Ride Journal: 9/27/2008

The Route

This week’s long ride was a leisurely, social affair. Recently, I ended up as the DM of a new a D&D group. I, along with a couple other players, needed to pick up miniatures so we biked to The Source and tried to find female minis with non-gigantic boobs (a very difficult task).

While in the Roseville area, we also swung by Erik’s Bikes, a local chain of cycling stores. I’m not going to be all bitter about people buying bikes from Erik’s — the more bikers the better. But I was profoundly bored by the place. Racks and racks of cheapish pre-fab bikes, few of which would actually provide a quality, long-term ride. I try not to be a bike snob, I really do. But bikes like the Specialized Langster San Francisco test my resolve. It’s hard to get the full effect of that bike’s kitschy ugliness via a simple photo; you really have to see it in person.

But who knows, maybe a $800 fixie is exactly what some lucky guy or gal needs to open their eyes to the world of bicycles. I hope so.

The staff at Erik’s seemed pretty nice, though. At least one of them stopped to drool over D’s Boston Roadster. He has an eye for quality!

While D & his girlfriend looked at bikes, I stopped at McDonalds of all places. Trying avoid the hunger crash that I could see on the horizon, I got a McFlurry. Basically McDonald’s ice cream with some candy mixed in. Nothing special. However, the blender they use to make the McFlurrys is awesome! Instead of having a blender attachment that the staff would have to wash between each use, the spoon that comes with your McFlurry attaches to the blender’s motor and is used to mix your shake. I thought it was very clever, although I wish that I could have recycled the spoon.

From The Source and Erik’s, we headed back home. Stopping only to get my weekly CSA delivery. A pretty chill ride, all in all. A good way to ride into fall.

September 27th, 2008 / Trackback

Ride Journal: 9/20/2008

The Route

Day to day my rides are best described as errand runs. Looking through my ride journal I see lots of 3 to 5 mile rides to get groceries, visit the library, meet friends at a restaurant, etc. This is great, and it’s certainly the kind of riding at which cycling excels.

But it’s not the only kind of riding I want to do. So for the last two weekends I’ve hopped on the bike and taking it out for longer rides.

Last weekend was the Tour De Pastry — a 28-mile loop through Minneapolis and Richfield that stopped at 4 tasty bakeries. About 7 of us made the trip and although the rain was unpleasant, the pastries and company made it a great ride. It was also a pretty slow ride. I tried to keep the pace around 12 mph, and we spent a lot of time lounging at the bakeries.

This weekend I went out solo, which meant that I could set whatever pace I want and I happily pedaled along at about 15 mph. Since I didn’t want to think too much about destination, I just headed up to the Greenway and kept going west. When the Greenway ends, it joins up with Cedar Lake LRT trail which eventually splits into two trails that are both called Southwest LRT Trail. I stuck to the southern Southwest LRT, which runs for about 12 miles before dead-ending in Chaska.

The ride from Hopkins to Chaska was deceptively easy, I later realized that it’s almost entirely downhill. The grade is rarely enough to notice, but I certainly noticed it while biking back, already exhausted after over 24 miles of riding.

I made a lot of mistakes that made this ride a lot harder than it needed to be. I started too late, leaving the house a little after noon. And I left without having lunch, as I’d had a very late breakfast. Since I didn’t bring any snacks with me, I wasn’t able to eat until 37 miles into my ride. And by that point I was so hungry and exhausted that I ate too much too quickly, leaving me in worse shape than before.

Thus, rule #1 for long rides: Bring some food. Or plan a route that includes places to eat.

Although I was smart enough to bring a water bottle with me, I wasn’t smart enough to refill it. This led to me camping out by a water fountain during my return trip and drinking 2 or 3 pins of water. I also tried to look pitiful enough that the picnickers near me would offer me a burger. That ploy didn’t work. Bastards.

Rule #2: Stop for water whenever you can.

While I was exhausted beyond belief last night, I’m actually feeling pretty decent today, leading me to think that I can do more 50-mile rides in the future, provided that I follow the rules above. Next time I might try the other branch of the Southwest LRT trail.

September 21st, 2008 / Trackback