I love this permanent. It's beautiful, the countryside is unique and every time we go to ride it, another road is closed for construction and forces a re-route on to some new gem. As Gary says, "I've been working on this for over a year, one of these days, I'll get it right".
The latest forced set of changes were caused by the ever expanding construction on N, which should really rock when complete. Without a good way to get east, Gary decided a small loop in the middle to Dunnville would solve the problem. That of course takes out 10 miles of flats (the only ones) and replaces them with 10 miles of walls.
We have enjoyed the 4th warmest winter on record and virtually no snow. This has made it much easier to ride all winter as opposed to last year when I seriously considered modifying training wheels into skiis for the bike. Routes with sanded ascents and descents on feet of snow is really getting up there. Of course, we haven't had zero snow, so that means that we have pavement that looks like a sandbox. All climbing must be done sitting (or your rear wheel spins).
The forecast for this day was for lows in the high 20s to highs around 40. Turns out that we rolled out around 7 at a balmy 18 degrees. The first 30 miles or so start with steep rollers (temple hills). I uniformly suck at these no matter how fit I think that I am; but at least they got me warm. The frost was think and we had lots of sun, as such we both remarked that this was probably the best day to ride in February. It had snowed about 5 days previously, but a big melt had come shortly afterwards: big patches of snow but lots of bare, frosty spots abounded. There was a fair amount of wind blowing from the south too which made for headwinds on the first 60 miles.
The first adventure was Spot the Wonder Dog. Temple hills are enough, but having a dog chase you on temple hills is somewhat a different experience. It became clear quickly that Spot was a playful dog and just really wanted to come along for the ride as he gleefully jumped and bounded around close enough to shoot any tempo to hell. After a mile, we stopped, not wanting to lead him further away. He was singularly unimpressed with our "go home" suggestions, but after a couple minutes, his owner showed up in van to drive him home. Bye Spot, have a good day!
Since the repaving job on Q finally got finished, we got to remove one of the previous detours. The New Q is indeed a beautiful, and now beautifully paved, road. We came to Knapp and I had ice in my bottles which I dumped it in favor of hot water. The ascent on Q out of Knapp has no shoulder, is twisting, and has many cars. Fortunately, a new section with about a mile of gravel is now replacing a dangerous 19% grade. Okay, it is being replaced by a mile of gravel leading to another 19% grade climb that is 2x longer; the hills score major points on my cold thighs. On the plus side, when you do half mile climbs that steep sitting down in winter, you are treated to views that are otherwise invisible through the leaves.
On CR-X, I forgot myself and briefly attempted to stand while climbing. I nearly fell over as my rear wheel spun on the sandy surface. This section, while very beautiful, also included several new hills on the way to Dunnville at the confluence of the Chippewa and Red Cedar Rivers. I recongized the area as one I had bonked on years earlier in the summer. It's always a special feeling when you get to ride by a place you previously lay passed out on; at least my fitness has increased, here I was still pedaling and it was 50 degrees colder.
Dunnville itself is a tiny town that was previously the seat of the county and one old building remains. Apparently, sometime in the 19th century, bandits from Menomonie showed up and stole the county records so as to provide a boost for that town. How totally wild west to steal the county seat from a town. Why don't we have really forthright politics like that today?
We finally completed the Dunnville Loop and were back in Downesville for the control. Downesville is a small town in every sense of the word. It doesn't even sell gas. However, the entire place was filled with cars which was definitely odd. We stopped for lunch/receipts and asked why all of Dunn County was in Downesville. Why its the annual Ice Fishing Contest was the reply, "we have 2 ponds that are just frozen enough". So most of Dunn County was squatting on frozen ponds and the bikers are crazy?
By the end of our lunch, temps were in the high 30s. I switched to thinner gloves, but kept everything else, it was still nippy. The south wind was decidedly friendlier on the way back to Knapp and I really enjoyed this stretch. The winding road along the Red Cedar River and the climb back into Knapp are big highlights. The only real ice we encountered was the descent into Knapp, I unclipped and carefully picked my way across while Gary simply pedaled over it. No fear of falling has its advantages.
We got to Knapp around 4 with about an hour of daylight left. Since Knapp is down in a valley, we had one more big climb to get out. At the top, gentle roller awaited all the way back to New Richmond. We switched our lights on before coming into Hammond, a control, and had about another hour of night riding. This last stretch, on flat roads with beautiful, twinkling stars and no traffic was another big highlight.
One does not do winter perms as a time trial or to set records. Our finish was about 12:35. The temperatures sort of flirted with the 40s, but the sun is really what made the ride. In the far north, we are subject to solar deficit disorder, meaning we are all cranky from being in the dark for months. To be outside in the sun all day in February at 40 without snow is a rare thing indeed. Gary beat me up every hill, no suprise, he is the true thighmaster. It just re-enforces the axiom that randonneuring is about me having my ass handed to me by members of the AARP.
Gary's wife, Debbie, had prepared the family chicken wild rice soup for our arrival. That, along with some sort of greek chicken thing from the New York Times that Gary had made himself was a delicious end to a fun day.
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