Afton Cruise

Bill Stuber and I rode to Afton today from my house in Saint Paul. I rode the new Solis Umbra carbon bike. It's made by RavX, the company I sell components for. The bike worked great on the 48 mile round trip. Otherwise, I got in a few rides during the week including one time trial training session on the Greenway. Plus a few rides on the Bottecchia fixed gear.

Building The Solis And Enjoying The Lake

I worked on the Solis carbon fiber road bike over the weekend. They sent me two left side SRAM Force shifter/brake levers so I have to get the one for the right side. Also, I went fishing with Jerry Engen and his 15 year-old grandson Zach on Sunday. After getting my boat and truck stuck in Lake Jane (thanks to Barry Torgerson for pulling me out), we went to Lake DeMontriville. I caught a big northern and a few bass plus one sunfish and a perch. Zach caught a northern, a few bass, one sunfish and a rare, blue sunfish. Jerry got a bunch of small sunfish with one big one and he also caught a bass. It was the shakedown cruise for the Hiawatha boat's 28 hp Johnson motor.

Second Bike Race Of The Year

I rode in the rain with John Wyland last Saturday. We rode the Greenway loop. A light rain at the start turned heavy about 1/4th of the way. We stopped at Chipotle for lunch so that was okay. It was 31 miles of riding... Sunday, it was back on the Greenway for more time trial training. Another 31 miles with time trial intervals mixed in. The Ride and Glide Tuesday Time Trial was postponed to Wednesday because of rain. Tommy Bengel and I drove out and raced it. I got 19th in a time of 33:15. My average speed was 24.36 mph. On Friday, I got in 20 miles on the Greenway, Kenilworth Loop. I rode the fixed gear Botecchia.

Selling Asphalt - Riding When I Can...

I've been selling concrete and asphalt driveways and parking lots with some appointments in the evening so I'm riding when I can instead of posting on the blog. I'll try to update it more frequently. I rode the TCBC All Club ride out of Snail lake last Saturday. That one was 67 miles. Joining me were Jerry Engen, Lori Belz, Rob Belz and John Wyland. Otherwise, I've been hanging out on the Greenway Loop. That's a great course for time trial training. Anyway, I'm at 1,417 miles for the year so far...

Riding And Racing

I've gotten in some rides and a race since the last post. A 52 mile road ride with Tom Bengel, John Wyland, Tina Olson, Jerry Engen, Lori Belz and Rob Belz on the 1st. On the 2nd, I did a 12 mile mountain bike ride at Theodore Wirth with Rob, Tom and Lee Bengel and Bill Stuber. We rode over from Kenwood. My first race of the year was the Ride and Glide Withrow TT. Tom Bengel joined me on that one. Everyone had a slower time than last year with the 20mph wind gusting to 40mph. I got 22nd out of 70. Thursday was a 31 mile loop on the Greenway System with Steve Prast. Today, I did the same ride with John Wyland and Bill Stuber.

Caught In The Rain

I took the Bottecchia fixed gear out for a little spin this evening. I wasn't planning on a long ride but a rain storm turned it into a 6 1/2 cruise...

More Time Trial Training

31 miles of time trial training on the Greenway with Tommy Bengel on Monday. We did five speed intervals. Today, I took off for the Greenway again and more time trial training. I ran into Tom Bengel, Dag Selander, Paul Schoening, Mike Shaw and Big Dave out for a ride. I rode with them between the nine intervals I did. I got in 30 miles.