LOONS Rally in Crosslake, MN—August 5-7

Rally Day #1—Friday: 26.21 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 1 hour 38 minutes, average speed: 16.0

Following an enjoyable 4.5-hour vehicle drive north to Crosslake, MN we were ready to do some biking. After checking into the Pine Peaks Lodge, we unloaded the bike and went searching for a route map. We chose to bike the long route which headed south of Crosslake and placed us on beautiful wide-shouldered roads winding around the many lakes in the area. Whitefish Lake was just beautiful and we were able to ride close enough to the lake to enjoy the sparkling waters. A nice bike trail brought us back into the city where we met up with tandem teams returning from their ride—Mike and Mary shared their Kayaking knowledge and were interesting to visit with, Linda and Roger visited some with us and remembered riding with us last year at the LOONS Chili Ride and Margaret and John are always quick to welcome us back into the group.


Following our ride, Dennis and I walked to Zorbaz for a pizza supper. This was a very unique restaurant with a help yourself attitude. We ordered our pizza from the bar, collected our plates and utensils and seated ourselves to wait for our pizza to be delivered. The Mexican pizza we ordered was huge and piled high with toppings—leftovers for later. Back at the hotel, we took a short rest in the hot tub and then off to bed to rest for another day of riding.



Rally Day #2—Saturday: 13.78 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 1 hour 10 minutes, average speed: 11.6

We got up early this morning to get breakfast before heading out for an expected 60-mile route. The weather began to sound threatening and our small LOONS Tandem group had our eyes to the skies and every electronic device known to man out and watching the storm cycle roll into the area. We all decided to regroup later in the day with hopes of getting at least a few biking miles in.

Dennis and I decided to take a drive in the van south to Brainerd. We went looking for kayak information. Because of the variety offered, I think it will take some time to sort out which unit will be best for us. While we were in Brainerd, the sun came out so we sprinted back to Crosslake, got the bike out and adventured out west of town on our own.


We stopped at The Warf, a restaurant along Whitefish Lake, for a delicious meal. I had a walleye Caesar salad which another customer recommended and it was the right choice for me—very good! We had a great view of the lake as we enjoyed our meal. Not much riding today but we did have a fun time just hanging out and spending time enjoying the area.



Rally Day #3—Sunday: 28.18 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 1 hour 54 minutes, average speed: 14.7

After our breakfast at the Pine Lodge Restaurant, all tandem riders gathered together one more time to visit before pedaling along our chosen routes. We were able to take off at the planned time this morning as the weather was beautiful. Dennis and I only had time for the short route today because we wanted to make a stop in South St. Paul to visit Amy, Luke and Kennedy before heading for home. We were back at the lodge by 11:00 a.m. and packed up to go by noon. We enjoyed the quietness of this rally and spending time with each other but are also looking forward to some busier rallies yet to come this season.


On our trip south to the Cities, we stopped again for lunch at Happy’s—a fun little fast food joint along highway 169 near Mille Lacs Lake. The menu is unique and abundant. Dennis tried the Ruben Balls and they were an excellent treat—a fine ending to a restful rally.

Rans miles since purchase: 15,330

LOONS Chili Ride in Woodbury, MN

Comments: Ride Time was 2 hours 44 minutes, average speed: 12.9

Our hosts for the ride today were Chris and Rachel Gilchrist of Woodbury, MN. This ride has been on our radar for a few years and finally we were able to join this fun-loving group of LOONS. The sun was shining and the temperature was nearing 60 degrees as 8 tandem teams met at the Gilchrist home to bike the planned chili route together, leaving no team behind.

The area surrounding Woodbury was very beautiful and the stretch through Afton had me making retirement plans until one LOON team informed us of the cost of a 5-acre lot—guess we’ll keep dreaming. We all gathered at the visitor’s center for a rest and enjoyed scones and muffins baked by the professional baker in the group. We chatted about past journeys and then clipped back into our pedals to continue this journey back towards the Gilchrist home to share a chili meal. We enjoyed this riding day and meeting new tandem friends and have already made plans to join this group again for a LOONS Rally in 2011.

We thanked Rachel and Chris for organizing this beautiful day of riding and then left for our 2-hour drive back home, sharing our memories of another great bicycle event.