Still Crazy

Only a little less insanity this week, and only 3 showed, the smart ones deciding to find options with a little less suffering on the first day of spring.
It was a cool start, below freezing, but the sky was solid blue. The wind, less noticeable than last Saturday, made up for its lack of umpf with a sting of cold that we haven't felt for a few weeks. The cold sting quickly went unnoticed as we started to play on the roller coasters up in Baker and around Lake Independence. Unfortunately the sting was replaced with burning quads and oxygen deprived lungs.
We decided to stay away from Delano as some of their roads are closed due to flooding, and took County Rd 6 straight in to Watertown. Nick took the city limit sign as Charles accosted him with verbal epithets. The lime Gatorade and Snickers bar at the Watertown gas station were delightful, and the ambiance hard to beat.
The halfway point, on my rides, usually means a favorable wind direction change, and today was no exception. I will never get tired of hearing the tire hum off of asphalt and having the wind at my back.
A few more wind aided rollers and all of a sudden Charles was gone. A quick scan of the rolling landscape found him about a 1/2 mile back doubled over his bike, maybe practicing his camel calls. Come to find out he aquired a pretty nasty gash in his rear tire. Charles is a smart guy and used an empty Gu packet as a boot. He made it home...30 miles.
It was fun watching Nick and Charles fight for the city limit signs. I kept them honest on the hills and rollers.
Good ride today. The Saturdays of March have all been over 19 mph so far. I gotta admit I'm pretty pleased with that. With my luck this will have burned me out for April through September. Today 76/19.4

Here's the link to the route we followed. You can click on an elevation chart, if you're interested. No big climbs, just a lot of pain-in-the-ass rollers.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mn/minneapolis/812126900583591893