have been a time in the not too distant past when I loved hills. Getting old sucks! But, it's nice to know that I was using the wisdom I've garnered over the years to look for roads less hilly.
Lots of cyclists out today, which is understandable, with the temps in the 80's and low humidity.
Tree lined roads breaking out into broad views, rivers, and lakes were all included in the packaged deal I got on this ride. Just some light feathery white clouds against a deep blue sky were the added bonus. Boaters, wind surfers, motorcyclists, barbequers all seemed oblivious to the fun they were missing out on not being on a bike. 96/18.6 another 7 around the lakes

Friday Pictures

I rode to the Uptown Art Fair, which is less than a mile from where I live. Walked around, ate some cheese curds, but overall wasn't too impressed with what was on display. Decided to cruise the lakes a little. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. I went home and got bored in about 10 minutes. I needed to be outside, so I ventured out around some other lakes. I guess it's a good thing we've got over 10,000. Like always I wound up at Lake Harriet, where there was a nice jazz concert at the band shell. Bumped into Cam, but didn't talk much. I also stopped by the Rose Garden.
This was a really nice day. I saw some simple things, that, to be honest, I see regularly; a little beach volley ball, some Frisbee throwing, some wind surfing, sunshine off the lakes, fat people, skinny people and some very good looking people, families, couples, but you know...made me smile.
I estimate I rode about 20 miles today, and probably averaged about 7mph.

Here's some pictures from the rose garden.