Great weather and a little Mahoney attitude on the bike

Today, I rode to Raspberry Island where I met Matt for a ride to Stillwater. He was a little delayed due to a flat tire situation, so I ate a little snack, lamented the fact that the City of St. Paul thinks that people only need restrooms and drinking fountains between Memorial and Labor Days, stretched out my hips and back and watched a guy who was sleeping in his car move his car to a different spot, open his trunk, pee on the ground, and go back to sleep.

We had a great ride to Stillwater - bypassing some of the annoying little spots where the trail intersects with streets in neighborhoods, riding through the trees with changing leaves, stopping at Pine Point Park before heading to Chilkoot Cafe and Cyclery for some good food, and opting for the new Brown's Creek Trail instead of the Myrtle Street Hill. I was having so much fun riding my bike. I don't even know the words to describe the freedom of just moving.

Once again, we decided to bypass the annoying spots of the trail, opting to instead ride on some side streets from North St. Paul to Maplewood. We were on a road with one lane of traffic and one parking lane in each direction. Matt and I were riding single file in our lane of traffic, near the white line that separates the driving lane from the parking lane. Some young dude in a pickup truck (confirming my biases, yet again) yelled at us, "Get off the road, F*ckers!" Way to show the North St. Paul spirit, young pickup man.

What did I do? I moved into the whole lane, which we have the right to do under state law. He unfortunately had already turned. (I'm 99% sure he turned into a church parking lot! Sounds like he needs some guidance.) Upon reflection and weighing the options, I think this reaction is something that I've picked up from the Mahoney side of the family rather than the other side.

It makes me think that I should get one of the masks that my nephews have been collecting for their Halloween costumes!

I rode a bit over 75 miles today. I was lagging that last mile and later realized that this is the furthest I've ridden since the end of July, so don't feel so bad about being a bit worn out.