I FINALLY got some rides in this weekend, just in time for the 90°+ degree days. Sunday I closed the shop early as there was a dearth of action in this town. Coleman & I got out for nearly 3 hours. Started from the shop, headed south on Bryant. In the distance I saw a large inflatable castle –one of those Moonwalk things for kids– in someone's yard. Could it be? Yes, it could . Bootsy Collins holding a 4th birthday party for his boy William Thomas. He offered cold PBR's; how could we resist? A great way to start a ride! Beers slammed, bid the Collins' adieu, we rode down the Parkway, over to St. P on the Lilydale/Hwy 13 route (saw Jim from The Modern Cafe), back up the River Road on StP-side, over Lake Street Bridge, back down River Road Mpls-side, to the backyard tavern at 42nd & Wentworth. It was hot, but I surprisingly didn't bonk. Nice.
Monday, another hotter than hell forecast. Brauer was a no-show (Bleriot?) so the Wrexican and I rode out to Watertown on the
Luce Line trail. This was a shakedown ride on the "new" Osell touring rig, which I will be riding to Bismarck for my 20th High School reunion at the end of June. It took me nearly 4 hours to get the brakes dialed in on Sunday night, trying 3 different pair of cantilevers before finally getting the old school XT M-732 cantis to work. It had a lot to do with the angle of the brake cable exiting the levers, and the fact that this old bike (1989) only has one spring hole for the brakes rather than the more common 3-hole. The newer XT cantis that came on the bike just didn't have enough spring tension. So anyway, the bike worked flawlessly today, rides real smooth and all. But me? I was having problems due to the heat, and perhaps ganged on top of yesterday's 3-hour ride. I had packed some sandwiches and when we rolled into Watertown around 1:30, we stopped for Gatorade & Coke and had ourselves a straight up trail-side picnic. Pointed the rides back towards the city, and shortly after, I had to stop and rest in the shade. Wrexican was stalwart as usual, making sure I didn't ride into any ravines and waited up when I was lagging. We finally made it back to the trailhead and made a bee-line for Medicine Lake. Rode ride up the water's edge and just sat up to our necks in water for about 20 minutes. What a lifesaver. The only downer was watching the Jet-skis and ski boats whizzing around such a small lake. After sufficient cooling, we got back on the bikes and rode down Glenwood Ave, making a stop at the American Legion club. The locals were in full effect. "Don't worry, they won't get stolen," a gent tells us as we roll up to the patio. "That looks too much like work!" Indeed. In for one and out again before ending the ride where we started. Cuppa Java for sandwiches and Sprecher Root Beer. I am smoked, but stoked to have gotten in back-to-back rides. First time that's happened in awhile...
I FINALLY got some rides in this weekend, just in time for the 90°+ degree days. Sunday I closed the shop early as there was a dearth of action in this town. Coleman & I got out for nearly 3 hours. Started from the shop, headed south on Bryant. In the distance I saw a large inflatable castle –one of those Moonwalk things for kids– in someone's yard. Could it be? Yes, it could . Bootsy Collins holding a 4th birthday party for his boy William Thomas. He offered cold PBR's; how could we resist? A great way to start a ride! Beers slammed, bid the Collins' adieu, we rode down the Parkway, over to St. P on the Lilydale/Hwy 13 route (saw Jim from The Modern Cafe), back up the River Road on StP-side, over Lake Street Bridge, back down River Road Mpls-side, to the backyard tavern at 42nd & Wentworth. It was hot, but I surprisingly didn't bonk. Nice.
Monday, another hotter than hell forecast. Brauer was a no-show (Bleriot?) so the Wrexican and I rode out to Watertown on the Luce Line trail. This was a shakedown ride on the "new" Osell touring rig, which I will be riding to Bismarck for my 20th High School reunion at the end of June. It took me nearly 4 hours to get the brakes dialed in on Sunday night, trying 3 different pair of cantilevers before finally getting the old school XT M-732 cantis to work. It had a lot to do with the angle of the brake cable exiting the levers, and the fact that this old bike (1989) only has one spring hole for the brakes rather than the more common 3-hole. The newer XT cantis that came on the bike just didn't have enough spring tension. So anyway, the bike worked flawlessly today, rides real smooth and all. But me? I was having problems due to the heat, and perhaps ganged on top of yesterday's 3-hour ride. I had packed some sandwiches and when we rolled into Watertown around 1:30, we stopped for Gatorade & Coke and had ourselves a straight up trail-side picnic. Pointed the rides back towards the city, and shortly after, I had to stop and rest in the shade. Wrexican was stalwart as usual, making sure I didn't ride into any ravines and waited up when I was lagging. We finally made it back to the trailhead and made a bee-line for Medicine Lake. Rode ride up the water's edge and just sat up to our necks in water for about 20 minutes. What a lifesaver. The only downer was watching the Jet-skis and ski boats whizzing around such a small lake. After sufficient cooling, we got back on the bikes and rode down Glenwood Ave, making a stop at the American Legion club. The locals were in full effect. "Don't worry, they won't get stolen," a gent tells us as we roll up to the patio. "That looks too much like work!" Indeed. In for one and out again before ending the ride where we started. Cuppa Java for sandwiches and Sprecher Root Beer. I am smoked, but stoked to have gotten in back-to-back rides. First time that's happened in awhile...
