41-Mile Big River-Grand Round Tour: 42.39 miles
Tandem Pedal Time: 3 hours 19 minutes, average speed 12.7
The St. Paul Classic followed the Jesse James Tour and we had just returned from a week of biking Middleton and the Dells of Wisconsin with little rest between. We chose to bike this event on the tandem this year as opposed to our singles of last year. The new River Loop was nice, taking us just blocks from Amy & Luke’s home in South St. Paul.
The amount of riders on this 18th annual Classic Tour made for a pretty stressful ride on the tandem. The volunteer staff was awesome and the music is always an added treat but 6000 bikes all on one route can get very congested.
There were a few obstacles along our route other than the volume of riders—a train stalled on the track caused many to take an unscheduled rest but it was fun to walk up and down the line visiting with some of the riders. We also encountered a large tree down across a trail we needed to use to route us across town—how low can you go?
My favorite rest stop along the route was at Como Park where the Roe Family Singers were again entertaining us while we munched on various goodies provided by the ride vendors. A close second is the Indian Mounds Park stop which also had live music and beautiful views of the Saint Paul city scape.
With riders everywhere, it’s amazing we didn’t witness any crashes. All seemed to be very cautious. The officials posted at numerous intersections along with over 500 route volunteers helped to insure our safety.
It was on this beautiful day of biking that we rolled over 18,000 miles on the tandem since its purchase in 2005 and we took a moment to reflect on the many miles of enjoyment we have had on these two wheels.
The Classic delivers again this year providing miles of traffic-free cycling showcasing the beautiful parks and parkways of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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