Posts Tagged ‘bicycling’
Pedaling Upwind
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Seriously, we agreed to go, and even paid for the privilege of riding bicycles in a region that is so windy that they hold National Championship windsurfing competitions and power companies put up wind turbine farms.
What were we thinking?
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Maybe more of us would have thought twice about dealing with that wind if we would have known that the region was also going to be soaked by repeating waves of massive thunderstorms creating flash floods that closed roads, destroyed crops, and trapped a lot of cows.
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We witnessed innumerable fields with large amounts of topsoil sediment dropped in the lowest draining corner, and even more fields with massive amounts of previous year’s dead stalks and debris pushed into piles where it flowed over roads, or dropped in winding patterns when flood waters receded.
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Luckily, the camaraderie and shared accomplishment of like-minded friends proves to be a superb distraction from how miserable we might otherwise feel were we to endure such dreadful conditions alone. Riding while chatting —when the winds aren’t gusting so severely as to make that impossible— is a great way to cover long miles and not notice how far you’ve actually gone. We had opportunities to experience a little of both situations on this year’s ride.
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Riding Wet
Last week I posted little snippets that describe some aspects of my annual June bike/camping trip. Much about it is the same every year, in a general sense, but each trip has its special moments that go down as memories that stand apart. I will attempt to describe my adventures of this year’s Tour of Minnesota, looking back at it from the comfort of now being warm and dry.
It was a wet year. Here are some headlines for the week from my favorite weather blog, Updraft: “Warm front sets the stage for stormy period,” “Flooding rains drench parts of Minn.; more on the way,” “Severe threat unfolding tonight; tornado watch west,” “Epic flood threat and severe risk continue,” “Uncle! 2014 is wettest year on record so far.”
I have done this ride when there was no rain for the entire week. Other years we have been able to ride dry every day, and rain fell only at night. Often, there will be one or two days when we must endure the inevitably wet day. It was overcast on the Saturday that we started our ride from Jackson, MN, heading for Worthington. I didn’t put on a jacket because I tend to overheat when covered up. It didn’t exactly rain on that first leg, but you could feel a sprinkle of wind-blown wetness that was falling. The sky ahead conveyed the obviousness of the source.
I was thoroughly enjoying chatting with another rider about my new adventure with horses, as the wetness increased and our first rest stop loomed an unknown distance away. She stopped to put on rain gear, but I elected to push on. Real rain was just beginning to fall as I navigated my way beneath the pavilion. Everyone after me was riding in a soaking rain.
During our rest stop, the thunderstorm rolled over us in full force, unleashing a bolt of lightning and crash of thunder that elicited shrieks. We extended our stay under the roof at this rest stop for a bit longer. Ride leader, Bob Lincoln, was monitoring radar and knew there would be no ‘backside’ of this system. He held us in place until the first hint of a reduction in intensity, and then sent us toward our lunch stop.
There are portions of this year’s ride of which I will have no photos to offer. For much of the trip, my camera was bagged and buried in my trunk to keep it dry. We rode through a blustery downpour that continued to be peppered with startling bolts of lightning and cracks of thunder. At this point of soaking wet riding, you suck it up and just accept it. Once you get wet, you don’t need to worry about getting any wetter. You hope to get it over with, paying these dues in search of drier days ahead. Little did we know at the time…
Lunch was under another pavilion, but sitting in the breeze, soaking wet, people were getting chilled. They opened a school for us. There wasn’t as much lightning, but the ride from lunch to Worthington was still pretty wet. The wild weather had forced a change in venue from camping in the park to getting refuge in their school. As I led a small group in search of the new destination, we came upon the National Championship Windsurfing regatta and witnessed all the vendors that had been forced to close down their booths.
Following directions from locals, we pedaled into neighborhood roads that were flooded, forcing us to ad-lib alternate routes. It was only our first day, but by the time I settled into my sleeping bag, perched on the landing of a stairway in a dark hallway in the school, I felt like we had been battling for several.
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Back Live
I am back with live posts today —not pre-written and scheduled— having successfully survived and returned from the most challenging of bike camping adventures that I have ever done. We made plenty of jokes about planning a bicycle trip in a region that has been selected as a good place to have a wind turbine farm.
The challenge of riding daily into unrelenting gale-force headwinds was compounded by the addition of a surprising wave-after-wave of severe thunderstorms, drenching this region that was previously enduring a drought. The unprecedented amount of rain in that short time seriously flooded farm fields, creating flash floods that over-ran banks, flooded homes and washed out roads.
For some reason that I don’t understand, I had the unfortunate luck of adding to the misery by getting sick with a sore throat, stuffy head, and congested lungs. I don’t know if it was just a bad coincidence of timing or whether the weather conditions and close proximity to a large group of people happened to be the trigger.
Last week was one tough vacation. At the same time, it was as fun as ever. I hope to tell you more about it in the days ahead. Right now I am faced with the burden of deciding if I can go back to bed to repair my ailing health or get after the mowing and manure management chores that are in dire need of attention.
The same storms that dominated our bike week moved across the state and soaked Wintervale Ranch. We’ve got additional trees tipped over that I will need to cut up and move, just to get to the manure pile.
The bed is looking more and more enticing as my current preferred option.
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Headed Home
As the route for this year’s bike trip came together, the last leg ended up being the shortest of all, at roughly 22 miles, to get us from Windom back to Jackson where our cars are parked. That’s okay with me. By Friday, my mind is on getting home to my own bathroom and a real bed again. One of the hardest parts of the transition from this vacation back to a normal routine is ratcheting back my diet to a normal calorie intake.
When your vacation involves riding a bicycle all day long, every day, you can pretty much eat whatever you want and justify it as fuel for the next effort ahead of you. My past experience tells me that I won’t be riding much bike when I get home from this trip, so it behooves me to cut back on the daily ice cream treats and what seems like a week of non-stop eating.
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It’s People
From Slayton to Windom, MN today. The Thursday of our annual ride has a special energy to it. It is the second to last day and the bonds that develop through the week are strong. We’ve shared the accomplishment of riding through good weather and bad, living in close quarters and enjoying relaxed time together in vacation mode.
At this point, we can feel the end is near, and it induces a sense of urgency. I want to absorb as much of the energy of communing with these fine people as possible. You wish you could bring them all home in a pocket and include them in the rest of your life, showing them off to friends and family at home.
It is not possible, except in small fractions, and I have successfully done so with a precious few. Gary Larson and I have traveled to Nepal together to trek in the Himalayan mountains. A dozen others have become year-round pals who gather for a variety of other events, not necessarily bike-related.
The biking is nice, but the reason I come back to this trip every June is the people who I have come to know, some by first name only. I see them once a year for a week, and I still regard them as some of my favorite friends.
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Riding On
We ride from Pipestone to Slayton today. Will the wind be at our backs? Have the thunderstorms missed us all week? These are the thoughts that run through my mind in the week before I depart. Memories are still fresh of the year our group got pinned down in a tiny convenience store, waiting out a severe storm that poured down copious amounts of rain that never seemed to quit. Many of us gave up after a couple of hours of killing time there and made a mad dash that turned out being well before the pouring rain and lighting strikes were over. Oops.
I also wonder how Cyndie is doing with the horses and Delilah, and all the chores associated. Is the week feeling long for me at this point, or will it have whipped by in a blink? I’ll write all about it here when I return next week.
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Still Vacationing
Today we are headed to Pipestone, MN. I will have been off-line for 5-days! Wow. I sure hope my butt isn’t sore at this point in the trip. I didn’t have very many miles logged prior to this week, so I am unsure how I’ll hold up to the long days on the saddle. Luckily, the mileage is shorter than usual this year, so my odds of having a problem are reduced a bit.
One solution to that concern would be to get a recumbent bike. Trust me, I’ve considered it multiple times. I’ve never gotten over the hurdle of purchasing another expensive bike that I only ride occasionally. Did I write ‘never’? Never say never.
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Day Off
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It’s day four and this morning, we don’t have to pack our dew-soaked tents at the crack of dawn, which is a precious thing. It is an off-day from riding and we have the day free in Luverne to do whatever we please.
Some folks look for a Laundromat, but not me. I’m on vacation. I’m not doing any laundry!
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One Week
The trip I am on provides an excellent example of the relativity of time. I will be gone from home for one week. How long is one week? It is just 7 days. I have been gone from home for longer than that on many occasions. From my experiences of the 15-odd years that I have participated in this week-long bicycle/camping tour, I know that one week seems both incredibly long and woefully short.
I will miss my wife, our bed, the convenience of our bathroom, and all the rest of the comforts of home. For some reason, spending an entire week exclusively using a bicycle for transportation, makes riding in a car at the conclusion of the trip seem like a totally foreign experience. Upon arriving home again I have always found that it seems like I have been gone forever and changes that occurred while I was gone are dramatic. But it is just one week.
I tend to believe it has something to do with how different the days are from my usual routine. For this one week I am able to immerse myself in the experience and camaraderie without needing to give any thought to my normal daily concerns. That makes for a great vacation. The route and meals have been determined for me, as well as where I will camp. I get to relax and enjoy the miles of riding and camping in the great outdoors, and most significantly, immerse myself in sharing the experience with like-minded friends.
For that reason, the week seems to pass in a blink. We hardly get started and it is already over. This trip makes for both a very long week and a very short week, all at the same time. Maybe that is why it seems so magical.
Today we ride from Worthington, MN to Luverne. Happy Father’s Day!
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Start Vacation
My vacation starts today. I saw a news headline somewhere indicating that today, Friday the 13th, happens to coincide with the full moon. What luck! It also happens to be the day I leave for southwestern Minnesota to camp in Jackson overnight for the start of an annual June tradition, a week of bicycle touring and tent camping that I have participated in for two decades. The moon can serve as my night-light while I try to reacquaint myself with my usual —but several years removed— camping routines.
For 39 years our ride was called the “Jaunt with Jim” because the ride was conducted by adventure/travel writer/columnist, Jim Klobuchar. Last year Jim retired from leading the ride and turned the task over to Bob Lincoln. Bob established a new name and identity for what will actually be the 40th year of the ride, so this year I am riding in the Tour of Minnesota.
As I have done for most of my adventures, I will journal my experience using the retro-tech of pencil on paper, and then compose and post stories upon my return. For the week that I am gone on this vacation, my daily posts will come from pre-scheduled tidbits that I have composed to give you a peek at where we will be this year with some images of what the ride has looked like in years past.
I’ve done as much to prepare our property for my absence as time allowed. Now I leave it up to Cyndie to keep things under control until I return. I’m hoping her recovery from hip surgery is far enough along that she is up to being the sole caretaker of animals and property for a week. I know from experience that it is a daunting task.
If all goes as planned, posts here will return to “live-daily” again on Saturday, June 21st. Till then, feel free to envision sunny skies, cool tail winds, and low dew point days for me and my friends for the week ahead. I’m off bicycle touring! Ta ta.
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Relative Something 