Yesterday was, of course, this year's modified MS150 bike ride - a one-day 75-mile local loop rather than a 2-day 150-mile ride from Duluth to the Twin Cities. My former riding partner for nearly a decade, Matt, flew back from Seattle for the ride. I ended up getting in 150 miles over the three days of riding with him. When you ride with someone roughly 100 to 150 miles per week for nearly a decade, you get to know them. It sure was nice to catch up with my good friend as we pedaled around, stopping frequently to reapply sunscreen.
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| I skipped work for a bit Thurs morning so we could ride. |
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| Which bottle had more in it, and would accompany me on the ride? |
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| Me, at the end of the MS150. I realized, when putting my bike in the car, that I had no photos of me from the day. |
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| I get weird heat rash sometimes. Thankfully it feels nothing like a sunburn. |
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| Yesterday's route. I have never ridden in Blaine before. It was a nice route, with some familiar territory on the east side. |
Before Matt came to town, I realized that I needed to ride more regularly, find new routes, challenge myself, and meet new people. So, for the last month or so, I've been riding with both the Major Taylor Bicycling Club and the Twin Cities Bicycling Club when I haven't been spending time with our crazy canine, Haley, or running errands by bike.
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| My last longer solo ride, in May - Grey Cloud Island. I rode here so much last year, the group rides are a nice change of pace. |
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| Scenic rest stop at Grey Cloud Island in May. Ha. I was wearing a buff. It wasn't boiling out then! |
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| On a TCBC ride, I wore my capri rain pants and somehow rubbed off a little circle of skin on each knee. |
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| I also had a flat tire on that rainy TCBC ride, and ended up replacing the rear tire a few days later. |
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| The Major Taylor ride where I didn't get caught in a freak thunderstorm riding to the start of the ride. |
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| In May, I had a good streak going of getting Haley to Fort Snelling State Park for an early morning or late afternoon hike. |
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| My S-I-L gave Haley a little pool. She's been taking advantage of it on these hot days, and isn't as scared of the water since we went camping and my younger sister and I tried to teach Haley how to swim. |
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| She did well on her first camping trip, although she must be tied up/leashed at every moment. |
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| Amusing myself in the pharmacy drive-thru on my bike, waiting to refill prescriptions when on a circuit of errands around the city/'burbs. Hot night! |
So, I now have two of the three 2021 BikeMS rides under my imaginary belt. Imaginary because I don't usually wear a belt when biking, except that one year when I was in really good shape. (I currently am... squishy.) I realized on the errand day, when I went to pick up my MS150 registration packet, that I had forgotten to move funds from one bike ride to another to cover the minimum fundraising amount. I ended up just paying the minimum amount for the MS150, so that I could stay close to hitting my goal for the Ride Across Minnesota in July. That strategy paid off - - people kindly donated this weekend and I have hit my July goal (it is a little lower than normal this year because things are still a little weird, so of course donations are still accepted).
Anyhow, it turns out that I sadly can't do the Ride Across Minnesota (which has been cut from a 5-day to a 2-day ride this year) in late July because I need to attend a memorial service out of town. I'll figure out something to do as a substitute and keep it interesting!
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
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