This is the place where I'll blabber about my commute. Mostly my bike commuting, since that's (slightly) more interesting than the bus. Feel free to contribute.
This thread idea inspired by and basically a rip-off of Davis' Virtual Tour of America. So sue me.
35w doesn't cross cedar.
I think he means 35E.
E, W - one of those damn 35 roads. :)Â
You'll have to pardon him, he's not from around here. ;-)
Although having lived here for going on 5 years, I guess you would have to say I should know - I guess I just really don't care. I know what road to take, and I take it. :)
Ah, Willful Ignorance!
nothin' wrong with that.
In commuter news, they have finally opened Lot B at the Fort Snelling LRT stop. I parked there today. It will relieve the congestion of Lot A, and it's a shorter walk to the station. Yay!
Of course, it probably won't be nearly as congested at Ft. Snelling once the train starts going to the Mall on December 4.
Are you kidding???
I bet people park there vs. the mall to go shopping.
but that might not be an issue for you....since the mall opens later in the day.
Is parking really that bad at the MOA?
today it would suck...
I know. I have the day off, and grandma and grandpa are taking the kids at noon. I've got some stuff I wanted to get done around the house, but I'm afraid to go to Home Depot or Menards.
Black Friday. The name says it all.
It's 2:00 on Saturday, the earlybird sales are over. I'm going to brave Home Depot today.
So, any of you guys want to do some bike rides this year?
I'll go on record right now that I'm ready to load up my bike and shit, and drive up to visit you guys for a couple of days of riding.
Sounds like fun - what thinkest thou, dude? Maybe at that trail we keep meaning to visit down South MN way?
Where you coming from, Davis?
Sounds like fun!
Speaking of which, I posted this somewhere else (Healthy Choices, I think) but I officially opened the bike commuting season last week. Yay!
Not much to report lately. I've been commuting to the LRT station fairly regularly, averaging 2-3 times per week. Yesterday was the first day I got out my Schwinn and rode a longer distance. I rode to the LRT in the morning and then on the way home I did some scouting around for a good route from Minnehaha Park to downtown Minneapolis because tomorrow morning I'm the ride leader for that route in the Minneapolis Bike to Work Dayevent. I'm excited! So yesterday I put on 39 kilometers (24 miles) and tonight I rode the route I scouted yesterday for a total of 29 km (18 miles). My ass is going to be sore tomorrow.
Good for you, dude! I'd join you, but my work is almost at your house. :)
You should have been there. We had a really nice ride in. There were 5 of us total on my route (including 2 hot chicks!). We had a great ride in with a nice tailwind, made the ride a breeze (pardon the expression). Once downtown it was schwag central. My haul for the day:
3 water bottles
1 Park multi-tool
1 REI sticker
1 power gel pack
1 Team Ortho t-shirt
Plus, free coffee and muffins for breakfast!
w00t! Cool for you. Sounds like fun!
It was fun! But I've ridden about 120km since Tuesday and I'm ready to fall asleep in my chair today.
Hee. Falling asleep in the chair... hmm, sounds good to me too.
Today's ride:
51.21 km (31.804 miles)
2:05:38 ride time
47.0 km max speed
24.4 km average speed
I took West River Road out of downtown all the way to Minnehaha Park, then crossed the Ford Pkwy bridge and doubled back up East River Road. Once I reached the Frederick K Weisman museumI turned around and headed back down East River Rd and home. A good ride, the longest I've done this spring.
Only 22 more days until the MS150.
[Edited 2 times. Most recently by on May 31, 2005 at 09:48am.]
I had a very nice ride yesterday. I rode from my place in Eagan through Lilydale and into St Paul via Harriet Island. Then I rode past my old house (still looks the same) to Lake Phalenand picked up The Gateway Trail. I took the Gateway all the way to Highway 96, then turned around and went home. Total on the day was 81km (50 miles).
Only 10 more days until the MS150.
Sounds like a nice ride, dude! Good luck and stuff on the 150. Glad I didn't attempt to sign up - I've had no time to ride! Might have to dust off the bike sometime soon though.
It was a great day for a ride, not much wind and the sun was out!
Don't worry about not signing up, you can still sponsor me...
I put in 110 miles this week between Monday and Friday. But we had a little incident on Friday.
[Edited by on Jun 5, 2005 at 07:42pm.]
Alas, poor messenger bag! We hardly knew ye!
Here's a link for you Frosti. Thought about posting it in S&S too, but I'm too freaking lazy.
http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/res_high/index.html
Oh I think Viv and Frosti and Sparky outta get together and do that one. Just make sure someone has a camera.
<edit> Are we gonna get that big message from Ableminds everytime we hit Post?
[Edited by on Jun 9, 2005 at 05:42pm.]
<curious> I don't know - this will be my first post since you just said that... we'll see!
Hunh. No message for me!
Mark says he turned it off. It was Incredibly annoying.
Looks like the closest one is in Chicago. That's about halfway for me and Sparky to meet Viv. I'm sure I won't be riding naked this weekend. But I am getting ready to head out for my MS ride. Wish me luck and hope for good weather! It's not looking promising...
Duluth:
A few showers during the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High around 70F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Hinckley:
Saturday:
Thunderstorms likely. Some may be severe, especially in the evening. Low 57F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Sunday:
Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 50s.
White Bear:
Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s.
I guess I never updated after my ride. The MS ride was great! It rained in the morning on Friday but cleared out nicely for the trip up north and setting up camp. Our campsite was a little squishy, but all in all not bad. Saturday was pretty wet riding. It came down hard for about 1/2 and hour with drizzle on either side for additional time. Paul and I rode most of the day with a guy named Charlie. Great story here. Charlie works for a construction company and 3 weeks before the event his boss tells his employees, "I'll buy a bike for anybody who rides the MS150." 8 employees take him up on the offer. The guy buys 8 brand new Specialized Sequoiasat about $900 each (and as Charlie says, each of the riders spent an additional $400-$500 on accessories. Good day to be a bike salesman!). But now, they've got to actually ride the things.
A bunch of Charlie's buddies took off in a flash and left him in the dust early in the day, which is kind of why he took up with us. The three of us drafted in a mini paceline and managed to catch most of his friends by about the 50 mile mark. Charlie was pretty jazzed, as apparantly there was some taunting when he got dropped earlier in the day. Now the tortise has caught the hares, and the hares were exhausted. A couple of them rode with us for about 5 miles, but they couldn't keep the pace. Karma is a bitch. :)
After the last reststop, Charlie is starting to flag too. He's riding with us fine, but he told us "Sorry guys, but I can't take any more turns out front, I'm dying." Not a problem, we'll pull you in we say. Because that's what you do. When I rode my second MS150 in South Dakota with the Pigs R Us team, there was a pretty awful headwind the first day and I was whipped. I rode my buddy Vern's wheel in the last 20 miles or so, and I don't know if I would have made it without that help. So thanks again Vern, both for the help that day and for getting me back on my bike!
The rain cleared out and we set up camp in the sunshine and hit the beer tent. Nancy and Mandy drove up to Hinckley and we all went to dinner at the casino, then we headed back to camp to learn that a rider had been killed by a car that afternoon. A tough way to end the day.
Sunday was fairly uneventful. The sun shone (my sunburn is just about done peeling), and it was nearly a perfect day other than a slight headwind. Paul, John and I rode together for most of the day. Paul and I saw a rider get hit by a car. He was extremely lucky and walked away with minor injuries.
The route change this year was great, ending up on the Gateway trail and following that right into Century College was a dramatic improvement over the dusty or muddy (depending on the weather) Washington Co. Fairgrounds. It was also nice to be able to go eat inside, at a table, in air conditioning at the end of the ride.
Pictures of the ride are available herefor those who are interested.
Looked like fun (to watch that is) ;-)
I didn't know KIZZ was into biking? Cool!
Oh, and your wife sure is hot. She kinda reminds me of Sandra Bullock
[Edited by on Jun 21, 2005 at 10:46am.]
My wife? Don't let my wife see that picture! ;)
Yikes - sorry bud
Just yanking your chain dude. She's my wife, she does look like Sandra B and she is totally hot. :)
:(
Â
damn webblocker...
She's fully clothed, if that makes you feel better Kitch. ;)
Doesn't make me feel better.
<laciviousgrin>
[Edited by on Jun 21, 2005 at 02:01pm.]
What kind of grin? :)
I just prefer leering, myself.
Maybe we won't get together on the 8th after all. ;)
Thats cool Frosti - isn't running chick your wife? just checking
[Edited by on Jun 21, 2005 at 03:40pm.]
Yes, and that's her. :)
Still biking. I know, it's December. But why not?
If you're not already reading the Fat Cyclist blog, you should be. Where else can you get links to somebodyexperimenting with propane, bike tubes and fire all set to Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire?