Challenge this...

I came up with my very own challenge to try to be cool like my friend Eddy in San Diego:

If I don't ride 20 miles this weekend, I'll be buying him THIS.

Feeling good!

The last couple of weeks have been pretty good for me. I've been getting out on the bikes a couple times a week. It's been a nice mix of road and mountain. I hit Leb pretty hard twice over the Memorial Weekend (and crashed once). Road rides have been medium paced and my meals are getting better.
There was a block of time when I wasn't at the gym, but that's changed and I've been making trips fairly regularly to work more on my lower back and some leg strength. It seems to be paying off. I haven't had a sore lower back all season and I think I'm even somewhat flexible, ha!

The best news of all however, is that I stepped on the scale back on Wednesday night (before dinner) and rang the bell at 186.5!!

That's my lowest this season and has to be a personal best for at least the last 3 years. Nice!

Here's to me maintaining and not climbing back up....

Cable Off Road Classic Recap

Ever since Scott and Dan first showed me this race back in 2005, I've loved it. There's something about the idea of a point to point race that intrigues me more than running laps. Or maybe it's the terrain that we cross: loads of singletrack, double-track, fire roads, creek crossing, varied terrain, this course has it all. I really love the singletrack here. The trail can be rough with small rocks or roots and has some nice elevation changes to keep you honest. Passing is pretty manageable and the scenery along the way is great. Plus, Dan has been kind enough to let us stay at his family's cabins about 40 minutes away for the weekend.

I've been itching for this race since this winter. Ever since I made the half-assed commitment to try to train, I've been excited about this 23 mile race. I talked some others into coming along and we were set to meet at my place after work on Friday. We were a go with the cabins and two new guys, Neil and Jeremy were coming along. This would be Jeremy's frist race and a new race course for Neil as he's raced before. We headed out of town to dark blue clouds and some rain.

The drive there was mixed with rain showers and we avoided construction and managed to get to the cabins in a comfortable 3.5 hours or so. Charlotte had a really short nap during the day and we kept her awake until we left so she could sleep the whole way. Which she did.

We hit our assigned cabins and called it a night. In the morning we had pancakes with jelly as we forgot to bring syrup. No matter! Strawberry jelly was very delish.
The weather was looking to be awesome. Very little rain overnight and it was kinda warm out. We arrived at the race and got checked in. The staff at this race have always been warm and friendly. This year was no exception. There wasn't much time for warmup, so we tried to position ourselves in the start chute.


The place was already packed so we resigned to hanging out at the rear. The first mile and a half is going to be dirt road anyway. We managed to move up a tiny bit, but nothing significant. Maybe preferred start next year??



The announcer mentions that we have 1 minute to start and Neil decides that he has to tighten his cleat. He pulls out the wrench and goes to work, only to find out that he loosened it! 30 seconds! Some guy helps him out and he gets it a little tighter, just in time for the sound of "GO!". Whew...



We tear off up the road and I'm right next to Dan as we weave our way through the pack. We're making a ton of passes when some guy decides to move left without checking and almost forces Dan into the woods. Dan lets him know he's there, but it didn't matter. We go around and make some more passes. Suddenly I'm losing Dan as he powered around someone and I got cut-off. I see him and try to close the gap, but we're coming up to the singletrack entrance and it's already stopped as people try to get in. I can't close the gap to Dan and I watch him go on ahead of me into the woods. We're literally standing still as we wait our turn to get started on the singletrack. A course worker yells for us to stay in order and we all look at each other like "what order is that?!", and someone yells, "you mean numerical order?!". We chuckle and continue to wait. After about a minute and a half we're onto the trail. Right away I can tell the Taurine is feeling good. We're handling the bumps just fine. We're steering quick around corners and feeling the need to pass. I remembered back to the Spring Cup and how easy it was to accelerate with the Cannondale, so I tried it again. Sure enough the power was there when I wanted it, so I started to make some passes. Everyone was really cool about letting people by and making room. I made quite a few passes and was able to keep my pace up. One we hit the dirt road sections I managed to stay strong and felt better than last year.

The pink mile markers were ticking by pretty quick. I hit the first rest stop feeling pretty good, but I took some water anyway (cough, cough, Scott! cough, cough). Along the way I had manged to take some hits from my CarbBOOM flask and was even drinking my water/HydroBOOM. Climbing was great and the trail was in great shape. It was pretty much the first time I had ridden it dry and I was really enjoying it.

I pressed on, trying to keep the pace high. More CarbBOOM, more water, "on your left,", big ring, no brakes, stand up, shift down, "on your left", things were going well.

Pretty soon I'm at 15 miles and remembering how I felt last year. Like crap. Slow. Getting passed. This day, at 15 miles, I was still passing and my legs felt good.
I was eating up the singletrack and it felt good. Everything was feeling good!

Much to my dismay, it was time for the long straight shot home. 2 miles of straight, flat (although it feels like a false-flat) dirt railroad grade. You can see all the way down, racers littered here and there, battling with the wind (it's ALWAYS windy, like a friggin' tunnel). Today was no different. I thought about latching on with a small group ahead of me, but they were too slow, so I used them for a draft as much as I could and then went around. I was in the big ring and kickin' the RPMs up. I was passing more and more people, but the wind started to take it's toll and I was feeling a bit tired. That's okay though, cuz it's the end of the race. As I passed a group someone latched on. I could see his wheel and tried to pick up the pace a bit more. Now I'm hurting. 1 mile to go. For a second I wondered what Tracy and Charlotte were doing? Is Dan finished yet? Here's what they were doing...



And yes, Dan is finished already,


"Keep it up!" I hear from behind me. It's the dude on my wheel. I must have slowed a bit while daydreaming. I kicked it back into gear and could see the turn off. There's a tiny section of singletrack and then we're on the road to the finish. We hit the pavement and I'm sure this guy is going to step around me since he has room, so I stand and try to make it harder for him. He doesn't and stays on my wheel. We make another turn and I can see the flags and the finish line. I stand again just in case he tries his move. It doesn't happen and I lead him across the line.



And we're done. The great race that is The Cable Off Road Classic is in the books. The dude who helped me stay on task during the road section thanks me for the pull. I tell him I was sure he was going to come around once we hit the road and he said he couldn't have.

I find Dan and we immediately start talking about the course, downed trees, quick-sand-like portions of the course and just how much fun this whole thing was. Once again I'm impressed with the new bike. It handles awesome and delivers the power when I need it. I'm not sure if it's my best time at this race, but I for sure feel better afterwards and was passing much deeper into the race than previous years. It's all good.





A little later Neil rolls across the line and a quick post race chat reveals that he had a great time out there. His new bike (Specialized Epic) seemed to work wonderful for him and he seemed all smiles.

Due next was Jeremy. He had anticipated a sore leg, so he wrapped his knee before the race just in case. We waited for him near the finish line and soon the area started to clear out. I decided to ride backwards to see him. I rode the full length of the dreaded railroad grade and waited at the corner. Nothing. I headed back and saw Dan coming at me. Still nothing so we headed back to the finish, where they were starting to tear down the equipment. I asked the timers if they had everyone in. They said there was one unaccounted for. I asked for the name and told them he was with us and we hadn't seen him yet. They directed us to a group of guys with radios who were on the course. They checked and thought maybe he was brought to the start because of a crash or something. We gave them Jeremy's number and the made a call. Nothing. Meanwhile the sweeper came across the line. That's not good. Someone else came over to help and was going to make an announcement at the awards ceremony just in case. And then, wouldn't you know it, here comes Jeremy down the finish straight! Woohoo!!
Turns out his knee started to bother him and he had no power at all in his right leg and had to walk almost every hill. He managed to make it through everything and pressed on to finish the race with a sore and swollen knee. Nicely done dude! We cringed when he told us stories of how it would hurt, get swollen. Then we decided to tell everyone there was a bear attack involved and that's why his knee was sore. It was a big grizzly, but he managed to wrestle it down into submission.

The rest of the weekend was spent at the cabins, making a fire, running from the rain, drinking beer, eating at a local bar/grill, riding the pontoon and eating more pancakes....with syrup this time.

Heading to WI

I posted this from my phone as we gassed up to head to Wisconsin for the Cable Off Road Classic. Yes, we saw a bit of rain.

Are you still a supporter?

Who's still showing their support?! Did the bracelets fall to the wayside like the "Baby on Board" signs?!

**Of note: Immediately after taking this shot, my Lance bracelet broke and snapped up to the ceiling and back down to my desk as I was trying to put it back on. =(

MNSCS#1 is in the bag

The past race weekend held lots of "Firsts" for me: Not only was it the first race of the series, but it was the first race on my new bike; I managed my first crash of the year; it was Tracy's first Mother's Day; and Charlotte's first mountain bike race.
The day turned out to be better than predicted. It was sunny and windy, with no rain in sight. The forecast had showed rain, so this was a real treat. We arrived early so I could look for Brad, our Citizen racer. I didn't find him, so we watched the kids race, talked to the volunteers who made the race happen and took some pictures. We set up camp near the water tower and took Charlotte in the Burley out on the course where we could cheer and get an idea of how the course looked. Initial reports claimed that the trail was in pretty good shape albeit for a reroute and a large mud pit. Everywhere else seemed to be dry.
Sometime during the Citizen race I found Neil and his friend Joshua, who were getting ready for the action. Neil's mother happened to attend the race and I was on the lookout for a mom with a cowbell. We met up and spent part of the Sport race chatting, taking pictures and of coure, ringing the cowbell. Neil managed to miss his wave at the start and was forced push his way through the 2nd wave to get to the course and played catch-up. The sport riders where looking pretty good as they made their way to the finish, with only a couple racers who obviously hit the mud pit face first.
My race was coming up, so I had a sandwich and a hotdog and started riding around. I found Dan and we chatted at the back of the pack while waiting for the start. The Comp group looked decently sized and had plenty of new faces. As the Experts took off, it was clear that their group was big as they rolled through the Start/Finish area like a passenger train. Soon we got word that we had 10 seconds to go.
The pack is off and immediately things are goofy. People are going all over the place and I manage to touch the wheel of the guy in front of me as he cut left, up the sloping hill. I knew Dan was on my left, so I didn't want to go left too much and force him into the tall grass. I tried to maintain my composure, but he kept going left and I hit his wheel again. And again. Now it's just too much and I'm unclipped and falling to the right, down the hill. I do about 3 hops on my right leg to try to stay upright, but gravity and momentum take over and I'm tumbling. I wish it was on tape, as it felt like a text book tuck-n-roll with a nice pop-up afterwards. I remember going down and expecting a knobby tire right in my back. As I'm upside down I did see a bike coming at me, but luckily the rider managed to avoid my tumbling ass and I popped up okay. As I grabbed my bike and laughed, I heard shouts from the crowd as they made fun of me....well deserved....
I tried not to get too excited and over-exert myself to catch back up, as I didn't lose a TON of time, but I didn't lollygag either. By the time we started to hit the single-track, I made sure I passed several more people as we literally waited in line to get rolling. I managed to sneak up the inside of several riders before launching the single-track.
The Tuarine is an absolute dream to ride. It handles amazingly quick and doesn't falter when I give it input to accelerate. In the past I've dreaded passing at this race due to the massive slow-down once I've left the trail. Not this year. The Taurine seemed to glide over the grass and allowed me to power through the rough stuff and make passes seem easy. This was good, as I passed several people by the time we reached the first wet spot. Several riders chose the middle line, I saw an opening on the left and made a pass on about 3 riders. Sweet. Through the sweeping corners of the pine trees I was feeling fast. Momentum was great and I was closing gaps. Climbing was also awesome and again I was passing riders. One thing I liked was that once I made a pass I was able to keep the power down and create a gap. Pretty soon I noticed Dan a litte ways ahead of me and it seemed I might have regained my position in the group. I tried to keep the pace, but knew that Dan was a master of reserves and power in the end. I felt good into the 2nd lap and could still see Dan ahead of me. By the 3rd lap, I was starting feel tired in the legs and the wind was starting to bug me in the open. I tried to fight through it mentally and give just a little bit more on each pedal stroke. When I came to the mudpit on the 3rd lap I wheelied over it and when I landed on the other side my calves cramped up. I kept pedalling and eventually it lessened, but it was still a little tender. The last climb up to the pavement has never been my friend and this 3rd time flet like it took forever. I entered the pavement to cheers and tried to look good. As I started the last lap I told myself I was going to leave it all out on the course. I tried to bridge up to a rider ahead of me before entering the single-track. I did. I told myself I would pass him after the first climb and before the first wet spot. I did. But boy was I getting tired. I tried to relax just a bit through the twisty stuff. I got passed on a long sweeper as I took the outside line thinking being on the dirt would maintain my speed more. Well, maybe not. I tried to stick with the guy who passed and I actually closed in on him in the short twisty trail around the pond. Cool. If I can hang with him to the mudpit, maybe I can make a pass before the last climb to the pavement. Turns out I made a pass and I was doing the last climb in front of him. However, once we hit the pavement, he rocketed past me and I stood up to hang on. Not quite enough to hang with him, as I was 6 seconds back as we crossed the line.
The race was over and I felt spent. The new bike was great and performed beyond my expectations. I grabbed some water and had to head out as we had plans to be in MapleGrove right away.
Turns out I scored my first Top 10 of the season - age group. I nabbed 49th out of 77 (PDF link). Not too bad for the first race - one that I usually don't enjoy due to the non-technical nature. I didn't really expect much due to my non-performance at this event in the past. I'm mostly looking forward to taking the Taurine out on some technical stuff - like The Powder Monkey, or Red Wing - to see how it really handles.
Thanks to everyone who made the race happen, to everyone who cheered for me, to all the mother's out on their day, and to the person who reminded me not to crash as I completed my prologue lap. Good times indeed!

MNSCS#1 Erik's Spring Cup

This weekend - on Mother's Day - is the first race of the MNSCS. It should be an interesting race. The first of the season. Everyone itching to race. Non-technical course. Everyone wanting to go fast. Hopefully things go smoothly. I'm thinking I'll just take it easy and get the feel for the bike and my lungs/legs. This race tends to be more of a road race anyway.

Registration closes tonight, so if you haven't registered and would like to save about $10 for beer, register now!

Here's a map I made of where the races are this year.

View Larger Map

"...I love technology....Always and forever... "

The title comes courtesy of Kip, from Napolean Dynamite

As Twin Cities’ residents, you can understand this spring has been interesting. Freak snow falls, large temperature swings and days of rain just when the trails were starting to look ride able. Some would say "Typical MN spring". I say "Annoying".

Last night the weather was warm and sunny, and according to MORC, the trails at Harmon Park were open for riding. A quick glance at the clock shows that there wasn't much time left, so I quickly ate my two waffles for dinner, kissed Tracy and Charlotte good bye and loaded up the Taurine for it's maiden voyage on the dirt.

I just purchased new Yakima Q-towers so I could eliminate the wire hanger holding one foot closed. The "new" rack was installed this past weekend and ready to roll. I wheeled the Taurine outside the garage and introduced it to the MINI and it's new spot on the roof. Both parties were cordial and pleasantries were exchanged as the Taurine settled in to it's new top-floor home for the trip. I gathered all my riding goodies and loaded them into the MINI. It was then that I realized I hadn't swapped pedals out. The Taurine 1 is rolling with eggbeaters and my shoes are set up for Time. Ooops. A quick look at my shoes reveals last year's mud caked in to the sole and cleat. No matter. A sharp tool can remove that. Another discovery....when you have cleats that are at least 10 years old and almost stripped, there's really no point in trying to change them while you're in a hurry. The shoes were added to the pile in the boot of the MINI and I headed towards Inver Grove Heights. I pulled up the road to the parking lot near the water tower and immediately saw several others on the trail and in the lot finishing up. This seems like a good sign. The excitement is getting greater now. I park and install the front wheel to get ready for a couple laps as the sun is on its decent below the horizon.

And so begins my review of the 2008 Cannondale Carbon Taurine 1...

Immediate First Impressions:
Lightweight, short stem, solid, too much air in the Headshock, GREAT saddle, shifters need to be rotated, egg beaters seem easy to use. As I threw my leg over the bike and started for the trail, I noticed right away that the saddle was comfortable. It was just soft enough to offer a bit of suspension and it also provided a tad bit of grip to my shorts without getting caught. The profile seems just right and not too wide or "weird" feeling. Right away I notice the weight - or lack thereof - of the bike. Taking it off the MINI is a breeze and with the initial pedal stroke there's forward progress. Instantly. One of the benefits of its carbon construction is apparent right away.

After telling myself the saddle was great, I noticed that the stock stem was short. I felt cramped and pretty upright on the bike. Early on, in the garage, I had tried to flip the stem to see if it would help, but the rise is too steep and it looked like a clown bike, so it went back to normal. I'll be searching for a longer stem to stretch me out a bit. Shortly after starting the trail, I had to stop to try to fiddle with the Headshock. As this is my first experience with a Headshock, the set up was arrived at by word-of-mouth and now was showing itself to be way to stiff. The rebound was so quick that it sounded like I was riding a Huffy with a loose headset. The Taurine emitted a sound as it rebounded back to its ready-state in what must have been milliseconds. Some turns of the rebound dial seemed to slow things down a bit, but I'll be reading the manual on getting things adjusted properly.

Looks:
I'm drawn to the overall design of the bike. it's very traditional looking and the paint scheme is pretty mild. There's nothing flashy about it, but it does look fast when it's sitting still. I like the fact that the Headshock helps retain the traditional look of the bicycle, while the traditional double-triangle construction is at the Taurine's core. The carbon tubes are not traditional however, with specific shapes and wall thicknesses pertaining to certain areas of use. At first glance it appears to be a normal bicycle, but upon closer inspection you notice the finer details and the coolness factor it possesses. Plus, the orange details on the decals and saddle match pretty well with the orange in our BCR kits.

Handling:
The best handling mountain bike I've ever ridden has been my Bridgestone MB-1. The reach to the bars was great. The steering input was precise, immediate and I felt as if my weight was balanced 50/50. In the single-track, that bike was a monster and provided me with some great confidence and also some close calls, as it allowed me to go faster than I needed to...
In some respects the Taurine reminded me of my glory days on the MB-1 carving up the twisty, technical single-track. Times have changed since the MB-1 and frame geometry isn't quite what the MB-1 was, aside from it being rigid, but the Cannondale evoked some of those same emotions in me and made me feel like I could lean into and carve the trail like we were a slot car.
The Headshock design helps accomplish this. There's only one area of movement happening instead of two, so the steering doesn't suffer from flex and individual inputs from each stanchion tube on "the other" suspension systems. The result is confidence inspired steering inputs and solid feedback from the dirt to your hands. I also noticed that the bike tracks really nicely in corners and gave me the feeling of motion throughout the entire corner instead of the feeling of losing momentum.

Shifting:
I've used SRAM components in the past, but the highest stuff has been 9.0SL from about 4 years ago. The Taurine 1 comes with X9 rapid-fire style shifters and and X0 rear derailleur. Initially I wanted to replace this style of shifters with the original SRAM twist-grip. That hasn't happened and I was left tying out the (relatively) new offering from SRAM. The button placement was a bit disconcerting for me, as they felt in the way when I was just grabbing the bar. Another initial concern of mine was my thumb movement felt a little awkward to engage the shifts. This could be due to the fact that it's my first meeting with this style..However, once you engage the button and ask for a gear, the drive train answers IMMEDIATELY and with a wonderful, solid click from the shifter. The feeling from these things is amazing. Each shift feels so precise and accurate that it's like getting a reward each and every time you change gears. The buttons seems to have a slightly different spring in them, as shifting up the cogs to an easier gear is much easier than going the other way. In fact, getting 2 or 3 gears easier is the fastest I've experienced anywhere. The button travel is very quick and deliberate and doesn't require you to rotate your wrist down the bar if you want to ask for more than one gear. I'm very satisfied with the shifter pods and am almost considering keeping them. Nicely done SRAM.

Brakes:
With just about everything else on this bike, the addition of disc brakes marks another first for me. I'm aware of the benefits, but the maintenance and the sounds of out-of-true rotors always made me completely take the plunge. Well, here I am.
And I'm happy to say "I'm sold". The immediacy is incredible. Brake points are way later than I'm used to and the modulation is mind-blowing. With my first pull into a high-speed banked corner, I found myself grabbing at the levers, only to have to pedal back up to speed to get through TO the corner because they scrubbed off so much speed initially. Later on, I found that just a touch of the lever seemed to slow me enough to where I wanted to be and I don't always have to grab both brakes like I used to. Because they are so efficient, I can sometimes use only 1 brake or just a touch here to help keep me on my line through a corner. Feathering (modulation) is much more effective for higher speeds where you find yourself needing to constantly correct and compensate for speed - especially through large radius, high-speed corners. I love 'em!

The first lap:
The first lap at Harmon was very introductory. Not only was it my first outing on a mountain bike this year, it was a brand new bike. Unlike anything I had been riding up to this point. The bike I was most familiar with was Scott's mid 90's Klein (which is fantastic). As the first lap unfolded in front of me, I started to become more familiar with how the bike talked to me; how it fed me information from the trail through my hands, feet and saddle (speaking of saddles, I realized that I needed to raise this one a bit). A couple times it was tough to keep my feet on the pedals (egg beaters should accept TIME cleats!), but I managed to get by. The way the bike handled made me smile because it was just so nimble and responsive. What little climbing there is at Harmon was a breeze. While the climbs were dry I didn't experience any wheel spin as I stood up and pulled a Stallone to go "Over the Top".
For sure I want my bar ends back. I kept wanting to go to them and was denied. The twisty North Loop provided a good chance to feel how well the Taurine likes to change direction and speed. The loop offers an array of corners; from almost 180 turns to just a little bump around a tree, to a nice set of high speed S's. In any of these, the Taurine was more than easy to maneuver. The start of the 2nd lap came up quicker than I thought it would.

The second lap:
I quickly adjusted the seat post and just stopped to look at the bike. I was smiling. Here was my new ride, after years of saving $$ and drooling over all sorts of other bikes. Here it is. Mine. Comfortably it leaned against the back of the MINI, barely winded from our first lap, looking eager to go again. It had some mud splashed where there once was only glare from the spotless clear coat. The warning stickers had been removed and the flat plastic platforms were no longer residing in the pedals. Here, outside, muddy, wet, waiting for more, the Taurine was in it's element. And I was ready to oblige.
With the seat raised, I immediately noticed the added response to drive train input. The stem was still short and the pedals still didn't grab my TIME cleats, but that didn't stop it from wanting to go faster. The adjustments I made to the rebound seemed to work, as there was less noise over bumps. I found myself getting used to the brakes and making the most of them. The tires were sticking to the trail and I felt like a MotoGP racers leaning through the corners. The bike was becoming more familiar to me and I found myself constantly grinning and saying "WOW". As I stated earlier the climbs felt really easy. Maintaining speed through corners and accelerating out was really a great feeling. Where other bikes seem to slow a bit, the Cannondale seems to be a race horse, noticing the loosened reigns and going for it. Shifting is a breeze. Often I thought I was out of gears and surprisingly there was always one more. Finally I found myself hammering in the smallest cog in the back in places where I would have asked for a larger gear on other bikes. At times when I did ask for an easier gear, it was almost as if the next gear was too easy and I found myself shifting back to the previous gear. After a couple of episodes like that I tried staying in the gear and I was rewarded with a truly awesome feeling.
With each pedal stroke that I offered just a little more oomf to I could literally feel the bike lunging forward! This is simply amazing and I think I said "holy crap!" out loud to myself. Shifting to the large chain ring produces similar results and similar out loud comments.
Heading into the North Loop again, there's a downhill section that has a good variety of turns in it. At speed the Taurine is absolutely alive and will do whatever I ask it to. I found that I need to train myself again to look farther up the trail so I can anticipate what I need to ask of the bike. As we were slicing the single-track, thoughts of the MB-1 came to mind. As did the MINI Cooper. This bike is really something.
Back at the MINI, I caught my breath while the Taurine looked like it was just warming up. The mud didn't slow it down. The bumps didn't slow it down. The twists and turns didn't slow it down. Did I do it justice, or did I slow it down??

The Taurine has left an impression on me. I called home and when prompted how the ride went, I was almost looking for the right word to describe it. After a couple quick stutters, I managed to say "AWESOME". That's really the closest I can come to describing it right now. It makes me want to ride faster. It makes me feel like I'm going fast - of course so does riding by yourself for the first time of the season - and it rewards you with all sorts of input.

In conclusion, I love technology! The handling was spot on and combined with the reactions to my pedal inputs, my grin was getting larger and larger as the ride progressed. As I rolled to the MINI after the 2nd lap, I wished I had more time. More time for more laps. More time to ride. More time to smile.

Thanks for reading!



Of note:
My 2nd lap took me about 22 minutes - that's without being clipped in and the first time on the dirt this year on a new bike. Of course, riding by yourself always seems fast, so who knows what that time means....

Introducing the Savage 18

Scott and I met at his place for a nice windy ride. If I remember correctly, I think it was gusting 20-25mph. We braved the elements and headed on our way. I was still a bit sore from the Ironman, but not bad and Scott wanted to take a nap. The route he has is pretty cool. It's a nice mix of neighborhood, medium traffic, rolling hills and quiet lake-front roads. The wind was a factor for most of the ride, but mostly in the sense that we couldn't hear each other. There was one stretch on the way back where it was eerily quiet and we could hear each other. Tailwinds rock. Sadly that lasted only 30-45 seconds.
Along the way, we had a couple city sign sprints, with Scott nabbing a nice suprise win from behind.

All in all it was a great ride.
Afterwards, I stopped by the gym to hit my quota for the month. Sadly I didn't do anything but walk around the track talking to Lalla. I did step on the scale and I'm happy to report that I'm the lightest I've been this year - 192.6. Woohoo!

Here's my best-guess recreation of the route: