Bridges, Falls, Baseball and Trains

Just scootin' around tonight. 24/16.3
Here's some of what I saw.

Bike Path Under Target Field (Minnesota Twins play here)

St. Anthony Falls On The Mississippi Are Roaring

Lots Of Bridges Are Needed To Get Across The Mississippi

The End

Sweet

Rode with Gabrielle and Amy tonight on the Birchwood hill ride. It was an eye opener for Gabrielle. She's not sure what was harder, the white knuckle descents or the lung busting, quad ripping ascents.

Along Summit With The Hills Behind Us

Amy took this photo. (thanks)

I GET THE MESSAGE

A month or so ago, I wrote about an experience I had after passing a 20 something. He said something about me being old and being able to hustle.
Today, again at a stop light, a 30 something woman said to me, "your pretty fast for an old fart". I looked at her, took a moment, and responded with "I guess I'll take that as a compliment".
She indicated it was meant that way. But, you know, I really don't need to be reminded that I look old. I already feel old. I guess it's nice to be thought of as fast. Oh well. 21/16.6

Nice, But Cold Sunset Tonight

Good End

A very nice ride with Amy, Scott and Greg. A perfect mix of easy riding, with a couple of challenges, good friends, nice weather, delightful scenery, and seventy degree temps left a smile on all of our faces.
Got home and did some bottom bracket work on the fast good lookin' bike. She was dirty. Checked out my work on a quick ride around Isles. Looks like I got it right.
57/18.7

Took Elijah out to my parents grave yesterday for Memorial Day.

Summer Riding

Three of us turned solo pretty quick. Steven and I were off and running from the start and Porter had a hard time keeping up. He knew that it was not a no-drop ride. Steven was screaming down Audubon Rd, and missed a turn. I yelled stopped and waited, but I never did see him again.
Beautiful day, but plenty of hot, humid and wind. 72/19.3

Finally Hit The Tailwind Section

Tailwind into The Minnesota River Valley. Hit 38mph. Spun Out My 11.

A Little Extra Time

Met Amy at the cafe. Green radar blobs, along with some orange and red ones, were quickly moving toward us. Shortened the route to keep us a little closer to home. Also, had all sorts of rain gear, including waterproof booties, a water resistant jacket and a billed cap. It was all needed.
Along Summit Ave we got passed by about 12 riders from Balance, so we caught on to their wheels and followed them to High Bridge. They were a bit on the squirrely side. Not in real good side by side form, lots of trying to keep up, high cadence with butts bouncing on their saddles, and riding beyond their abilities. It wasn't very far up High Bridge and Balance cyclists started cracking all over the place. 
Just me and Amy at the top, which is about when we felt the first of many rain drops. We quickly put on or jackets and just kept on riding.
We rode into some fairly heavy downpours, I think we even got pelted with some small hail. Amy was the first to notice the lightning, and as we all know, thunder always follows lightning.
I was on my "b" bike, and wasn't getting cold. There was a time when it was raining so hard that it got hard to see, and I started looking for some shelter, but in just a couple of minutes the worst of it ended, and our rain gear seemed to be shelter enough again.
To be honest I kind of had fun riding in the storms. Amy and I just sort of laughed it off and kept riding. Of course, when we finally did get home the rain stopped. 46/16.8
The storm shortened ride gave me some extra time I don't usually have on my 80 mile Saturdays.
Got some bike work done. I put new cables on the fast good lookin' bike. I went white this time. I think I like it.

Also, had time to get over to the Rose Garden. Not much happening yet, but caught some early flowers and a Robin enjoying a rainy Saturday too.

Day Off The Bike

Wet

Turned Evil's cranks tonight. Lots of rain (over 3 1/2 inches in 24 hours) called for full fenders. 21/15.8
Minnehaha Creek Was Raging

Confession

I shouldn't really let on about this, but I like riding my "b" bike better than my fast good lookin' bike. OK, that's not the real confession. The real confession is why I like riding my 'b" bike better. It has a softer more comfortable ride. Fast good lookin' is getting kinda harsh. Pretty pathetic that I'll take comfort over speed. Just one more thing that proves how old I'm getting.
Hot and windy ride. 32/16.8

Greenway

 Wind caught a construction tarp and wrapped it under a bridge and around a light pole.

Thirsty

Needed some water during the ride. Stopped at the Minnehaha Falls Park Pavilion. This fountain has been around since I can remember. I've been getting drinks from it since I was at least 7 or 8. The pavilion was built in 1941 by the WPA. 27/17.0

Nice Lookin' Sunset Tonight

Summery

Delightful ride. No wind, comfortable temps, and plenty of sun. I kept on thinking, wow, it sure looks like summer, then realized, oh yeah! 24/16.9

Hard To Beat

A pretty stellar day for me. It was all family.

Rode with my daughter, Gabrielle, on the Birchwood Coffee Ride. 46/15.1

Saw my other daughter, Brit. We talked for at least half an hour while Mckenna slept.

Elijah and I then went and saw my son, Ethan, and his family. We had pizza and just got caught up on what's happening. It's been over a month. Aubrey is growing so fast.

The clouds and rain cleared out just in time to catch the partial solar eclipse at Isles.

Brutal

Oh that wind! Gusts in the face, and from the side, of 30 mph. The onslaught we had to deal with was vicious, and unrelenting. And what do you do? You really can't hit the wind back. You just have to take it.
I'm a big chain ring guy. I was in my small ring on the flats, and couldn't even manage 13mph at times. Just gwad-awful!
By the time we did get a tail wind, the damage was done, and although speed definitely increased, we were cooked. Being with friends (misery loves company) is always fantastic, but other than that, the only real joy came from the accomplishment of 85 miles in some pretty rough heat and brutal attacks from the wind. Far from the bliss that accompanied last weeks effort. 85/19.3

Carbo Loading?

Pizza, beer, bike friends, more beer, donuts. That's a good Friday night! off the bike.

Windy

I saw white caps on the Mississippi as I rode over the Lake Street bridge. Kept it simple. Crank stayed on tonight. Wind was nasty. 21/16.5
Met up with some of Penny's running friends to watch the TC 1 Mile in Downtown Minneapolis. Several of them raced.

These are the Elite Women.

Karma

Another beautiful day to be on a bike. 32/17.7

Found out that the part below is more important than I thought. If it comes off, so will your left crank arm. What I don't know is how it came off. I survived and didn't go down.

Quiet Beauty

Another beauty out there. Through the UofM campus tonight, had to detour around hospital hill because of road construction, DAMN!
All the rain we've had finally got to my bike. Very noisy as I started out, so I just turned it around and took 30 minutes to clean out the BB and grease it all up. Nice and quiet ride on a beautiful summer eve. 27/17.3

Good. It's All Good

Pretty dog-gone nice day for a Monday. Hints of summer! 21/16.7

Sunsets From Last Night and Tonight

Catastrophic Decompression

Another perfect day for cycling. Amy, Steve, Greg and Chris showed and most of us wanted to keep it slow. Something about a hard effort yesterday...I don't know.
Lots of moms and families out and about and a perfect day for it. Wayzata looked like Mother's Day central, with all the restaurants and sidewalks full of brunchers.
Both Amy, and Steve kept their efforts short today, and peeled off early.

It was the gun shot kind of flat, loud and fast. A sudden blast and I was riding on my rim. I didn't go down, and feel fortunate about that, but the old hairy heart rate went well above my LT. We found after the first attempt to repair it that the tire had gotten pretty shredded. Yes, there was another gun blast flat, even before we had the wheel back on the bike. A second repair, boots, glue, patches and low tire pressure got us riding again. The boot was visible through the tire, so we thought better of continuing the ride...maybe we should head home. But then it was realized that we were maybe three miles from Gear West, a bike shop specializing in tri and tt bikes. We hobbled over there, and even though they weren't quite open for business they let us in and fixed us up with a new tire and tube, and we were off to finish out a very nice ride on a beautiful Sunday.
Pretty sure the flat was caused by a less than smooth road. We were going over a pretty bumpy section when we heard the first shot. 48/18.1

What I Like

We're all different, some like cross, some like asphalt. There are those who won't ride in temps below 40 degrees. Others like climbin' mountains on dirt single track trails. And, of course, there are the lovers of fat.
My one true love is skinny tires, but it's not that simple. I like to ride for miles and miles (I'm warmed up after about 40) and would prefer to never have to stop. I like a single paceline, none of this double stuff (that's only good in OREO cookies), up front for 2-3 minutes, then enjoy the draft as I work my way back up.
Most of the time it's quite laborious to work with the other cyclists. The physical effort, of the ride, is almost secondary to trying to figure out what other riders are going to do. How will they respond to a wind gust, will they scream down a descent, and granny it up a hill, is the corner taken short then wide, or wide then short. What about road debris, are they going to point it out, or just move around it at the last minute. Then, of course, you don't want to be left in their dust, so you're always on guard to make sure you can attach to their wheel, if they try to make a break for a city limit sign, or king of the hill points. Yeah, it's a brutal business, this bike riding thing.
I mention this, because today the cyclists I rode with were as good as they come. Instead of working against they were working with. It becomes intuitive, almost mind reading, a beautiful thing. No instructions needed. The knowledge is already there. The ride is simplified. What a relief when a buddy comes around you to take his turn up front, at just the moment you're ready to crack. Perfection.
I got my ass handed to me on the rollers today. Only congratulations and appreciation as we caught our breath. The end of the ride was filled with tired smiles, back patting, and hopes of a very soon repeat. Today was simply one of those rides that you always remember, and dream of in January. 80/21.0

Mike, Rich (Werbs), Amy. Steve's hanging tough on his cx bike just out of the shot.
Notice how blue the sky is. A Perfect Day!

Consistent

I've mentioned many times that I've got quite a streak going. I've ridden 6 days a week, every week, since January 1st. I've noticed that I'm also very consistent when it comes to taking my day off the bike. I've ridden on only 4 of my days off this year. I'm sure the two are related.
No ride again today, on my day off. I'm looking forward to a nice long ride with Amy and friends on Saturday.

Delight

Drop dead gorgeous day, with a sky that was filled with only blue. 21/16.6

Minnehaha Creek Was Sparkling

Signs

Rode with the sun, and looks like we'll do it again tomorrow.
I prefer nature's scenery to the man made stuff. Got a little distracted by all the information people were trying to impose on me. It's interesting how a bike enhances the natural and mitigates the man made. 32/17.6

Got Wet And Cold

21/16.0

It's All Good

After a very nice weekend of riding, a relaxing Monday is just what I needed. I'm still getting in 6 days of riding a week, and still haven't missed a day all year. We'll see how long it lasts, but I gotta say, I think it's a pretty cool streak. Today 21/16.5

Coffee Time

It's a little easier to take the weatherman's miss-prediction when it's a ride-allowable miss. No Rain! when today was supposed to be a wash out. A bunch of us showed up at the cafe for an impromptu  Coffee Ride, which was originally canceled due to the threat of rain. I know it's complicated.
Despite my two flats the ride went well, with another good group of friends, and playing the game easy. 46/16.9

Amy And Paula Leading The Charge Up High Bridge

Mighty Nice

One of those great friends, great route, beautiful scenery, with a bit of a challenge thrown in rides. Took off for Stillwater, and we have to ride through a lot of city to get there, but once we're out of town the scenery really starts to get nice. We came across another team out riding too. We rode with them for awhile. I've got two or three friends on that team, who I haven't seen for a long time. It was great to catch up with them. They peeled off for Afton and we continued on to Stillwater. Even with all the clouds, it was just delightful out there. I tucked my rain jacket in my jersey pocket to insure it wouldn't rain, and like always it worked. 89/19.2

Here Are A Few Pics From The Ride