I am for the art of underwear and the art of taxicabs*

*Claes Oldenburg

Friday night, while devouring some tasty pizza, I mapped out a bike route for Saturday. It was a little ambitious considering I haven't ridden much this year yet, but I figured (correctly) that this route would allow me to be pretty socially distant and that I could carry the water I'd need. And, given that businesses and park facilities are shuttered, I figured (also correctly) that this route might offer me a couple of discreet spots - if needed - to go to the bathroom. 

I rode to Grey Cloud Island, which is south of St. Paul, and west of Cottage Grove. To get there, I rode past Kaposia. And, on the way home, I rode past Battle Creek. In the early 1800s, Dakota people had to leave Battle Creek, moved to Kaposia, and then had to relocate to Grey Cloud Island. When I ride in those areas, I spend a lot of time trying to envision what the landscape was like two hundred years ago.

Between Kaposia and the 494 bridge, I came across the old Armour meat company's main gates, which are standing alone in a field. Well, not entirely alone. I also found a pair of underwear.

Years ago, I shared a photo that my friend Matt
took of me, climbing the metal ladder
on the right gate.

I'm not quit sure how a pair of
underwear gets lost in a field.
It didn't look like anyone had been
sheltering in the gate buildings.

I shared this info years ago, but I still can't get my head around the fact that in 1919, at the meatpacking plant at this site, they processed 700 hogs, 180 cattle, and 1,000 calves and sheep EACH HOUR during an 8-hour shift. There were 21 railroad spur lines serving the site. Maybe someone shed their underwear because they were so flabbergasted by these facts!

One thing I don't understand is why the metal gates, inside the brick gate buildings, are padlocked shut, when you can just walk around the building freely. The locks aren't ancient. Is it just to keep people from playing with the metal gates?

When I stopped at Grey Cloud Island, I watched a few different eagles swooping over the water on either side of the bridge, looking for lunch. It was sunny and peaceful.

You all helped me get this jersey!
It was the swag for doing the San Fran
ride last September. Because you donated
>$7K last year, they waived all my fees
for that ride.

It was a more crowded around Battle Creek than normal - the weather was nice and people are in the parks. I was able to pretty much avoid people. Riding through downtown St. Paul was even more ghost town-ish than usual.

When I was nearing the Capitol and was stopped at a stoplight, from nowhere a guy on an electric bike snuck up on me and stuck his face right next to mine and exhaled, cackled, and then rode ahead. When the light turned green, he started following me, and circling back and forth, taunting me and sticking out his tongue. It was the only time I've been super creeped out on a bike ride - and it was in the middle of the afternoon. I was able to maneuver to where there were some people on the Capitol grounds and zig zag around between sculptures, so he ended up not being able to follow me. I took back streets to connect to where I needed to be, which is kind of challenging in that area because it is where a few different highways come together, so there aren't a lot of options for roads to ride on. 

I was mad. Partly because he could have gotten me sick; mostly because he made me feel somewhat vulnerable and because he ruined what really was a perfect bike ride. 

Today I avoided that kind of poop by instead taking 5 hours to cleaning up an inordinate amount of mouse poop (and other dirt) in our garage, throw away dumb things the mice destroyed (a blanket, some owner's manuals), and to purge some junk from the garage that we don't need. In the process, I got a mouse skeleton stuck in the shop vac tube and had to get creative to dislodge it. 

It was not quite as pretty as this, but between the bits of remaining fur, you could see pretty much all the bones. In other circumstances, I would have been more interested. I was struck by how long the tail was.

I got cleaned up for our team meeting tonight via Zoom to talk about how the MS Society is switching the BikeMS rides to "virtual rides." It was great to see some of my teammates.

I decided that I will still ride the same distances as originally planned (40 miles ~5/17, 150 miles ~6/13-14, and 300 miles in the last week of July). But if the weather is crummy, I'm reserving my right to shift the days on which I ride by a bit, especially since I will need to make up my own routes and may be limited in terms of social distancing, refreshments, and restroom options. I have shifted my fundraising goal down to $3,000 from $5,000. It will be quite a challenge to hit that level this year, but I'll try! http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo.