July 2014 ride reports

jimbo3b

Member
2014%20Root%20River%20Trail.JPG


We're two weeks into summer in the northern hemisphere, and in the U.S. most of us had a long weekend to celebrate Independence Day. If you've had a nice Cruzbike ride recently, list it here!

I got in a couple of pleasant rides with friend Darvin and nephew Eric. On Friday we rode the Root River Trail network from Fountain to Houston, Minnesota. It's an almost flat 42 miles of paved blacktop with one major hill about five miles before Houston. Along the way we stopped for plenty of breaks, bought fruit smoothies in Lanesboro, and rewarded ourselves with sandwiches while waiting for our ride in Houston. A perfect day where it was almost cool in the shade, with a breeze, and very warm in the sun when the breeze died down.

On Saturday we rode from my sister-in-laws house in Rochester through town and then on the paved trail to Pine Island, Minnesota. We covered the 21 miles, with stops, in about two hours--averaging 12.9 mph when rolling. That's an hour faster than I rode it ten months ago--real progress!

In summary, an almost effortless 100 km weekend, just two years after I couldn't ride two miles without looking for a park bench to rest up. Quite frankly, the Sofrider and I were both ready and eager to go farther. I really like this bike!
 

1happyreader

zen/child method
many happy summer rides to you !

Heh , Jimbo,

Luv the DaBrim sun shade on your helmet.

Of course in Florida we luv anything that resembles shade . LOL
 

jimbo3b

Member
Thanks all

Happy, yes, Da Brim is a quality product. I get far more comments about my hat than my bike. My daugher-in-law got it for me last Christmas so I would stop embarrassing the entire clan with my floppy homemade denim brim.

Charles & Chris, Thanks for the encouragement.
 

jimbo3b

Member
First Metric Century!

I'm happy to report that I and a couple of friends from work all rode our first metric centuries on Saturday, July 19, 2014. This is about 20% farther than my previous record. We were riding the medium-distance Tour in the Cornhusker State Games, extended just a touch to get to 100 km:

http://www.cornhuskerstategames.com/cycle_tour

We took our time, with a rolling time of 5.5 hours and 7 overall. More importantly, with the relaxed pace, we all finished in great shape with energy to spare.
 

Eric Winn

Zen MBB Master
Woot! You guys look like you

Woot! You guys look like you are having a lot of fun. Great job, Jim. Looking forward to hearing about more of your accomplishments.

-Eric
 

kenhardwick

Well-Known Member
Kool-Aid Classic Bicycle Tour Aug 9th

Jim,
Are you doing the Kool-Aid ride in Hasting this year ?
I'll be in Omaha the week of Aug 3rd so plan to bring my Silvio 1.5 to do this ride on my way back to Oklahoma.

Ken Hardwick
Norman, Ok
 

jimbo3b

Member
Not sure about Kool-aid

Ken,

I don't think I'll make it this year. Looks like I have a week to pre-register. I'd love to see your Silvio.

Eric,

Thanks for the encouragement. We did have a lot of fun on a ride that would have really stretched me a year ago, and would have been impossible two years ago. Now I'm eagerly looking forward to doing an imperial century and beyond.

The Cruzbike keeps the training fun.
 
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