The Final Countdown and, Hey!, Busy During the week of 7/15?

Today, Stacy, Dave, and I rode from Raspberry Island in St. Paul to Afton. After leaving St. Paul, we wound our way through Battle Creek Park.

I didn't take pictures, but this is an accurate photo from the Internet, although you can't see the cool waterfalls. Here's a link to a short video of the history. I guess I had forgotten who had fought in the battle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kO4j8-LloM. Kaposia park, across the Mississippi River from Battle Creek is equally as beautiful, although it looks very different. We rode through Kaposia on our 5/6 bike ride.

Dave, working on a tire.
Maggie, working on a sunburn.

Just after leaving the park, we were delayed by Dave's flat tire and my apparently not-so-reliable hand pump. After getting off the annoying paved path through Woodbury, we rode through stunningly beautiful (although somewhat disappearing) farm land along a creek to Afton, a city that is on the St. Croix River, which forms the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin. We had lunch and headed back.

There were some decent hills on this route and, after riding yesterday, I'm pretty tired. I did 40 miles today, 40 miles yesterday. Last weekend, I rode 55 and 40 miles. Two back-to-back weekends of rides this length is my final prep before each MS150. I guess I'm ready! We will load our bikes on trucks and ride a bus up to Duluth. I'll stay with my friend Travis' parents in Superior on Friday night, and then the ride starts bright and early Saturday. I feel a little jittery. I can't believe it is already June.

I raised $4,255 for the MS150 and have also raised $305 for the MS TRAM in July. Thank you, everyone, for all of your support! I'm no longer on the scrolling list of top fundraisers, but my team is just barely hanging on. I don't mind if other people bump me. I'm super excited that I've managed to raise this much already this year! 

Helene is the lowest fundraiser of the top fundraisers, which means I got bumped off the list. That's okay - I exceeded my goal, thanks to you! My team, SCS, is still showing up on the page, though, that's cool. And some people from my team said that they're still expecting some donations.

One week from right now, I'll likely be asleep, but I'll be really proud of another good ride. Which, I should remind you, is basically a training ride for the MS TRAM. 

What?!? Yes, yes, yes. You may have forgotten, devoted reader (if you exist), that the MS TRAM is a five-day ride in Northern Minnesota. Which brings me to a question for you... what are you doing that week? Are you someone who doesn't have work obligations and wants to meet us in one of the towns where we'll be riding to keep us company ? Do you have a friend or a family member who lives in one of those towns and loves to shower home-cooked meals on strangers? Travis and I are the two people from our team doing this ride and plan to sleep in tents, but we'll roll into each town at around 1 or 2 each day and have nothing else going on - - and will have no meals provided for us. Essentially, we're looking for a pit crew (minus luggage carrying duties - that will be done by the MS Society people).

On Sunday 7/14, we'll take a bus from Duluth to International Falls. On Monday 7/15, we'll ride to and spend the night in Orr. On Tuesday 7/16, we'll ride to and spend the night in Chisholm. Wednesday 7/17? Biwabik. Thursday the 18th we'll be in Two Harbors. Then, on Friday the 19th, we'll finish in Duluth and both have people there for us.

Let me know if you think you're interested, or know of someone else who may be able to help us out!

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyTRAM

Oh my, my, oh hell yes, you got to put on that party dress.

Tonight I went to the party that Stacy and Travis hosted to raise money to meet their fundraising goals. I think they brought in a lot of money.

The Pabst rep that Travis met on our ride last year (our team had Pabst jerseys) donated a keg of beer for the party, as well as some stuff for an auction. Other businesses, including Fulton Brewing donated food and beverages.

Here are some photos from the party: (1) my contribution to the party, after today's 40-mile ride, (2) the band, which played some classic rock and oldies, and played that one Petty song I like so much, and (3) the sleeping bag I bought in the auction for Dan. When I got home, I realized that it is reversible.

I have another 40-miler slated for tomorrow a.m., the last ride of any real distance before the MS 150 next weekend. Stacy, Dave, and I are going to ride to Afton, which we've never done before. They said on the radio that there's a 0% chance of rain. Let's hope they didn't jinx us.

I got a lot of recognition this p.m.for my fundraising efforts. Thanks, everyone!

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyTRAM

8 days left: love song to my bike

Ooh I need your love, bike,
Guess you know it's true.
Hope you need my love, bike,
Just like I need you, Oooh.

Hold me next week, hold me upright.

I ain't got nothin' but love , bike,
Eight days to go.

I'll ride you for two days, bike
All the way from Duluth.
One thing I can say, bike,
I hope the ride'll be smooth.

Hold me next week, hold me upright.
I hope you'll show me some love, bike,
Eight days to go.

Eight days to go
One hun-dred fifty miles.
Eight days to go
There's no more time to prep.

I'll ride you for two days, bike,
All the way to the Cities.
Hope you don't break down, bike,
Hope the ride won't be... poopy.

Hold me next week, hold me upright.
I ain't got no real prep left,
Eight days to go.

Eight days to go
One hun-dred fifty miles.
Eight days to go
There's no more time to prep.

Love you ev'ry mile, bike.
Even with a flat.
One thing I can say, bike,
Let's not worry 'bout that.

Hold me next week, hold me upright.
I'm ready to fight MS, bike,
Eight days to go,
Eight days to go,
Eight days to go.

We are getting close!

Got this in the mail yesterday - - a bib for the event. You don't need one, due to having a wristband, but they are encouraged for, ahem, VIPs (people who raise at least $3,000). I was the 49th highest fundraiser last year out of 3800 riders. Take that, MS!

You can blow out a candle, but you can't blow out a fire . . .

Frogs. Deer alive and skeletal. Dead skunk and dead snake and dead porcupine. Waterfowl, songbirds, ravens etc. Huge bird of prey, molting? Too early? Mink or marten.

View of Pike Bay from our campsite 

These are the notes that I left myself after riding around 55 miles on Saturday. The ride kicked my butt. I know this because when I got back to our campsite, I ate beef jerky while enjoying this view. Beef jerky, you say? Odd but oddly delicious after that long bike ride.

So I started off just south of Cass Lake, took the Migizi trail west and then headed south on the Heartland Trail. Just before Walker, I picked up the Paul Bunyan trail and took it north. I debated taking it all the way to Bemidji, but common sense kicked in about 42 miles in to the ride. I was running low on snacks and water and had left my money, ID, and credit card at the campsite, I had no idea really how far of a ride it was from Bemidji back to the campground, and I was pretty tired. I took a county road from the Paul Bunyan trail back to the Heartland Trail and then back to our campsite. (If I had kept on going, I think it would have been a 70-75 mile ride.)

The Migizi Trail by the campground

It was sort of a greyish, windy day. I saw no one on the Heartland Trail until I was by the Leech Lake boat landing just north of Walker. I saw a handful of cyclists on the (much prettier) Paul Bunyan Trail. Thank you, Minnesotans, for passing the Legacy Amendment a few years ago, which apparently paid for these two trails! 

Debris on the Heartland Trail can't stop me! 

Heartland Trail

I am not sure what is happening with my photo alignment, here. I am sorry that I'm such a novice blogger.

Anyhow, back to those animals. I heard a lot of frogs when on the trail. I saw a few living deer, and a few really cool deer skeletons that were largely in one piece, but very much picked over. I saw some dead things: a skunk, a snake, and a porcupine. I saw many birds, although the one that was most interesting was some sort of huge bird of prey that I couldn't identify. I also saw some sort of mink or marten or weasel hanging out in a field. Oh, yeah, and horses and cows. And lots of scat. Clearly some of it was from coyotes. I'm wondering, based on size, whether other pieces were from wolves. I assume there are wolves in that area.

The bike paths were so smooth and easy to ride on that, after a while, I started needing something to do, other than pedal and look at cool barns and lakes and cabins. I was singing, but the only lyrics I could remember in any sort of detail were from songs from the 1980s and early 1990s - - a lot of INXS and the Pixies, a little Peter Gabriel (I must've gotten my second wind when ending the Pixies with "T-I-R-E-D spells it," I launched in to Biko and the lyric quoted above about how you can't blow out a fire), and U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday as an encore. "There's been a lot of talk about this next song maybe, maybe too much talk." I don't think my singing killed those animals, but one cannot be sure.

Leech Lake

Paul Bunyan Trail

On Sunday, I decided to try to ride on county roads and see if I could make it to Bemidji, to do the final part of that initial loop I started on Saturday. I decided that I wouldn't go more than 40 miles, though, so that I wouldn't spend all day on my bike and so that I could give Dan a chance to go for a longer ride and take my turn hanging out with our dog, Piper, at our campsite. I stopped about 5-7 miles shy of Bemidji, not wanting to turn my 40-mile ride into a 50-55-mile ride. It was a nice ride, without too much traffic, and I got to talk to some funny boys who were on their way to the powwow in Cass Lake and were wanting me to protect them from a friendly dog that was following them.

I rigged up my headphones in to my helmet for this ride so I had a little bit of ambient music, but so that I wasn't wearing anything in my ears to block the sound of cars or anything around me. It worked pretty well. I was able to listen to music from this decade, which was a nice change of pace.

My helmet, wired.

Break near the Leech Lake Reservation

Dan's homemade oatmeal/banana/chocolate chip bars. Yum.

It was good I limited myself to 40 miles. My legs felt able to do more, but my back was ready for a break, reminding me that I need to be better about stretching, especially when I'm doing the 5-day MN TRAM ride. Speaking of which, I'll have a special announcement here soon. Stay tuned!

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyTRAM

Bonus shot: the goofy bobber-shaped water tower in Pequot Lakes on the drive home from camping.

Decoration Day

I've neglected ye olde blogge for a week. I wish I could say it was due to riding my bike a ton. Instead, I was at our team's yard sale, co-hosting a wedding shower for my future sister-in-law, and out of town for work.

My work trip highlights: seeing my friend Alison's doppelganger while having a beer with Ian, testing the younger generation's social skills with Anne (good work, Sigma Chi brothers, you passed the test; your mothers, who are my age, would be proud of your politeness), trivia with Michael & Micah and the crew, breakfast with Ashley at the greatest coffee shop, a walk with Sarah, and getting to have lunch with cousin Katie. The work meeting was good, too, don't get me wrong. But I do like my tobacco control colleagues from OR, OH, CA, DC, and GA. It helps soften the blow of too many work trips if you get to see good people.

I also was able to learn some interesting, albeit trivial, things when playing trivia, including a lot of facts about Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day), which was established to honor vets of the American Civil War. I also learned that the Greek god borne of a leg was neither Humerus nor Quadriceptus, although both were fine guesses, in my opinion.

So what's on the Decoration Day agenda? A camping trip. With lots of biking. Check out the map. Very excited to check out these trails!

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyTRAM

Random Thoughts About Biking

Here are some things that have been jostling around in my brain while riding recently, in no particular order:

- I saw a guy riding his bike, carrying his dog in a backpack. It wasn't a special backpack for that, just a regular book bag. The dog looked totally at peace with it, unlike what I'd expect from any dog I've met. Matt and Sophie's chill cat Bradley might be okay with it. (But he's way too heavy to carry in a backpack.)

- Grand Ave has really good restaurant smells after work, and the Greenway (when passing Eat Street) and Minnehaha Park smell delicious on most weekends. The park by the river in North Minneapolis recently had women cooking whole onions on the grills. I want to know what else they were making.

- I need more than two pairs of good biking shorts.

- Librarians are nice, including the one who thought I was riding my bike too fast on our freak 98-degree, major head wind day. She thought I should take a break in the library. I haven't spent enough time in libraries since I got an e-reader. I should bike there more often.

- I not only met my MS 150 goal, but I am at 39% of my TRAM goal. You people are amazing.

- I still don't know how I injured my thumb taking off my biking glove, or how Jane the magical chiropractor knows that parts of my arm are sore.

- I'm excited to check out the Heartland and/or Paul Bunyan trails in about 10 days.

- I am thinking about removing about 7 gears from my bike. I also should learn how to adjust more things on my bike, or at least learn the names of the parts.

- I rode next to a guy for a block the other day because I liked his jersey and wanted to know where he got it. I think he thought I was hitting on him. He kept trying to ride with me after that. I had to kick it up, and move ahead.

- I like driving down my sort of busy street when stoplights are not cooperating because I can move at least as fast as the cars and feel slightly righteous about getting a workout in the time I normally would be cranky in my car.

- As I mentioned to two coworkers today, I think biking is making the profile view of my legs look like horse legs, but stubbier, since I'm not as tall as a horse. I think that's a good thing.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyTRAM