Weekend Away

Finally an opportunity to get out of town. This past weekend was spent in the greater Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Though it was going to be a leisure weekend, it seemed overly full with stuff. Not bad stuff, just lots of it.

The weekend started Saturday with a visit to Hiawatha Cyclery and the famous H.C. Saturday morning ride. Misjudging how long it was going to take me to get from downtown to H.C., I was there quite early (7:15 AM). It was getting very, very close to 8:00 AM before other rollers began to arrive. I was nervous for a bit. Did they discontinue the ride? Did the time move back?

Not the case. Several showed including Jim with all three (3) kids in tow. He pulled out an Xtracycled tandem with a trailer contraption. One (1) kid pedaled, one (1) rode the snapdeck, and one (1) blissfully rode in the trailer.

We went this way and that finally stopping at Common Root on Lyndale. The food was outstanding. From there we meandered back. On the way, the group splintered to their respective obligations. I rolled all the way back to the shop and then back to the hotel.

After a walk around town and feeding it was time to get ready for the Special H.C. ride. The game plan was to meet at H.C. ready to roll at 7:30 PM. From there an exploration of a St. Paul trail.

I think there were ten (10) rollers for the evening jaunt. Seemingly, no street of St. Paul was left unexplored. Yes, that is an exaggeration. The ride was a ton of fun. We explored neighborhoods I’ve never seen including some of the very oldest houses in the State. At about 9:00 PM, we stopped for refreshments.

We didn’t stop there. More rolling. We passed nonchalantly through the U of M campus. Students were out en masse. Most didn’t pay us much attention except one (1) chick suggested we ride harder.

Departing campus we picked up speed coming down a nice hill in a residential area. My camera exited its case and decided it wanted to impact the pavement and slide a bit. Miraculously, no cars flattened it. It still turns on, but that’s about it. It’s time for a new camera.

After a trip across the Stone Arch Bridge we spiraled up the funky hill thing near the Guthrie Theater. Pausing a moment we admired the view of the river and downtown. Reversing course we hit the streets of downtown. As we near the hotel, we peeled off arriving in the room at 11:00 PM. A nifty 35 miles over the course of 4 ½ hours. It was scenic, the company friendly and slightly eclectic, and it was again – a ton of fun.

Due to the early morning on Saturday, the late night on Saturday, coupled with an early start to the St Paul Classic – the Classic was missed.

Though I was looking forward to doing the ride, we pretty much rolled all of St. Paul the night before. And, the night before did not provide the crowds I assume were there on Sunday.

It was a great weekend and it was nice to get out of town. The downside to the weekend is I didn’t have opportunity to meet up with some of the usual suspects. What this means is a return trip needs to be planned!

Next up – I depart for western North Dakota right after work on Friday. I’ll get there Saturday and begin my quest to get down and up the Maah Daah Hey trail in 5.3 days. Before that happens I need to switch out the tires on the Long Haul Trucker and remove the fenders. And, I need to get somewhere to replace my camera.

Ride On.