On Saturday morning, I awoke a bit too tired from a full Friday night of celebrating a birthday, attending a play, Kirby, which starred my friend Ansa with whom I play Monday night basketball, an art show opening at the Soap Factory featuring Hapa9, and then a brief pitstop to dance a few songs with the birthday girl at the club of her choice (not my choice, as if I had a dancing hall choice). So, I was indeed tired and could have used an extra hour of sleep. But I needed to be up early to eat a full breakfast (2 eggs and toast) and to set up my B'stone XO-3 (pump air, reconfigure tools) which has been hanging upside down idly in my basement for the past few weeks as I've been riding other bikes.
I set out of the house to meet a group of friends (Hapa9, Sergio, John, Emily, Shannon) at 11 on the Greenway by the Soo Line gardens.
It was another episode in biking to eat and eating to bike. The six of us started the ride by heading out toward Theodore Wirth Park. I had never really seen the sights at Wirth. My only other time there was to play a round of golf, so I was excited to check out this section of the Grand Rounds. Sergio was familiar with this neck of the woods, since he mountain bikes at Wirth. What a beautiful park. Must check out again and soon.
After riding through the park, we decided to consume coffee and gawk at bicycles (old and new) at One-on-One Bike/Coffee shop. Hapa9 also needed some minor repair on his bicycle, so it was a wise stop. We were joined by three more friends (Kurt, Cross, and PhT)
We proceeded to Brasa for a heavenly lunch. HW joined up with us from her office where she was putting in some extra hours (the woman works too much, I tell you). I shall say it quietly here - she drove, we biked. Oh the food! It was good! Organic, local, and just the right amount of Southern flavor. Only two main dishes are served - roasted chicken and pulled pork. Get the pork! And the sides were delicious too. Corn bread, creamed spinach, collard greens with bacon and spice, yuca fries. Yum.... we were all super hungry from the ride, so it was extra tasty.
Sated, we broke off into smaller riding groups. John had departed early to tend to the children (without eating!). Shannon and Emily rode home. HW went off to taiko practice. PhT rode off to his studio and then to an Art Shanty meeting. The rest of us rode to Uppercut Gym to deliver some lunch to Sarah. [I forgot to add this section of the ride to the map. Drat!] From there, we rode to Grumpy's for a late afternoon beverage and to wait for Hapa9 and PhT who were there for the aforementioned meeting. Waiting, waiting. We boys got tired. Maggie texted us to come over to eat chili and enjoy a nice firepit, but we got tired. Plus, it started to get colder out and we were not all dressed for the chill. So, we slowly gathered ourselves and made our way home.
It was a good ride. It was a Wirth-while One-on-One kind of day with women in Brasa and some Grumpy men.
p.s., Not counting the ride from Brasa to Uppercut, Sanoodi clocked the total ride at 17.1 miles. Add 1.5 miles to Uppercut and whatever extra miles for folks to ride home from the start/end point. For me, it was approximately 24 miles from door-to-door.
Posted by richlee at November 4, 2007 09:36 AMwhat would your dance hall of choice be, Dr?
Posted by: Pht at November 4, 2007 11:52 PMS'excuse me, but due to work and taiko, and the time constraints of both, I really had to drive. Also, I sacrificed more than $100 to meet y'all at Brasa due to an ill-marked bus area.
Another thing is that the "Women in Brasa" is walking that fine line between clever and sexist ... I'm just sayin' ...