Livin' La Vida Loca

Well, not exactly. But I sure have done a lot of biking this week, in addition to other things to keep me out of trouble. From Tuesday through today, I've ridden 223 miles. And, if you add in last weekend's rides, that's another 91 miles. I have about 2,300 miles in for 2021 so far, which is pretty much on par with last year when I rode shorter distances but much more regularly to stay sane during an unvaccinated COVID summer.

So, what's been keeping me busy since I last posted something here?

Well, I went to St. Louis for a memorial service and to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Then, I went to Wisconsin with my sister and niece to visit Beth (my stepmom).

I took my fat tire bike, rode with Beth,
and then rode to the state park.

We then caravanned (that looks weird, but I think it might actually be correct?!?) to northern Wisconsin and visited my mom and Terry. Terry took this photo of the ladies, but I didn't have their permission to post their photos and my niece had not yet put on her makeup for the day, so I redacted them from this photo. It makes me laugh. What is that face? Ha.

Well, hello.

I ate so many desserts on that trip that my clothes are still a little snug. Success! 

I did some bike rides with a couple of friends, went and saw the dancers at Irish Fair, met friends from the east coast for dinner on a patio, went to an outdoor concert with my brother and sister-in-law (compliments of my other brother who was unloading tickets for free), took a meal to a friend who is not well and had a nice talk with her, and took the dog for some walks and had a private backyard training session with the dog trainer (and the dog, of course).

Look at that tongue. She's so cute. I really like her.

I also, perhaps obviously, did some rides with the clubs I belong to.

There's a cooler shot of this background view
that I posted on Facebook, but I thought
 I should show some proof that I was there.
Someone on the ride had a flat, so we had this nice scenic break.  

The Major Taylor club, including me, eating a
Pearson's Nut Roll, provided support for
the Ride for Reparations. I rode at the back
with a walkie talkie and helped change
flat tires and things like that. It was a ride
to different sites in the city to learn about
the practice of restrictive covenants - a
form of structural racism with impacts
carrying over to today - with funds
raised going to organizations serving Black people.

I'm really trying to get better with the selfies.

I took this photo of the totally dry creek while
on the Ride for Reparations. We've been hit hard
with a drought, although the creek has some water
now - we got just under of 5 inches of rain this week.
That's more than we've had all summer.

This week, I did my third attempt at a 100-mile bike ride this summer and succeeded (for the second time)! I rode up the river to the Coon Rapids Dam, rode over to Elm Creek Park, and to the city of Maple Grove. I met up with some members of the Twin Cities Bicycling Club and rode to places I'd never been. Who knew there was a Rockford, Minnesota? There was a pretty river that we rode by and, unfortunately, there were a lot of dead turtles on the road. I then navigated my way home through Plymouth (I think?) and some other western suburbs and around the lakes and back home. 

The Luce Line trail - - still about 15-18 miles from home.
I almost ran over a snake in this area.

Then, this weekend, I rode with the Major Taylor club and, after that, we met up with another group that was hosting a ride to help a diverse group of inexperienced riders get more familiar with riding. I hung in the back, transporting someone's water bottle that kept falling off her bike and then providing moral support to a guy who was changing his flat tire. 

I never really knew what
I looked like from the rear.
This is the bridge really close to my house.
I rarely ride over it, but I walk over it
nearly every day.

The outreach ride.

Then today my friend Matt and I did kind of a crappy route. The scenery was good (I didn't take any pictures - doh!) but the traffic was not ideal. And there were a lot of dead snakes, in addition to other roadkill. But it still was a great day of riding. 

So, on the fundraising front - - people very generously donated $4,800 ($300 and $4,500) to the MS Society in support of my riding/fundraising, and I am so appreciative. https://mssociety.donordrive.com/participant/GoMaggieGo-2021

Technically, I have met my end of the bargain - I did TRY three 100-mile rides this season. But I only did two. It seems like I really need to still do that third one, so stay tuned!