Archive for June 2015
Tired Legs
I’m home again. After a week of biking, my legs feel much stronger, yet thoroughly worn out, if such a thing is possible. I was awakened by thunder this morning, at the hour we would have been just waking up to pack our tents for the day, extremely grateful to be in my own bed and under a roof.
For the most part, the weather during our adventure was good for biking and camping. We even enjoyed a few occasions of a tail wind, which always provides a much appreciated ego boost when traveling by pedal power.
My body developed some stiffness from all the exercise, and probably from sleeping on the cold hard ground, but I didn’t develop any specific nagging issues from the prolonged hours of pedaling. That is something that I find particularly rewarding, as it hasn’t been the case every time I have done this trip. Joint pain or muscle strain can really mess with the pleasures of day-long riding.
I think most of my stiffness was a result of just a few games of pickle ball in Albert Lea on our day off from riding. I found that to be enough fun that it was worth the muscle soreness.
Participation this year was split almost half-and-half between returning riders and those who were doing it for the first time. Meeting new people becomes one of the highlights of the week for me, and this gave me plenty of opportunities for that.
I rode to breakfast with a group that included one man whom I felt had been with us before, but when seated in a booth beside him, discovered he was from Kansas City and it was his first year on the Tour of Minnesota.
As always, I was carried along throughout the week by the incredible support and precious energy of friends Gary Larson, Julie Kuberski, Rich Gordon, and Steve Reynolds. I struggled with the challenging limitations of creating blog posts and taking pictures with my phone, and Rich and Julie were kind enough to offer some of their great photos to help me out.
I’m not quite the mobile device guy, and I am extremely happy to be back on the laptop today, writing and editing my words and pictures. Something tells me I may resort to my old ways of writing posts in advance again next year.
Today I have plenty of laundry to do, and if the rain stops and grass dries up, a lot of lawn to mow. Pequenita seems happy to have me home and has stayed close to my every move. Delilah appears to have bonded stronger to Cyndie again, in my absence. The horses show no change at all, though they each gave me some intimate moments of breathing in each other’s scent when I stopped down to say hello.
It’s really good to be back home, tired legs and all.
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Picture Party
The party’s over, let the party begin! We ride home today, saying goodbye to precious friends and new connections. I fell short of my wish to capture all the joys and charms of this ride on my phone for posting here, but luckily, my friends have provided some of their pictures to fill my gaps. Time for a picture party:
A very common sight
Steve making a call
Rich and me trying to warm Laura /photo courtesy Rich Gordon
Steve and I paced together a lot /photo: Rich Gordon
Julie, Steve, and me on the road /photo: Rich Gordon
Doobie visits garage sale /photo: Julie Kuberski
Gary dressed up! /photo: Julie Kuberski
Rhonda testing fit. /photo: Julie Kuberski
Varied Entertainment
Wednesday brought a variety of noteworthy happenings for me and our group, only a few of which involved biking. It was another short ride where we arrived at our final destination by lunch.
The riding was great, and included a stretch with a wonderful tailwind.
Other highlights included a stop at the home of the parents of one of our riders, a heavy downpour after we got our tents up, a visit to the bar at the bowling ally across the street from our camp, pizza (which I didn’t need because I just had lunch) at the bar while watching women’s World Cup soccer, and visits with a number of former riders who stopped by to say hello. We’ve also enjoyed a greater number of visiting family members this year than usually happens.
We are just starting to become efficient with the routine of this trip again, and the finish on Friday is almost here. Man, the week goes by fast when you’re having fun.
Increasing Connections
On our day off from riding, I started the morning by riding my bike to breakfast. I had the best banana-nut pancake that I recall having ever eaten. The referrals we received from locals were right on.
photo courtesy Julie Kuberski
Back at the park, I had an opportunity to sample the game of Pickleball. My partner, Doobie, and I went 2-0, after which I quit. Undefeated!
Then I rode the bike again, up to visit Myre Big Island State Park. After that, a few of us stumbled into an opportunity to go to lunch with our ride director, Bob Lincoln, to someplace that would have good salad choices for lunch.
We found the clubhouse restaurant at the Wedgewood Golf Club, also local-recommended. Got what we wanted, and thensome. It was gorgeouse and we were well-received. They made us feel like VIPs.
I made a rare attempt at a selfie:
Back at the park where we are camping, I was able to share some quality time socializing for the balance of the afternoon.
Finally, for dinner, I left the bike behind -it was our off-day, after all- and joined a group in walking to find a desirable restaurant that was open. Luckily, we were early to arrive at our choice, as the establishment was under-staffed and couldn’t help but fall way behind in serving eager customers.
Weather was beautiful and allowed us to enjoy a fabulous day of getting to know people who are new to the trip this year, as well as to know a few of the long-time riders even better.
Leisure Time
After a spectacular morning rest stop at a bar in Myrtle, MN, where they opened at 9:00 a.m. for us, we rode through the minor inconvenience of some light rain before arriving at Albert Lea. It was not only our lunch destination, but also the town of our day off, so we will be camping here two nights.
Not needing to bike anywhere today means we can work on our eating skills. My sugar addiction doesn’t have much to worry about this week. It’s pretty safe for the time being, and being well fed.
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Remembering Warren
On Sunday, I had a precious opportunity to ride in a jersey that once belonged to an amazing man I met years ago on this ride, who passed away last fall. Warren LaCourse was one of my favorite people to see every June when we gather on the Friday night before the start.
This year we had a brief ceremony in the evening of our first ride, where we honored the memories of 4 people from our group who have passed in the last couple of years. It was there that I learned about several of Warren’s jerseys that his wife, Barb, had made available for any of us who might be interested. I was thrilled to be able to have the jersey that Warren wore so many times it had faded from deep red to almost pink on the back.
I rode yesterday feeling as if he was hugging me all the way, and that made our longest day this week (77 miles) seem easier to me than it should have.
I am lucky to have known Warren, and feel especially blessed to have one of his favorite jerseys as a memory of him. Thank you, Barb. We miss him so on the ride!
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People Trip
I don’t know why I call this a bike trip. The main reason I do this is for the people. It is a thrill to spend a week with them.
We started the riding in a light mist of precipitation yesterday, and the day ended with passing misting showers, on a day that we expected a lot more sun.
It was a really fine day, regardless.
Bike Week
I’ve been riding the “Jaunt with Jim” bike ride in the middle of June for probably 15 of the last 20 years. Jim Klobuchar has retired and passed the ride along to the leadership of my friend, Bob Lincoln, who has rechristened the ride the “Tour of Minnesota.”
The usual routine during my travels is to compose and schedule Relative Something posts in advance, to provide continuous content while I’m away. However, we’re in the year 2015, and I think it’s time I stretch my abilities and join the craze of mobile technology being promoted everywhere I turn. I have downloaded the WordPress app, and this year I endeavor to achieve a “live” daily peek into my experiences biking and camping by posting from my phone. Oy.
Wish me luck. And carrier service. And battery life.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the great June bicycle trip, I am once again providing the youtube video of the song I wrote about the event, set to a slide show of photos I took during a couple trips that happened in northern Minnesota a bunch of years ago. It pretty much describes the event from start to finish. That’s why it is over 8 minutes long.
Today, we will be leaving Chaska, MN early in the morning and will ride a mere 50-some miles to Faribault. I hope you will find a post here tomorrow morning about the first day of this year’s ride.
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Tangled Web
We survived yesterday’s day-long precipitation without receiving any torrential downpours! The ground is soaking wet, but we avoided any further washouts, I’m very happy to report.
I spent yesterday trying to finalize my preparations for the Tour of Minnesota bike trip. I will leave this afternoon for the drive to the initial camping spot before tomorrow morning’s departure on the first day of cycling. I’m hoping for much better weather than we endured last year.
I found the exercise of packing to be almost beyond my mental capacity. It seems a bit extreme to me, but I seriously believe I am continuing to suffer rather significant symptoms of withdrawal due to my quest to stop over-eating foods laden with sugar. I did some reading on the subject, and opinions seem universal about the individuality of responses to reducing or eliminating sugar from a person’s diet.
I hate to imagine that my very noticeable symptoms are a reflection of how much excess sugar was in my diet prior to this effort to pay attention. I have had headaches and dizziness, but my primary complaint, which was making me particularly uncomfortable yesterday, is flu-like symptoms of aches and pain, lethargy, and weakness. I just want to lay down and sleep. I feel crappy. If I thought I had the flu, I would just stay in bed.
Meanwhile, I am preparing to embark on a week of bicycling. What am I thinking!?
My thinking was pretty foggy all day, and packing became a random series of wandering around collecting things and then setting them any variety of places. Nothing actually got packed. In the early afternoon, I succumbed to the overwhelming urge to lay down and napped for over an hour.
Today, if the grass dries enough, I would like to do some last-minute mowing before departing. I hope to use the early morning hours to finally put things in my bag and be ready to jump into afternoon traffic after one last shower in the privacy of my own home.
I think I have participated in this week of biking and camping so many times that my frame of reference during preparations has shifted significantly from the excitement and anticipation of what lies ahead, to lamenting the last night of sleeping in my bed, using our private bathroom and showering alone for the next week.
Granted, those issues are some of what contribute to the charm and camaraderie of this event, which is what draws us all back, year after year, but the inconveniences seem to become amplified after so many years of doing it.
I plan to drown any sorrows in sugar during the week, as I anticipate “cheating” on my diet a fair amount, to calm my symptoms and provide necessary fuel for the confused furnace of my body. I just hope it doesn’t mean my withdrawal symptoms have to happen all over again when I get back and resume my measured daily intake.
It’s a tangled web I am weaving.
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Flowing Along
If the weather predictions for today come true, we may literally be flowing along by the end of the day. Reminiscent of a year ago, when the Tour of Minnesota bike trip faced epic amounts of rain and flooding, today Wintervale Ranch is included in a flash flood watch. Remnants of what was Pacific Hurricane Blanca will be bringing us torrential rainfall with potential flooding this afternoon and overnight.
Cyndie and I ventured out last evening to contemplate our preparedness, and it became apparent there is little we can do but let mother nature have her way and react to whatever aftermath we face. I don’t have any idea yet about how we might mitigate the erosion that is happening on the hill around the barn. Heavy rain today will likely expand on the current ruts created by the last two significant rain events.
After walking the back pasture last night and surveying the drainage swale again, I felt inclined to just leave it be as is and see if flowing water will carve a path through the sediment that has accumulated in order to reach the ditch at our property border. It won’t look like the precise, wide slope of a swale that I had in mind, but I can adapt my vision.
Delilah received some quality attention in the form of a thorough brushing, which has become a daily occurrence lately in attempt to rid her of the underlying fur left over from winter. Wednesday was an exceptionally hot and humid day for this time of year and she appeared to struggle with keeping herself comfortable.
My exercise in throttling back my daily sugar consumption continues to leave me feeling tired and lacking in stamina. It has me wondering about the intense weight loss regimens that drive participants to do heavy workouts while also making strict diet corrections. I don’t think I could do both at the same time. I know the physical abilities of my former self, and right now I can’t achieve a fraction of what I use to do when I was eating unconscious amounts of sugar.
So, lacking any other strong motivation, I am settling in with a frame of mind to just go with the flow. What will be, will be.
Let it rain.
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Relative Something 