Big Ride Day 30

Well, today was an eventful but not too difficult day. I started out with Doug and Mary at our "normal" hour of 7:30 AM. Though they were predicting a dry day, it looked a little ominous as we left camp. I pulled out my rain pants at the last minute just in case and only a half our after leaving camp, the skies opened up. It rained on us for a good 15 miles until we got to the first water stop which was set up at a Dairy Queen. We pulled in there to dry off and of course, it was just packed with cyclists. Everyone was in there trying to stay dry during the rain. Rusty from the ALA was just loving it and snapping pictures to support the ALA's proposal that DQ sponsor next year's ride. Doug and I immediately dived in and had a cheeseburger and fries each and then later added an ice cream cone. My standards of what and when to eat sure have changed on this ride! There I was eating a cheeseburger at 9:00 AM and it felt like lunch. At the previous DQ in Mankato, they had remarked that the only time they ever sell that much ice cream in the morning is when the Vikings (pro football team) are in town (they train in Mankato). We certainly do eat like a bunch of football players. I've never seen so much ice cream consumed by a group of people before in my life!

After leaving the DQ, we cruised on for another 20 miles to the checkpoint, which was in Rochester, MN. Rochester is quite a big city and is where the Mayo clinic is located. It's actually a very nice area and the Mayo clinic itself is huge. We stopped in a parking lot near the local TV station and they did a spot about us. Interestingly, we seem to be intersecting with quite a number of other charity rides here in Minnesota. Yesterday, we intersected with the Habitat 500 and tomorrow, we'll intersect with an AIDS ride.

Anyway, after we left the checkpoint we cruised through beautiful rolling farmland and had wonderful, relatively cool weather for the rest of the day. We have been so lucky with the weather! I just can't believe how cool it has been and with relatively little rain. About 20 miles out, we stopped at a little cafe and had a snack. The waitress was really talkative and we told her what we were doing. She went on about her son who is number one in the state in Motorcross. Doug knows something about motorcross and so carried on a conversation with her about it. It's always interesting to talk to the locals. After that, we had an easy ride in. Around ten miles out, the three of us started to play and sprint after each other and stuff. Doug and I started to really crank it and I finally toasted him and really cooked until we turned into the wind and onto this major highway. Then I lost my momentum and a few minutes later, I got a flat tire. I changed that one (while Doug timed me -- 13 minutes) and then immediately got another one -- what a drag! It was a bizarre coincidence since I haven't had one for probably over a thousand miles. Plus, it turned out that we were within a mile or two of camp at the time so I could've just walked it in.

We finally made it to camp around five. We are staying tonight at Winona State and we're staying in the dorms. It's pretty nice -- we should get out early tomorrow since we won't have to take down tents or anything like that. From what I've seen of Winona, it's a really nice little town. It's on the banks of the Mississippi but we actually don 't cross the river until we get to Lacrosse tomorrow.

We ate dinner at a place called the Tau Center, which is a retreat run by Nuns. What an interesting place.

This page modified November 25, 2000