A "fake" Saturday morning

I don't ever get to sleep in on Saturday's at home, between the dogs (Darcy specifically) and riding it just does not happen. Today I slept in till 8:00 a.m. and then went to the Pannekoeken Huis and had a Fresh Strawberry Pannekoeken for breakfast... I may have to take a nap after eating this!

Finished our Minneapolis IKEA.

We were able to finish our project today, therefore having the afternoon off. So as any guy in his right mind would do, I took a nap! 

After I took my nap we ran an errand and then I got on my bike to do a "real" training ride! After my ride I ate dinner and as I write this enjoying a local Beer, brewed about one mile from where we are staying in St. Louis Park, MN! Tomorrow a.m. I plan on going out for Pancake Breakfast and then I will have to come back home and work on quotes. 

Sunny Sunday in Minneapolis

Today I went to John Piper's Church, Bethlehem Baptist Church (or BBC), my local church is Brant Community Church (or BCC) I enjoyed worship and his sermon. The only problem of the morning was that when I went to get a photo with him my phone camera crashed, and now I have to figure out why it won't take photos... Darn. That would have been cool to have that photo.

Oh well, the worship was good, the coffee tasted like church coffee and they had goodies galore for coffee time. I then headed back home the non-highway direction looking for some place to eat and via wandering down a road I ran into a neighbourly cafe with a lot of people standing out in front. I had to wait for quite a while, this is Victors 1959 Cafe, which is Cuban... No Cuban food in Ft. Lauderdale but in Minneapolis I manage to eat Cuban.

Time to let some of the food settle then out in the sun for some riding.Which was a bit cool today... but I still got in two hours. Along the green-way there is a bike shop call Freewheel and they have a coffee bar. I stopped in for an espresso and an inexpensive bike lock so that during the week and on my return trip I will be able to stop at some of the other shops for nachos or beer or whatever... I don't want my bike to go AWOL!

LSD Ride in Minneapolis

Today was again supposed to be sunny and nice out. Jeff and I were both tired but we were planning our rides last night, we had picked up a MTB/cruiser type rental for the week for him and he is still on the trail at 6:30 p.m. and I am not expecting to see him till much later tonight.

My plan for the ride was to do an appropriate ride for this time of year a LSD (Long Steady Distance) and I fuelled up the bike and planed on a five (5) hour ride, I was not positive if I could do 5 hours of trails but if I could do it anywhere it would be here. I looked at the map and there is a loop that went around the "lakes" and to the Mississippi River then down and back to the lakes. This was my first go around, I got a chance to see some fantastic architecture on the river, so I did a bit of sight seeing took some photos and went on to do another loop and this time I went a wee bit further north seeing what there was to see, and when I came back toward the river I connected up with a young engineer named Ben out for a ride. We got chatting and I was able to join him on his ride and he took me over to St Paul, up a couple of good climbs (oh boy at this time of year those HURT!). We then went through the U of M (the university of Minnesota), and through a couple of other campus' in town. Looking at more fantastic homes. We finished up our ride down the green belt where we met up with another U of M cyclist who's studding physiotherapy (sorry I don't remember you name). They pulled off at their respected exits and as I arrived home I peeled my butt off of my saddle with a total of 5 hours and 15 minutes of riding time in the saddle, a good day! Two bottles of Recoverite, a shower, a beer, and a nap... and at 6:45 it's still sunny and gorgeous outside!

BTW, I don't take photos too well when I'm tired sorry Ben...

Find more in Minneapolis, MN

From Florida to Minnesota

Well, I thought that this would a big change in weather Florida in March and Minneapolis in March... Hmm... Well, NO when we arrived all I could think about was get to the house unpack get groceries and go for a ride...

Friday we had finished all our work and so we headed off to visit Naples on the other side of Florida. Down we drove "alligator alley" I was driving and so Jeff and Robert saw numerous Gators sunning and I did see two big ones out of the corner of my eye as most the drivers in Florida are twice my age and drive twice as fast as I do, I did not want to die.

Saturday in Florida was a good day, Robert and I got up early to ride with the Weston cycling group. Robert's about a month a head of me in training and he sat toward the front I sat in the middle of 75 to 80 riders and moved to the front 30% once I knew I would be o.k. then we got on a road and the pace went up a bit faster than 53-13 could sustain without peddling at 120 r.p.m. and I thought I'd be spit out again, but it slowed down "a bit" and I was good with that. On the home stretch there were a few guys who were beyond their limits and the guy right in front of me went flying out of his position and took out 10 guys.... lucky me I just went inside and was safe. Robert was safe two riders in front of him. This was the end of the speed for me as once the gap was there I had no hope of catching back on again.

Now as far as "team tactics" go if Robert and I were racing I have to say that the Paris 1880 kit is fantastic, it stands out and I knew where Robert was and when he a 4 others went off the front I would know to make sure that his break stayed. Good kit and I have enjoyed wearing all these years.

With all the work we had done and the great rides, we then spent the rest of the day "by the pool" at our "house" it was a good laid back day in the sun. We had a nice dinner of chicken, potatoes and peas (most on the BBQ), and off to bed for Jeff and I to get up VERY early in the a.m. for our flight. Early a.m. drop off the rental car, check in with 100's of cruse ship people and go through security (all of my favourite things about travel, Homeland Security, Yea).

We arrived in Minneapolis before noon, and got to our house and unloaded by noon... groceries bought, bike unpacked by  2:30... Hmm should I go for a ride in a bike friendly town? WHAT! you bet! I went out about 3... and came home at dusk, There are so many bike trails here! I spent three hours ON the bike... never mind a few minutes figuring out the one way cyclist around the lakes, the stop at the bike-shop on the bike trail to browse try and find a ride for the week and a double espresso... Greg they did not have apple strudel or I would have had one for you. I also spent several minutes talking to a young couple out on their matching Surley Cross checks. VERY cool, only in cool since (well, with ice still on the lake the breeze was cool too).

Monday, we showed up to work and turned out a great day.

On the road in Florida

I am on the road again working for IKEA's subcontractor ALS (my friend Robert), and we are in Florida for two weeks. Not all is as well as one would like, I got out Monday and in the process of the ride I got a tore up flat 20 kms (12 miles) away... on a deserted road, UGH... the tube was just shredded and I did not have enough patches for it, then my spare was rotten (I don't get flats often), after walking in cycling shoes for a mile a couple came upon me and offered me a ride once I got to the park entrance, one more mile.

Many thanks to that couple for a ride home, in which they took no pay and were assured that one day God would bless them when they were stranded.

The rest of the week was pouring rain... along comes Saturday and Robert and I found a good ride, but it's a very fast ride... this is my first ride outside for the year, and it was fast. Like the silly boy I am, I took two turns on the front and made two bridges the last one once I caught up to the lead, I knew I should not have. The speed surged again and POP out the back I went. That was just fine it was too hard for a first ride and I was on the rivet and not getting much recovery, so I got a good long ride at a pace that I enjoyed. Next week just sit in and enjoy the ride.

Saturday night we made Fajitas and got the Hot tube fired up with come cold beer... Recovery does not get much better than that!