Two Rides Down the Gateway!!

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* * * * GATEWAY RIDE NUMBER ONE * * * *
Thursday was a chilly morning. Well, it was probably pretty "seasonable" for Minnesota, but we've been blessed with great weather lately. I was gearing up for a nice medium-to-long distance ride, and the TV was telling me to DRESS UP!

Dang. Somewhere around 50 degrees is usually my cut-off...

I got geared up. I wore tights over 2 pairs of bike shorts, my super warm GoLite Thermal top over my pretty warm Nike top, my Sugoi Tuke under my helmet, and my winter running Drymax socks. (I don't have any cold-weather booties for my bike shoes, and I NEEDED them for this ride...) Here I am getting ready to go:

I took off. It was chilly, but totally rideable. I rode past some rally playing HORRIBLE music at the State Capital:

Because it was so chilly, I had the Gateway to myself for most of the ride:

I rode up and past the North St. Paul Snowman. Notice the cold-looking sky:

At this point, even though I was wearing warm socks, I couldn't feel all of my toes. (However, I COULD feel my 11th toe [if you know what I mean], so all was OK.) I went a few miles further before turning around. At the end of the trail, there was a crew doing something in the sewers. I rode through this cloud of noxious gas that smelled like a hot, plasticy tire:

(Turns out it was a PVC sewer repair crew. Nasty.)

I was getting hungry. I told myself that I had EARNED Chipotle. Afterall, Jenny told me to make sure I was getting some food in me within 30 minutes of working out! ;) So I pulled my bike into Chipotle with about 4 miles left, and grabbed a burrito:

I threw the burrito in my little backpack, and rode the rest of the way home with a delicious rice child on my back. It made it home just fine:

I snapped a photo of myself as soon as I got home thinking I'd be pretty red from the chilly day. But I really wasn't. However, there IS something wrong with this photo:

Hint: it's APRIL.

• 33+ miles
• longest ride of the year (yay)
• 17.9 mph average (dang)
• 18.5 mph average before the final 7 residential miles


* * * * GATEWAY RIDE NUMBER TWO * * * *
Sunday, Matt (my brother-in-law) and I planned a nice trip down the Gateway. The goal was 40-45 miles. Just a good, long ride. ("Long" for 2 guys training for duathlons and sprint / oly triathlons.) Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day!! We drove to the start of the trail (about a mile north of downtown St. Paul) so we could get farther out of the city and onto more open stretches of trail. Here we are as we got ready to ride:

Matt let Borsch know we'd be out there, and he met us a few miles into the ride. Here's Borsch and Matt near the Lake Phalen area:

"Exiting the city" near the I-694 loop

We met up with this nice stranger in a Bianchi jersey, and the 4 of us rode together for a number of miles:

We were pulling 25-28 mph for a few miles


Just past the end of the Gateway (with Pine Point Park to the right),
headed out to the Square Lake area

We chatted with a runner I'd seen around for a few years, but never "officially" met before. Her name is Stacey, and I'd seen her at the Dome all winter, and at the MDRA Lake Johanna 4 Mile race a few weeks back. She's SUPER nice. She was out on a "little" 18 mile stroll! Holy crap! Matt nearly spit out his water when she said that.

Matt, Borsch, and I hit the road towards Square Lake. Matt had been there (by car) for scuba training, and Borsch had never been out that way before. We took the rollers down to the lake, and snapped some photos at our turn-around:

Borsch and Matt


Borsch's shot of me to prove I was there too!
(Note the sweet Leisure Suit jersey from my lovely wife!)

Oh, and that road behind me in the photo above is right where the finish line is for the Square Lake Half Iron Distance Triathlon. Yes, that's the triathlon I did in 2008 when I wore a grim reaper costume for the 13.1 mile run:

Since I had a couple of local FB friends ask about this ride after I posted something to my wall after we got home, I thought I'd share the map of the course. Here's the ride (just one way) that we did on Sunday:

Working the open road back to the Gateway


Tons of families and riders at the Pine Point Park rest area


On the "detour" around the new bridge construction
(note the mound of dirt for the bridge ramp on the left)

We dropped Borsch off near his home, and Matt and I hammered out the last 6 miles. Here's a quick video I took without Matt knowing:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cagdqds3OQw

(And that's NOT my breathing at the end of the video. That's the wind. Really.)

Matt said "Chipotle," but I was going to resist. I was going to be a good boy. Then he said "Paisanos Pizza - maybe just a slice to tide me over til supper..." and I totally caved. We finished the ride, loaded up our bikes, and headed to Paisanos for a few slices of heaven:

• 44+ miles
• 18.7 mph "highest" average
• 18.5 mph average at the end

Thanks for the ride, fellas! What a great day!

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