Weekend Class And Ride

Friday evening and Saturday morning to mid afternoon I was in class. Traffic riding class that is. That crazy MinusCar fellow, along with two (2) others, put on the League of American Bicyclists Traffic Skills 101 course.

We spend about one half (1/2) of the class in the classroom and the other one half (1/2) riding. Skills were practiced, techniques were discussed, and riding in traffic was done. It was an excellent class and also a prerequisite for becoming an instructor for the same class.

Sunday morning I was up very early for a 5:15 rendezvous with SD Pedal Power. He was planning to ride, loaded, to Pierre, SD for a Tuesday “Safe Routes to Schools” meeting. I wanted to get some miles on the new touring bike. I put all the panniers on, but some food and tools in some and magazines in others. I was riding sort of loaded.

We rolled west on SD Highway 42. About eighteen (18) miles into my portion of the ride, he blew a spoke. The combination of a heavy load and too small diameter (by the looks) spokes proved too much. We reversed course and made our way back to Sioux Falls.


Ride On.