Posts Tagged ‘bike trip’
Reality Bit
We got bit by a great big dose of reality yesterday. All that easy gliding down the trail we enjoyed on Sunday was wiped out by our plan of reversing direction and riding back the way we came. That meant climbing 3009 feet one day after draining our bodies with 63 miles of riding the day before.
It was incredibly exhausting which made it harder to take in the glorious scenery.
Spectacular rock formations.
Pine tree forest.
Cactus and yucca plants.
Mule deer right beside the trail.
Wild turkeys.
Beautiful cattle herds.
Freshly cut and baled hay fields.
A hawk sailing overhead and darting around trees.
Horses ranches and riders all over the place.
Odd sightings of abandoned junk cars seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Crazy Horse carving in the rocks that has barely changed in decades.
Fellow cyclists sharing greetings and gladly visiting when opportunity presents itself.
We are having a great time, but got our butts whooped yesterday.
Today will be a day of rest as planned all along. A much needed rest.
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Exceeded Expectations
I could list all the superlatives I know and it wouldn’t capture how great our first day on the Mickelson Trail was yesterday.
There were so many spectacular scenes that I got frustrated I only had eyes on the front side of my head.
I’m really grateful for our plan to backtrack the way we just came because I can have another chance to take it all in again, this time from the other direction.
Failing on the idea of picking just one photo…
63 miles, but who’s counting?
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Long Drive
And… we are off! The adventure begins with a day of driving. We are leaving the Twin Cities and heading to Hill City, South Dakota. I laid out what I could think of needing and then stood wondering what I was forgetting. Have I mentioned how much I dislike packing?
I sent that picture to my biking partners on this adventure, Gary and Rich, and they questioned the upside-down footstool. Yeah, that’s not something I’m bringing. Cyndie was cleaning the floor around the bed while I was packing.
Cyndie and I took advantage of one more day at home without animal responsibilities and took in a matinee movie at the theater in Hudson. We didn’t need to ask for the senior discount. The attendant automatically gave it to us. Hmm.
We saw “The Roses,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman. With a great supporting cast of comedic actors, we hoped it would be a rip-roaring laugh riot. Being unfamiliar with the novel and the 1989 film this one is based on, we weren’t aware that a “tinderbox of competition and resentments underneath the façade of a picture-perfect couple” was the theme the humor rides upon. The mean streaks were a little harsh.
We capped off the movie outing with dinner at LoLo American Kitchen and Craft Bar in Hudson at such an early hour that it kept us on the theme of feeling like classic senior citizens out on the town.
Now I will be sitting in a car for most of the day today before trying to get my body going on Sunday morning to ride 60 miles of the Mickelson Trail. The motor and battery are installed on my bike, just in case.
I’ll be posting from my phone for a week if all goes as planned. Forgive me in advance if all you find is a single picture. That is an exercise I have long wished to try, picking just one image to feature from a full day of adventures. I have yet to accomplish that discipline, despite its offering the promise of a quicker and easier post.
I wonder if I packed the right charging cable. If I did, I wish I remembered where I stashed it.
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Headed Home
Today is the last loop ride of the week, after which we pack up and drive back to our regular lives.
In truth, I don’t think I’ll bother with the biking since my precious Trek bicycle isn’t much fun to ride in the condition it’s in.
I gave it an attempt yesterday, and the crunchy sounds and precarious status of a broken bolt made the ride much less enjoyable.
In contrast, hanging out with great friends is the best part of this annual adventure.
I chose the short option which logged 33 miles past a beautiful patch of the state flower, Lady Slippers, and through scenic iron range terrain.
Yes, there were hills. There was also a persistent drippy, pesky sprinklely drizzly precipitation that barely wetted the ground, but did a good job of messing up our bikes.
Of course, as soon as Steve and I got back to camp, the sky turned blue and hot sunshine prevailed for the rest of the day.
All in all, the weather was far from the worst we’ve endured, the camping was good, and the northern Minnesota scenery was as beautiful as ever.
My body was in better shape than my bike. I keep threatening that I don’t want to continue to do this ride every year, but oh how I would miss these friends if I were to finally stop.
I plan to drop off my bike for service on the way home. Then comes the post-trip cleaning and drying of gear, followed by a luxurious sleep on a real bed again.
Adventures with friends are great, but gee, it’ll be great to be back home!
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Interesting Day
I recognized his face right away, but it took a second to figure out from where. When he turned to me and instantly recognized me, we both quickly knew it was PHI.
It was John Newman from the Lab at Physical Electronics. Finding him in the kitchen of a Catholic Church in Ely, Minnesota where the Knights of Columbus were serving us breakfast was a wonderful surprise.
We shared the classic life comparison that follows “What are you doing here!?”
We biked mostly roads to Babbit and back before packing our gear to drive down to Chisholm.
After dinner, some stretching was needed before the walk back to our tents.
My bike was back with the mechanics again to continue their efforts at silencing the ratchety creaking.
Efforts were suspended after a screw sheared that will require more work than they are able to provide from their mobile repair trailer.
I’m going to try gently riding it as is today and see how it does. I will have the phone number for the sag driver handy, if things don’t go well.
It was an interesting day.
Happy Juneteenth today!
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Telling Trend
I seem to be all too willing to skip a day of riding lately when rain looms close on the radar.
Some folks squeezed in their miles before rain reached Grand Rapids, others got a little wet.
I joined a group that opted to pack up dry tents and set out for Ely early to put them up in the park here before even bigger storms arrived.
There was a possibility of riding around Ely, but we chose to eat lunch and wander the shops instead.
Back at our tents, we debated the amount of rain headed our way .
It was a LARGE amount.
A single dripping leak in a rainfly can lead to a big mess in the tent.
Looks to be much dryer today, so the likelihood of riding is high.
I suspect the trend of becoming more willing to forego biking on “iffy” days reveals my priorities are on spending time with these special friends more than accomplishing big miles on the bike.
Unfortunately, I still ate yesterday like I was burning a lot more calories than I actually did.
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Grand Start
The day is starting promising with visible sunshine.
I’m ready to ride!
Nice Now
Now that our bike trip is over, the weather has taken a turn for the better. While many rivers in the area continue to overflow, the sun has come out at home and my gear has started to dry out. Last week’s rainy bike trip was not a bust due to the weather but it was significantly affected by it. We usually find ways to cope with crappy conditions.
This wasn’t the first time we’ve dealt with putting up or taking down our tents while it was raining. Most locations offer shelters that allow bikers to mingle out of the rain at the end of a day of biking. Often, frivolity ensues.
One of the original three goals set forth by Jim Klobuchar –the founder of the ride– is to bring economic development to the local businesses. We don’t just ensconce ourselves at the schools where we camp.
I am particularly fond of finding and spending money at ice cream shops. Pizza restaurants also tend to get a lot of attention from my circle of fanatics.
One of the more entertaining things to happen while we were riding occurred on the day Rich and I were sweepers, which happened to be a day of wind instead of rain. The wind was very strong and mostly steady out of the south. Luckily, we were headed north for much of the route and west occasionally. The wind was either at our backs or across our shoulders… until the very end.
Rich recorded some video of me coasting past him at more than 23 miles per hour on one of the sections with the tailwind. Meanwhile, he kept reminding me we would eventually be turning right into the gales.
On a stretch of trail several miles before turning into the wind, Rich called out that his crank arm had come loose and detached from the bottom bracket. The pedal remained clipped to his shoe.
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We called the sag support driver to collect Rich and his bike and I set off to sweep the final distance of the route on my own. Somewhere around this point of the story, our versions of what happened diverge. Rich denies it, but I contend that he purposefully yanked that crank loose so he wouldn’t have to deal with that ferocious headwind at the end.
Our subsequent tellings of the drama that played out became increasingly more outlandish with every telling and frequently had me laughing so hard it was difficult to get my words out.
All I know is, my version meets the criteria for seeming most likely.
Finishing those last miles alone made me very pleased that I had decided to install the battery on my e-bike. Without any other rider support against that wind, I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the available power assist.
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Rain Chances
“Don’t worry about the future” is wise advice. “Live in the moment” is a great idea. However, in order to pack for a weeklong trip, I need to visualize how the future days might turn out. Will I need any warm clothes or not? Should I pack a raincoat? I need to put myself in that future place.
Well…
That forecast indicates my biking and camping future next week has a pretty consistent chance of being a wet one. I think I’ll want a raincoat.
Today and tomorrow I will strive to fully appreciate the comforts of home before setting off on an adventure against the elements on Saturday.
I wonder if it’s possible to ride a bike while holding an umbrella.
We received a fresh soaking of under a half-inch of rain yesterday, forcing me to delay mowing until today and tomorrow. I salvaged a tiny amount of the day by fence trimming for an hour before dinner. It felt a bit like “too little, too late” but it was better than nothing.
Our weather forecast for the next two days shows no sign of precipitation. I’ll be cutting grass wherever the turf supports the tractor tires enough to not leave mud streaks.
We’ve decided to try sawing branches from a maple tree shading Cyndie’s garden and then need to prepare the horses for a farrier appointment before noon so it looks to be a busy day on the ranch.
At least I shouldn’t need an umbrella. Yet…
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Reclaiming Fences
In addition to regaining the upper hand on our trails, I think I mentioned that I’ve worked some fence lines, too. Yesterday, after I got home from a successful morning of shopping, I strapped on the Stihl power trimmer and headed to the far side of the hay field to make the fence visible again.
I burned through two tanks of gas but probably haven’t reached the halfway point yet. It’s taking so long because we didn’t get after this earlier and now the grass is so tall and thick it takes twice as long to knock it all down.
The days to departure for my week of biking and tenting are dwindling faster than the amount of work I’d like to complete around the property can be achieved. I’m splitting my attention between tending to things outdoors and gathering my gear in the house to pack. Half attention to each goal tends to result in half-sized results for both.
It is what it is. In the end, time always wins. I’ll get done what I can and pack up and go when it is time to go.
As of last night, my weather app showed this forecast for Saturday through Thursday: an alternating percentage chance of storms or rain each day, 50%; 40%; 50%; 40%; 50%; 40%.
Oh, joy.
Like I’ve said, that’s why we call it adventure!
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Relative Something 