From the Quotble Cyclist Book
"When I'm on my bike, I forget about things like age. I just have fun." Kathy Sessler
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Sunday Bike Ride
I rode the Irene-Viborg-Centerville-Wakonda loop again today, a nice 42 mile loop. Rather uneventful, a peacefull ride that allowed a lot of day dreaming. I made one stop in Centerville for a break - since the bakey was closed and I couldn't have an apple fritter - I stopped at the convenience store. I've become a regular there this summer and the folks are always very nice and at least seem interested when they ask where I'm biking to today. One interesting thing I saw was a large flock of turkeys (about 20) crossing highway 19.My husband and I went to Sioux Falls in search of a fire pit but decided for the price we could probably build something ourselves - or I should say, I'm confident my husband can build it! I did find the perfect arbor though. It was not in stock so had to be ordered but that will also be one of the fall projects on the "honey-do" list.
We ran into a friend at Lowes and chatted awhile. He is the county road supervisor so I asked him about what roads are going to be chipped sealed this year. Here is the bad news of the day - starting on Sep. 8th they will chip seal the Wakonda road (302 St), the road south of Meckling to the Timber Road, and the Burbank Road.
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Riding with the Guys
CDV posted a ride to our biking group for this morning (Saturday); distance ~50 miles, pace 16-17 mph. I have ridden a lot of long, slow distance rides this summer but have not been pushing my speed. Last Saturday with near perfect weather and assisted by a fast pace line, I managed a higher average speed and it felt good. Wanting to ride with the group at least for a few miles, I left my house about 6:30 am and rode towards Vermillion, meeting Biking Brady, CDV, KS, and DW about 3 miles out of Vermillion (21 miles into my ride). We rode for the next ~13 miles together but I could not maintain the pace posted. But being the gentlemen they are, they slowed down and Biking Brady and I rode a little behind CDV & DW.The guys are so strong and I admire how easily they attack the hills and their speed. I'm glad they let me tag along to give me the chance to push myself more than I normally would if I was riding alone the entire ride.
Having to get back for a 9:30 bridal shower, after departing ways as the guys went on to Centerville, I tried to keep going strong. I had 39.33 miles on my bike computer when I got home and being a bit OCD, I had to keep riding to hit the 40 mile mark, even though it was already 9:10 and I had to shower and get ready for the shower.
It felt good to get a 40 mile ride in and I was only a few minutes late for the shower! This afternoon we're off to a wedding!
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Big Friend, Little Friend Ride at Elk Point
Loved this ride! Cindy and I started off sucking the wheels of a pace line of about 8Siouxland cyclists for about the first 25 miles - that was fun! Around the Spink overpass the group broke up as some riders skipped the Union Grove loop. Of course, we chose to ride all the miles so we headed up towards the park. By this time Ed had joined us.
We were on a time schedule as Cindy had a wedding to attend in Brookings - so there was no lollygagging! But we were riding at a pretty good pace and found ourselves a bit ahead of schedule which meant we had time to share a piece of pie at the Spink Cafe.
It was a perfect day for a ride and the three of us had a great time riding together. We finished with an aveage speed of 17.3 mph for the 55 mile ride. So we even had time for a quick bite to eat at Los Amigos in Elk Point before Cindy's husband picked her up.
This was my fastest average speed of the year and it felt good!
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A Great Bicycle Quote from the “Quotable Cyclist” Book
"It is no longer a beast of steel....no....it is a friend. Destiny has accorded man (woman!) this new friend. It is a faithful and powerful ally against one's worst enemies. It is stronger than anxiety, stronger than sadness. It has all the power of hope." Maurice Leblanc, Wins to Fly
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Saturday Century Ride
I love riding my bike! Especially now when I’m feeling my strongest following RAGBRAI a few weeks ago and the MS Ride last weekend, so I just want to ride as much as I can! Charlie is enjoying his hobby; restoring a car he bought earlier this summer which gives me time to bike without feeling guilty!I seriously thought of going to Watertown to ride their century ride on Saturday with a biking friend, I really wanted to go but didn’t want to spend a 4th consecutive weekend away from home for a bike ride. I decided to do my own century around home. But I also wanted to sleep in a little and didn’t get started until 7:30 am. A stiff south wind also slowed me down and I wasn’t sure I would get a century accomplished but I took it slow and easy. With seven hours of riding time (14.3 mph average) and two total hours of break time, I finally finished at 4:30 pm.
A perfect day; I got to spend the day riding, we grilled steaks for supper, and then spent a quiet evening watching a movie!
One more thing, I had lunch in Vermillion at HyVee with my minister who happened to be there at the same time. We had a really nice visit, I found out that on RAGBRAI we went through the area of Iowa where she grew up and she has family that continues to live there. It happened to be my favorite part of Iowa and I remember the area well (some of the towns run together that we went through and don’t stand out). I want to go back sometime to the Lisbon, Mount Vernon area, it is very Americana, like a Norman Rockwell print. We were talking about biking and pastor said to me, “I never realized you were such a hard core biker.” I don’t think of myself as hard core but I told her my motto: “Anything worth doing is worth over doing!” I have thrown myself into a few serious hobbies over the year; ie. genealogy (I dragged my husband through a lot of cemeteries!), scrapbooking, etc., but I never would have dreamed I would take up biking!
Map of my ride – never more than 25 miles from home.
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Thursday Evening Ride
A beautiful evening for a ride! I posted a ride for 5:30 pm for the Bluff Road/Meckling loop (28.5 miles). We had a total of 6 show up for the ride; some of the usuals like Biking Brady, Craig T., myself, as well as John who I haven't ridden with since the summer before last (welcome back to biking!), and two students. I hope the students didn't mind riding with us old people! I wish all of our students rode bike, I love getting to know them outside of school and a bike ride is conducive to great conversation!All in all, a great ride! Only a couple of small glitches, dogs on the Bluff Road chasing us, but no close calls, mainly because a minivan was behind us which helped to block the dogs. And Biking Brady had a problem with his bike - he was stuck in his big chain ring - I chose not to ride in my big chain ring climbing the hill into Vermillion in sympathy for Kevin!
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One Last RAGBRAI Post
Here is a link Mark Ebert's RAGBRAI diary - he has the perfect name for his RAGBRAI diary "10,000 Maniacs." That sums up RAGBRAI pretty well. Mark also used the ShuttleGuy camping service. It's fun to hear other people's stories - especially those who you know!
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MS Pedal the Plains Ride
For the first time, I wasn't excited about the MS Ride for the following reasons:1. It would be my 3rd weekend in a row away from home for a bike ride.
2. The forecast with the heat and wind sounded horrible.
3. My hometown was having their annual CornStalk festival which I have missed for the past 4 years for the MS ride.
4. It had been a very busy week getting caught up at work, starting orientation with a new group of students, was gone every evening, blah, blah, blah......
But the magical power of the bike took over as soon I was on the bike and on my way down the road with 350 other riders. What a great feeling to be pedaling away on a beautiful morning - and so far the wind wasn't very noticeable!
Ashley and I were riding together and soon we were joined by Cindy and then Holly and then Eric and then Pamela. It seemed to be a nice comfortable pace for us all and the time went by quickly. And it was nice to have others to commiserate with once the winds picked up!
Loved the sign at Melissa and Nick's house "Two LaneHogs live here," along with a decorated bike! Bet they were tempted to just go home when they passed by but with their determination they kept going - whereas if it was me, I would have been very tempted!
We actually made it in to Vermillion earlier than I had anticipated, I think around 1:15 pm. Seemed like it was too early to quit riding for the day so Ashley, Pamela, and I headed out to conquer the Century Loop. I will admit it was painful against the wind and I hadn't remembered that hill pass the Vermillion-Newcastle Bridge to be quite so LONG! But the trip back definitely made it worth it - downhill with a tailwind for several miles.
I'll repeat what others have said, it was great to meet the bloggers! Hopefully we'll all be together again at the Margarita Ride!
The banquet was inspiring as usual. As a proud aunt, I have to say it, I think Mandy does an awesome job (along with Janey and Jennifer) at the MS Society. And her and Nathan have the cutest daughter. Of course, all 57 of my great-nieces and nephews are gosh darn cute! No kidding - my husband and I have 57 great-nieces and nephews!!).
Sunday was HOT. Here is the short version: Had a flat tire outside of Beresford, didn't want to hold the group up as it got hotter, and didn't want to NOT ride all the miles by sagging ahead to meet them at a rest stop. So rode the last 50 mostly by myself after sagging back to the school to get my tire fixed. Did not mind riding alone at all - I usually ride by myself and I'm good at keeping myself company. Thought about the book "The Last Lecture" when he starts out by saying he won the parent lottery. And I thought about how that statement applied to me as well. Basically I was out in the heat reminiscing with myself about what a great childhood I had and how loved I was by my parents and grandparents......yeah, might have been a combination of heat stroke and nostalgia!
Anyway - it was another great MS ride despite the wind and the heat - as Snakebite would say "deal with it," (note I left out the rest of his statement) and I think we all dealt with the conditions well. Our fatigue and aches and pain last a short while. Hopefully we have made a difference in the life of someone dealing with MS who lives with fatigue and aches and pains daily.
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