I had one permanent route that I had never ridden. A 300k that is about to become a brevet route. GearBob (not to be confused with SpinBob) wanted to finish his R12 with a spectacular finishing ride. So he called me up about riding it. We thought with the good weather, we would just wait for a sunny day in the 40s and it would be a snap. Groundhog Day was fast approaching and the beautiful weather was rolling in. A foggy start and then sunshine, 40s and no wind. What could be better.
So we started out with temps just around freezing at 7:00 AM to avoid any overnight icing. It was a foggy start, no doubt but, hey it was going to burn off. We headed down Minnetonka Blvd and turned down Baker Rd for the first rollers of the day. I am planning on getting a new frame and the builder had put a 130mm stem with a 17degree pitch pointing up to see if I could potentially have a little bigger frame. Bike looks weird, but riding with GearBob is good for me: he knows all about such things.
As we moved through Eden Prairie, things were going well except that it seemed a bit cooler. Sure enough my little thermometer read 28 degrees, down a couple. That was puzzling, temps were supposed to be in the mid 30s by that time. On the other hand, the fog was still in force and we started noticing long icy fuzz starting to grow everywhere, including on my hair! There really wasn't any ice and the riding continued to be pleasent. We pushed on to the first control, Belle Plain, at about mile 40.
At Belle Plain, I changed my Toasty Toes and had a brat, chocolate milk, a power bar and some gatorade. Reading that sentence actually makes me feel really ill now, but at the time it was great. The ice crystals at this point were about an ice long, hoarfrost on the trees outside. If you have never seen hoarfrost, here is a picture:
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| photo of hoarfrost taken by unknown person, road pixie stupidly forgot her camera |
We rode out of Belle Plain and had a beautiful climb out of the Minnesota River Valley. Once on top of the bluff, the ride turned distinctly flatter with a slightly east wind that pushed us along. This was a little dull with the fog blocking our view to the Nature Area, but passed pretty quickly. As we rolled into Green Isle, the fog lifted and temps soared. Up to 40 degrees we went without a cloud above. We could, however, still see the fog bank to the northeast.
We turned onto County 15 and wound our way through the sunny day through Glencoe and up to Hutchinson. This was a really nice stretch. Though the road isn't really interesting for about 13 miles, the shoulder is about 10 ft across and 2 people can easily chat. We had some really nice conversation and Hutchinson, mile 80, was in sight. We rolled into the Econofoods and proped the bikes up in front of the large windows of the deli section. A 93 year old woman with a walker congratualted us on our ride. She had been a rider up until 84, she looked like she had some miles left in her too. It was only 1:30. We were on a pretty good pace to finish around 10-11:00 pm.
I had a huge chicken salad croissant, a Naked Mighty Mango and a plate of mashed potatoes and gravy. Pure heaven! We filled bottles and were really excited to get back on the road.
And the fog rolled in....
Just outside town, there it was waiting for us like some kind evil John Carpenter movie. Our nice warm temps dropped at least 10 degrees in about as many minutes. We put our coats back on. Here things got interesting.
We some missed a turn somewhere. Of course, the fog was so thick, it was impossible to see which direction was north. Visibility was limited to a few hundred yards. I turned on my strongest lights. GearBob has super bright generator lights too. We were lit up like Christmas trees. We stopped a car and got some directions but as we continued on, we werent totally sure where we were still. Suddenly, a local appeared out of nowhere. He offered to show us back to the route. What luck!
Turned out it wasn't quite as helpful as it could have been. His pace was much quicker and both of us expended way too much energy keeping up. In addition, we knew even less about where we were when he suddenly had to return to Hutchinson and said, "just take the next left". Oops.
About 45 minutes later, I waved a car down. We were way off course. To get back to our route, we had to go almost 8 miles out of our way! But finally after 2 hours of milling out, we found it. There is nothing quite like doing bonus miles and then realizing you still have to finish. And now we would be out very late indeed. The next section, it turned out got distinctly hillier. Were it not for the fog, it would have been very beautiful. Alas, it wasn't. Bob's stomach wasn't doing very well either, he was nibbling, but still trying to keep up. The Annandale control was still 20 miles away. The sun then set, we were still 85 miles out and it was 5:30 pm. 10 pm was not going to happen. I started pondering internally whether we would make the 20 hour cutoff; but at Cokato GearBob was emphatic, this ride was going to get finished on time!
As the darkness set in along with the fog, I was glad I had so many lights. Bob kept dropping back as we went over big rollers. Finally, we turned onto Cty Rd 24, less than 3 miles to the control. We were both hungry, wet and kind of cold.
At the Holiday Station, they were giving away free pizza. Score! I ate a couple pieces along with the famous Little Debbie Double Decker Oatmeal Cream Pie and a super concentrated Monster thing. Within minutes, wings sprouted from my back and I was really to roll. GearBob unfortunately did not fair as well on the fare. He was to suffer dearly for his lack of vision! At one point, while my mouth was full of sugery cream, an older gentlema walked in and exclaimed, "who is crazy enough to be out on this on bikes?". All Bob could get out was, "I sure wish it wasn't me," with a big smile.
It was a quick 20 miles to Monticello, and I did my best to pace Bob. I hate to watch a rando fight with their digestion. We have all been there and its the mark of a fine one that they perservere. In fact, it started to feel warmer. The temperature was still 30, but the fog was gone for good. I could see the countryside (well a little better, it was still dark). That part of the ride is really nice and goes by Lake Maria State Park. Too bad all I got a really good look at was the sign.
Monticello is an area with lots of options for a control and we opted for Culvers, a local fast food chain. I had a hamburger, fries and root beer. Bob had a burger and started feeling better. We had 45 miles to go. It was about 9:00 pm and the deadline was 3:00am. Plenty of time.
I really enjoyed the next 2 legs. The ride to Delano via Rockford is a lot of fun rollers and is even nicer when you can see it. Rockford is right on the Crow River and the river was somehow comforting as we crossed. We made it across the train tracks just in time to avoid a long wait and life was good. We had a few minor setbacks but rolled into Coborns in Delano
I have to say the guys at the Coborn's was just astounded to see people on bikes roll in at midnight on a school night no less. Bob changed socks and I had some vitamin water and another oatmeal cream pie.
The last 25 miles were both long and short, happy and sad. The occaisional Christmas light still greeted us as we cruised through town. It's always both happy and sad to finish a ride. But the temperature started dropping again and I have to say the chocolate milk and yogurt at Cub Foods was delicious at the end. We made it just a shade under 19 hours.
So GearBob has an R12 now. It's a big accomplishment. This is the second time I have been able to ride with someone finishing that particular award and it is always something special.
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