Warming Up the Legs

Dover Route: 20.62 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 1 hour 50 minutes, average speed 11.1

After calling the Lanesboro Chamber to check on the condition of the Root River bike trail, and finding out snow still covered much of the trail, we decided to pedal the roads to Dover again today. We have now been able to bike 2 days in a row but it looks like bad weather will be coming our way again for a few days—what a frustrating spring it has been. Soon we will be able to enjoy biking in our summer bike clothes and ditch the layers we have been forced to wear this spring—melt snow, MELT!

Every Mile Counts

Dover Route: 20.60 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 1 hour 45 minutes, average speed 11.7

If we waited for a perfect day to ride this spring in Minnesota, we would still be waiting. The snow and ice storms received this March banished all hope of an early spring but we are finding the breaks between the storms to get out and pedal. This 20-mile route is always a good one to do early season to warm up the legs. Stopping at the Roadhouse in Dover halfway through is always a special treat but what made this ride even sweeter was the realization of rolling over 19,000 miles on the Rans since its purchase in 2005.

An Early March Excursion

Amish Market & Home: 8.70 miles
Singles: 44 minutes, average speed 11.6

This was an early March, after work excursion on the singles. The tandem was still in Onalaska with Kevin so we took the singles out for a short ride. Being half through the month of March, we began to worry about the possibility of getting any March miles on. We had just experienced a snowstorm earlier in the week and the snow was piled high along our ditches but the temperature and sunshine prompted us to take a chance. We did get rather chilly by rides end but it felt so good to be back out on the bikes. In my haste to begin our ride, I forgot one major component. I had my cell phone for music, my gloves for warmth, my yellow jacket for visibility, my cyclocomputer for data information, my booties for foot comfort…but I forgot my HELMET! We travelled a few tenths down the road when Dennis noted this omission. Gotta get my head in the game! Our early riding season will not happen this year. The 2 weeks we spent south last year really made a difference. We will have to play catch-up with our September and December plans for this 2013 season.