One Day at a Time

Andy and I actually made it through the 60 mile MS Allianz 30/60 Bike Tour this morning. That's the most either of us has ever done, and, while I can't make any guarantees, that may be the most I will ever do.

The weather was more or less decent biking weather--cool and overcast. We left the starting point about 8 am, after planning to be there at 7:30 to register and get prepared. The first 20 miles or so, not easy, but doable. There was definitely some pretty countryside, and I shouldn't be allowed to ride a bike on a narrow lane because I got distracted by all of the cool birds, particularly the red-winged black-birds.

At around mile 22, however, we turned east, head on into a mighty gale. Ok, maybe it wasn't so mighty, but when you're going uphill on a bike, every little breeze hurts. Our average MPH went from 12 to 9. Ok, we only have about 5 miles in that wind before we turn again for the crosswind and next rest area. But at the turn south, the wind is a crosswind, but more in the headwind variety. Ok, so we only have a few miles of this before we turn west and get the tailwind. Yes! That one worked. Once we hit the next rest area (both #3 and #5 for anyone who was counting), we had to turn south again into the cross/headwind. And so we limped back to the finish, where they actually still had some people waiting to cheer us in. And we did faster on average than my other friend whom we bumped into at the finish who had done the 30 mile loop in between 3 and 4 hours as opposed to our 60 miles in 5 hours.

I did have my camera, but there wasn't enough at any given place for pictures. We saw some deer, and lots of birds. Several "egrons" or "hergrets," both white and blue, red-winged blackbirds, both male and female, swallows, geese, something very large soaring, blue jays, mallards and wood ducks, and probably many others which we couldn't name. That was our excuse for going slower on the last leg--we'd miss all the wildlife if we went faster.

One thing we didn't see, but almost stopped for, was the Land 'O Lakes Hunting Retriever Club dog trials. We passed their entrance point just before rest stop #3. We were slightly confused by the signs "Finished" and "Seasoned Water" out of context, but then it occurred to me that "seasoned water" did not mean adding something to a lake, but to a water dog who has had some experience. We could hear the rifles they used to launch the dummies, and every so often cheering and encouragement would waft over from the water. Next year, if the dtates overlap and if the wind is like it was, we might detour, hang out at the dog trials, then head back for a ride of around 40 miles instead.

We had a lot of fun, but I'm not sure my current aches are worth it. The 30 was good because we finished earlier with a little less pain. Let's just say it's a good thing I don't want to have children.