Ukranian towers, ancient turtle powers

Every spring, Stacy and I go for at least one ride in the Roseville/Shoreview area and there is something new to see. (Last spring, it was some old historic building near Snail Lake that we discovered when we turned on a road too full of snow for our bikes to handle. There's an old blog post on that, if you're curious.)

We seem to have a tradition of riding on mother's day, and yesterday we rode around Shoreview. We sort of meandered around Snail and Turtle Lakes, only getting slightly off our intended route a couple of times on our way to this cool Ukrainian church. We were going to post a photo of us on our team's Facebook page, panting over our handlebars, pretending that we rode our bikes to the Ukraine, but realized we wouldn't fool anyone.

On the way back to Stacy's house, we debated whether to ride on a trail or stay on the street. We went on this little (yet surprisingly hilly) trail where we saw this huge turtle. His flesh was hanging out of his shell, including what would be his pectoral muscles (if turtles have pectoral muscles). I'm a little worried that he has inadequate protection to face the world. But look at his huge, fat dinosaur tail. Super cool. We did also see a pudgy woodchuck earlier in the ride, but he wasn't as striking as this turtle (sorry, woodchuck).

Our team is lagging in its fundraising. I'm finding myself busy as a team captain in keeping them informed about things, reminding them to train and raise money, while trying to stay on top of my own stuff while traveling for work.

It'll work out. This weekend's rides was a big confidence booster. Oh! You guys, I think that slightly shorter, slightly more angled stem on my handlebars is much better in terms of back pain. It still is a mystery exactly why my bike didn't bother me the first three years I rode it, and have some thoughts, but am glad that this might help solve the problem!

Just a few weeks left until the MS150! Here's the link to my fundraising page, if you want to check my progress or donate: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMS150.