Farmington Ride

I was late, by 10 minutes , and they were nice enough to wait for me. I joined up with 6 or 7 and rode to Farmington. Not territory I'm too familiar with. Nice looking country down there, but then what's not to like when you're on a bike, and with friends.
Heather was giving a climbing clinic and showed what it means to dance on the pedals. Fortunately I was the only guy there who did NOT get beat up the climbs by a girl today. She and Eric had to get back to town early so they turned back at about the 30 mile mark.
Not too sunny, but we were downing lots of H20 due to the humidity. A couple of guys ran out before we stopped. I don't drink much so I was able to donate to their cause.
At 53 miles we were averaging 20.8. Yeah, we were playing hard today. Also at 53 miles I broke a spoke. It flew up in the air and missed hitting the guy behind me, in the face, by inches. Fortunately, my wheel was not rubbing on the frame, but it was way out of true. I had to take off one of the brake pads so the wheel could move freely.
Decided to throttle back a bit to lessen the torque and bumps on the wobbly rear wheel. I nursed the bike into Rosemount where the Kwik Stop does NOT have HoHos. But that was some mighty fine lime Gatorade.
Seemed like the wheel was going to get me home. Still had about 30 miles to go, but we were kind of enjoying the slower pace. I mean I like these guys and it was nice to talk to them.
Lots of fun today. Good ride.
Got home took my wheel over to Flanders...already have it back. 90/19.6

Three Lake Friday And A Good Old Friend

Cloudy and even a little cool. Got out on the red Schwinn single speed for an easy pedal around Cedar, Isles and Calhoun. Then rode over to Tryggs for a couple of beers with Gordy - a couple of grandpas talkin' about the old days of racin' and long, hard, fast rides that didn't require three weeks of recovery. 15/??

It Was The Tri-Guy's Fault (no crash)

I was just out following my recovery regime and this tri-guy flies by. I resisted, honest, then a kid goes by trying to catch the tri-guy. That did it. I shifted down to my 16 and was up out of the saddle. Caught the kid in a matter of seconds, the tri-guy had some distance on me. 27-28mph and he was getting larger. Finally got his wheel and settled in at about 21-22. He knew I was behind him. I figured he was training, and since it's against the rules to draft in tri, I stayed behind. Took about a mile to catch him, and I was in his draft for about 4 miles. Very nice! He turned off and I gave him a THANKS VERY MUCH! 33/18.1

Haven't had a lot of work this week. The bikes know when I'm bored they should be worried. The Winter Beast n/k/a The Truck was today's victim. Old Blue will resume it's winter duties when the snow falls.
Put new bars on The Truck with Tiagra shifters and new white bar tape.
Also put a rear rack on the front.
This is how I did it. 3/4 inch clamps just above the fork drop-outs.
Got the idea from a guy at the Hub. Had to hack-saw off about a half inch of thread.

Mounted the top to the fork with an angle. My idea.

Works good!

Took The Truck out for a 10 mile test drive, and caught the sun falling behind these trees. Fires up in Saskatchewan again, gave the sunset a deeper red tonight.
43 total miles today. A 300+ mile week.

It's Official

Looks like recovery will be a part of the riding regime for awhile, the legs are continuing to raise a little hell. I'm not complaining at all. July has been a month with some very good riding. I just need to give the old hairy legs a bit of a rest. That does not mean off the bike, just a bit of an ease-up. 33/17.1

I got out after the storms last night and took the pictures that are in my July 27th post.
It had been terribly humid all day. The front came through, with its storms, and some very welcome dry relief. So, I was standing in the middle of all this humidity with a cool dry breeze coming at me from across the lake, trying to take these shots. It was amazing to feel the two extremes at the same time. Rain was still coming down, and I had to wipe the lens often to keep it free of drops. I was getting wet, with the wind blowing, but stayed warm, because it was still so humid. There was thunder and lightning striking to the back of me, which added to the excitement of what I was seeing, and created a shudder moving up and down my spine.

Images are wonderful, but sight is only one of our senses.

Storms Leave

Party's Over?

It's been good riding all July, but that may be coming to an end. The old hairy legs have had that cement feeling the last two days. But I think I'll play the denial game and blame it on today's heat, 93 degree temp 74 degree dew point when I started out. 33/17.1

Storms are coming.

Pleasant

Another nice ride. I'm always a little groggy on Mondays, from large mile weekends. I asked Amy how she was feeling this evening (she put more miles on over the weekend than I did), and in a perky, upbeat voice she said, "Oh I'm just fine".
Youth!
I started feeling the effects of age on my cycling around 42 or 43. I'll be racing walkers when the effects start on her. I'm still young at heart though. 33/16.9

It Just Keeps On Gettin' Better

There was maybe one cloud in the sky today, when the six of us took off for Wayzata. Talkin', laughin', ridin' - what a great combination. Up into Medina and Baker where things turned a bit competitive on those nasty rollers, but the purpose of a Sunday, riding for coffee, was quickly restored and the competitive juices were left for the post ride discussion at the coffee shop. Just a spectacular ride. 52/18.4

Got invited to my son's for dinner tonight. Afterwards the grand kids got the bikes out.

It's In Their Genes Too

Doesn't get any better than this.

Sorry, I got a little carried away with the images tonight, but damn! they're good lookin' kids.

Easy Livin'

July continues to produce perfect pedal powered mid-summer days. The lightning, thunder and downpours from early in the morning were long gone by 7am. Sunshine, light winds and a few puffy clouds were what greeted the start of today's ride.
Lots of talking today. I'd love to share the stories that were told, but the prime directive of all my rides remains, what's said on the bike stays on the bike.
Today's route is turning into a favorite. Two of us enjoyed the gentle rollers, lots of space, lakes, trees, rivers and smooth rural roads. Amy commented on how past work has made these mid-summer rides relatively effortless. Anything would seem easy after our Belle Plaine suffer fest a few weeks back, but I had to agree and said, it's nice when 19+ mph on an 80 mile ride is a conversation pace. Totally delightful, just a perfect ride. 82/19.8

Friday Night Ride Pics

Got out for a four lake ride. 15/12.6
Calhoun Beach Volleyball

Harriet Popcorn Clouds

Isles

Just Rollin' Along

It's been a good week, with some of the best riding of the season. Great rides on Saturday and Sunday and then the week has had comfortable temps, with little wind. A cyclists dream come true. A little tired on Tuesday, but that only lasted a day. Come to think of it, all of July has felt pretty good, with a few hard efforts thrown in to keep me humble. Today 33/17.7

Watching The Sun On It's Way Down Tonight

The Rut Deepens

Uneventful - just the way I like it. 33/17.6

Just Turning The Cranks

Another nice evening for a ride. Kept it simple. I think I've been managing my miles and speeds well, but the old hairy legs felt a little groggy tonight. 33/17.4

Gorgeous Monday

Just a beautiful day to ride, comfortable temps, no wind. Didn't want to come home. 37/17.9

Lake of the Isles is becoming my favorite place to take sunset shots. Apparently I'm not the only one who feels that way. With several people taking pictures of the sunset, and a couple making out where I usually take my images, it's getting kind of crowded. Nevertheless, I persevered and got these.

Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

Wonderful friends and some beautiful scenery to ride through...it was just perfect. Temps were in the 70's and we felt a bit of a chill as we sat, post ride, drinking our tea and coffee. 50/18.3
Amy, Patti, me, Heather and Eric Hard to stay inside, although I did catch the TdF summary. Very impressed with Andy's ride today. I'm a little more inclined to think he may be able to take it from Contador.
Got back on the bike and ventured over to Thomas Beach for some Aquatennial events (http://www.aquatennial.org/). Another 10 miles. Food, of course, with kid-friendly games and rides. Too bad Elijah is in Utah with his Grandma, he would have loved this.

They even had a sand castle building competition. I think the turtle will take it hands down.

Later this afternoon there will be a milk carton boat race. They got stuff going on all week.

Enjoyable And Fun

Four of us started out with a couple needing to peel off early. The plan was to be a little cautious today, because of the heat. Temp was 92 with a dew point of 62 when I got home. Not too bad. Today's route had some rollers, but really no tough climbs unlike last week. Again just wanted to be careful. Nary a breeze to be felt kept our effort moderate, adding a little more conversation and scenery viewing to the ride.
HoHos in Delano!
We did have to deal with a flat. Amy had that thing fixed in record time. I had a couple of minor mechanicals. Some road debris (looked sort of like a paper clip) got caught in my rear derailleur, and later my stem needed to be adjusted (still not real clear about what happened), but we got home fine.
No oxygen deprived quads, I've actually been able to get up from the couch several times, (glad Vino won today), and, if the rain stops, I might actually get out and do something tonight. All this adds up to a very nice ride. 85/19.9

Rode by The Depot twice today at 9:30 and 1:30. Lots of cyclists stop there, but I'm not a big fan.

True Day Off The Bike

Met my daughter, Gabrielle, for a beer and dinner. A couple of hours later we realized the sun was setting and we better get home. I got really cool kids. I'm a lucky guy.

Gonna be hot and humid tomorrow. I'll be riding, but will probably take it easy, just to be safe.

Mileage Hound

Got home and tallied up the miles for the week. It came out to 295. Yeah! Like I'm going to let that happen. Back on the bike for another 5 miles....that's better. Today 38/17.1

Storm Clouds At Sunset