Banning State Park Ride

On Friday I pedaled from Eagan up to Banning State Park near Sandstone, MN.  Good trip, although not particularly exciting.

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It was mostly on trails: from Eagan into St. Paul, catch the Gateway/Vento, Sunrise, Willard Munger, and a spur.  Total was 107.55 miles.

It was more overgrown (on the sides) then when we were up there 10 years ago or so, so a bit more shade.  But still pretty flat with a slight grade because you're headed north in Minnesota (there's a reason most folks go north to south), and lots of sun.  I started at 6:00 a.m. to avoid the bulk of the heat, but I still stopped twice to buy more water, three 16+ oz bottles each time. The second time I panicked a bit as the gas station was locked up tight due to an electrical outage, but there was another not too far down the road also out of electricity, but taking cash.  Still, it was still almost not enough. 

I did not like the shoulders on 61 where they simply fell apart and hadn't been cleaned in....ever?  I hit a small spot of gravel at one point and there was a loud twang as a sizable chunk of metal went flying.  I thought I had avoided a flat....for about another 60 seconds.  Fortunately, it was easy to fix and despite the size of the shard of metal, hadn't shredded my actual tire.  Simple puncture.  After that I trended more toward the road despite the cars.

Other highlights?  An idiot in a truck with a large Confederate Flag flying high above several US flags.  Hampton Umbrella rides.  Pictured below.  Sort of sketchy looking in this context.  I didn't get a picture of the Scooter ride entrance which was pretty terrifying; a tunnel full of pieces of metal sticking into the center.  It was like it was beckoning specifically to me with my nickname.

A dam on the way there.  I think this is just north of Hinckley, where I really should have stopped for a piece of pie at the Whistle Stop Cafe, even though it would have been outside on the cement.  I've certainly done that many times before on RAGBRAI.

My wife met me at Banning State Park with the convertible for a picnic (abbreviated because of the mosquitoes, but still appreciated - I'd had mostly nuts and fruit snacks and goldfish crackers at that point) and for a tour of the park (abbreviated; we saw the rapids, but the falls were a four mile round trip that she wasn't up for).  Here are a number of pictures of the  rapids.  Pretty area, particularly if you want to hike.  I heard on the news that in Taylors Falls, 50 miles from us, a guy fell off the cliffs and landed on the rocks while we were at Banning.  This didn't seem to get as high over the river as that, but there were some bouldering type areas that went higher than we were willing to hike.

Poot working on her own photo.  She's got a selfie of us somewhere on her camera.

All in all, a great ride, although I'm feeling it in the saddle some today.  I keep thinking my modifications to my bike seat will pan out, but I can find the right level.  Still, close enough and getting new brake pads on is priority one.

Closing with the soothing sounds of the rapids.

101 Miles

On Sunday, Ming and I rode up from Eagan, past Minnehaha Falls, around the lakes, out to the Depot in Minnetonka, around the north end of Lake Minnetonka via the Dakota Trail, out to the west end, south around the bottom of the lake on the Northern LRT, and then back to Eagan via St. Louis Park and the lakes with stops at The Depot for coffee, The Bistro in St. Bonifacius for Pancakes and coconut tea, Whole Foods for fruit and juice, and then home.

We had to do an extra loop around Lake Harriet to make sure we broke 100, but Ming finally has a century under his belt.

The biggest problem during the ride wasn't the heat or the effort, but me breaking a spoke at the 25 mile mark, in Hopkins.  It sounded like a gunshot.  There are 1300 miles on my bike, which seems light for a bad rim, but it looks like I'll need a new one before RAGBRAI.  None of the stores were open until noon, but while I was sitting here watching the guys in Hopkins put out the garage sale bikes, they offered to take care of my spoke over an hour early, getting us back on the road with only an hour and a half delay.


The bench was nice.  But the waiting room at the Dunn Brothers next door was much nicer.  Who sits in those chairs while waiting for the first person in line to finish?


Ming at the Depot, doing his Neo impression.  Delicious mango bars and coffee.


Random picture of the bicycles.  What matters to me most is that my new wireless odometer is still attached after 25 miles.  That might be a record for not dumping one into a creek or river.


Ming likes to pray for a good ride.  This is how they do it where he comes from.  He must have only been praying for his bike, not mine, or my spoke would have been fine.


That's right.  100 miles, and I took pictures of bathrooms.  There's just not much to see beside a lot of trails and trees and nice lake vistas I've seen a hundred times before.  It's beautiful, but it's not new.  This is the Java King from the Depot bathroom.  I think he needs a raspberry hat.


And this is the University of Minnesota java train that brings coffee to The Depot.


As we rounded Cedar Lake for the home stretch, Hidden Beach was absolutely mobbed with people.  As I was out of action last year, I didn't realize they had opened it up and made it public instead of a sneaky mud pit and nude beach, which is how I remember it.  I never went there to be nude or coated in mud, not that I have a problem with either, but I was back there when other people were nude and coated in mud once while exploring a bike path.  I thought it might be something to do with Pride Weekend until I read the Wikipedia article.

107 miles

Yesterday, I biked 107 miles. I've been telling Ming I wasn't tired at the end of our 60 mile MS ride and 63 miles into the second day of Bike the Border, but it was just talk. I couldn't prove it. So I figured I'd go out and make sure I wasn't lying to him or to myself. Additionally, I wanted to break the 100 mile mark, something I haven't done since I was 15 and biked to northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota with classmates. So I got up and hit the road by 6:00 a.m. and aimed for the north shore of Lake Minnetonka, where there was a trail (Dakota Rail Trail) I wanted to try. My first stop was at The Depot in Hopkins for a depth charge and a piece of banana bread. Looking at the GPS, with the break, I was averaging only about 10.4 mile per hour. This was sort of expected. There are a lot of stops in the city, and I didn't have the GPS in front of me (the back for mounting on my bike didn't fit, part of my neverending odometer woes). So by the time I got to north Lake Minnetonka, I was looking for any way to force myself to go faster. The answer was two guys on road bikes who were spinning along at about 17 mph. I vowed to keep up with them, despite the embarrassment it would cause them being shadowed by a mountain bike. By the time I got to St. Bonifacius, I'd moved my average from 10.4 to 14.5.

That was part of the point.  To a.) use a mountain bike, not a road bike, as I'd always claimed I wasn't tired on the mountain bike, b.) to get a variety of terrain, hills and flats, c.) to get a variety of surfaces, dirt and tar, and d.) to average at least 11 mph.  I managed all of those, as Highway 7, which attached St. Bonifacius to Victoria was seriously hilly, the Minnetonka LRT was dirt (and mud...it was raining for my last 50 miles), I was on the mountain bike, and I averaged 11.4 mph, including a stop for breakfast at The Depot and lunch at Chipotle (13.3 average moving speed).

The most important things I learned on the trip were, 1.) there's a restaurant called Maggie's in Wayzata that's 30 miles from my house, perfect for meeting Kyle and open at 7:00 a.m., 2.) there's a bike/coffee shop in Wayzata,  3.) seriously hot joggers average one every 33 miles in the further burbs, 4.) there's a bistro to try in St. Bonifacius, 5.) the Dakota Trail doesn't stop at Waconia, as it does on my map, but continues to County Road 25 in Mayer, MN, and will eventually continue until it joins with the Luce, 6.) 107 miles is rough and makes you feel like you're getting a spanking the next day when you bike to ice cream with your daughter.

A memorable point of the ride was when I called Pooteewheet at the 75 mile mark to tell her I'd be home sometime around 4:00 p.m.  For a moment, while lying on a bench south of Lake Minnetonka, I felt like I was passing out because there were so many spots in front of my eyes.  Then one landed on me and I realized it was a gnat, and I felt much better.

Given the trend, I shouldn't have to do the next 100 miler until I'm 69.