1 of 3 . . .

What happens when a guy who mostly rides the road suddenly finds himself off-road?

**name of rider withheld to protect from (deserved) ridicule

head over bars crash photo, crash 1 of 3

"but it just looked like a little hole" said the rider . . .

Left to the Imagination

Somethings are better left to the imagination!

A few things to remember

Lauren, Russ and Rich shopping at 6:15
16 of us to start!
Single speeds, road bikes, tri-bikes, mountain bikes . . .the whole gamut!
4 women up and at 'em early in the morning (well done Sheree Christian!)
"sore cheeks" Lauren . . .  less than two days after having all four wisdom teeth removed.
'Deb, with enough courage to ride even knowing Rich would be there! (that takes courage!)
oops . . . Shanie and Rick go down
Jim on the mountain bike
Tony on the tri bike (yeah . . . you could ride gravel with that)
Rich's caffeine powered bike
Russ' donut powered machine
Tim's flat . . .
Swattin' mosquitoes at N Tischer & Normana
Dave and his crazy messenger bag
oh oh . . . seein' all that blood on Shanie and Rick
Good thing John is a Dr . . . oops . . . all he can do is "diagram sentences"
Doug shows up, a "real Dr . . . "
Watchin' 3 of our group fly by us!
"Hey . . . we got us a cadre"
         (for the non-believers:
          ca·dreNoun/ˈkadrē/
          1. A small group of people specially trained for a particular purpose or profession.
          2. A group of activists in a communist or other revolutionary organization.)
COFFEE TIME!
Five (count 'em five!) thermoses of coffee . . . 3 with fresh ground french press coffee!
One thermos of tea!
18 assorted donuts
1 loaf zucchini bread; 1 loaf banana bread (Hey boyz . . . did you really make that?)
Singin' HAPPY BIRTHDAY to RUSS!! (maybe we wanna forget that)
Swattin' mosquitoes again
Lots of good conversation
gee . . . that's a lot of blood on Shanie's leg
Havin' to say "good bye" to the non-gravel ridin' contingent . . .
Gravel at last . . .
Losin' Rich's camera (idiot!)
Ridin' the "good line"
Lots of smiles on Fox Farm!
Game on for Russ and Rich . . . they crossed the line dead even . . .
Sayin' good bye to John, Dave, Lauren and Russ
Flyin' down W Knife River Rd at high speed (go Sheree . . . go!)Rick "giddy with joy" at ridin' gravel
ah . . . more coffee at the Mocha Moose!
Joinin' up with Penny and Mary . . . and . . . hey Steve . . . Where's your bike?What? It's in the car???
Learnin' about the "bitch switch" and the 1/2 blind, 3-legged dog Rufus
Kayla pointin' out her new hair color
More great conversation . . . Rich's recitation of the entire "Heck" course. Can you map that?
The final Seven head on down the highway . . .

I'd love to hear what you remember from today!

What a great time! Thanks to all for joining!

Gravel, Coffee and Carbs

Russ and Rich had a long, serious discussion and decided; 

 6:45 AM, Saturday, 3 Sept. at "the Church"

I promise, it won't be dark, no one with common sense would ride in the dark in the rain!?

We'll ride up Jean Duluth, over Zimmerman, 1/2 way up the hill, left on N Tischer, left on Normanna ... then right on Pequaywan Lake Rd.   Then we ride about 4 miles . . . then right onto the best gravel rd in the area; the Fox Farm rd.  We'll ride down it for about six miles to the bridge . . . where coffee and carbs will be served . . . 

No, on second thought . . . it will be self serve, although the two old guys will be schlepping it.

Then we'll continue down the gravel and probably make our way to the Mocha Moose. 

 (might be more coffee and carbs there!)

Russ needs to be back by 12:00, but I think it will be before that.

The plan is not to ride fast . . . just to have a good time.

So far we have about 4 or 5 guys, and 2 gals committed to come.

It does not matter if you have a cross bike, road bike or mtn bike . . . anything will be just fine.  We're not gonna leave you anywhere . . .  (unless you are grouchy)

I kinda promise to try not to viciously knock anyone over (but I can't guarantee it)

If you want in, let me know by Friday night . . . I need to figure out how much coffee (etc) to bring.  If you want cream and sugar . . . you're on your own.    There will be no decaf or latte' etc available . . .

 (suck it up, you'll be fine).  

Ya don't need to bring any money . . .this is on me.

There will be extra points for the silliest kit.  However, the points are redeemable for absolutely nothin'