this was a lot harder than in june. it was a much bigger group - me, joe, dan, scott (who did the whole thing FIXED! what a nut), gabe, spencer, and michael. bigger group meant that there was more fluctuations in energy levels at various times, which made for some grouchy moments. june, when it was just dan, joe, and me, was a lot more fun. this still had fun moments, but it was a tough journey for sure.

bike felt more comfortable than last time...but since more of my weight was shifted off my hands (which was very good), more was on my a$$ and i have some pretty amazing saddle sores. was still able to ride the next day, so i'll live. shifting around to make my behind happy put added stress on my knees, so my right knee was REALLY hurting around forest lake to hugo and that's the main reason i decided to bail in hugo. i'm sure the humidity and heat also played a role in the saddle sores and sore knee. anyway, riding 20+ miles as an isolated leg drill just didn't appeal to me at all. so, joe and i got a ride from hugo. little did i know that the rest of the crew bailed too, about 4 miles ahead of us. scott actually passed out after standing up too fast, and michael had numb hands AND a sore knee. good times.

i almost crashed too. the munger trail is long and flat and straight...'cept where it isn't. ha ha. there is one hilly curvy section, which we hit in the dark early morning hours when we were all half asleep. i stopped to pee and then hauled ass to catch up, going about 20-22 mph. passed scott (who could only go so fast on his fixed)...and then strained my eyes trying to see the others' red blinkies up the trail. i didn't see anything and was really confused when WHOOOSH WHIPWHIPWHIPWHIP WEEEEEEEE...off the trail i went into tall grass. i am VERY lucky that it wasn't a friggen cliff! i didn't crash, but it took me a minute to stop the bike and hike out of the shrubs and grass and get back on the trail. scott saw the whole thing and we had a good old laugh about it. when we caught up to everyone else, guess what - THEY had crashed! well, gabe and spencer anyway. gabe's wheel was way out of true, but luckily they are all bike mechanics! hee hee. fixed up the wheel, taped up spencer's finger (which hyperextended), and off we went again - all with our lights ON.

only one person dropped out - spencer had a broken axel. scott macgyvered it to get him up the hill to carleton, but he had to bail after that. everyone else made it w/ only minor aches and pains. so, one newbie has joined the ranks of the duluth crew. michael was a STUD riding the whole thing on an old schwinn w/ platform pedals and tennies. the duluth roster now reads: glenn (founder), dan (4 rides, 5 attempts), joe (4 rides), scott (5 rides? 1 attempt on fixed, 2nd successful attempt on fixed), ken (1st to do it fixed, not sure how many rides total), gabe (2 rides), autumn (2 rides, first woman), and michael.

can't believe i did it again. since everyone bailed in hugo, it was declared that i really am the first women to make it to duluth and back (since in june we only made it to carleton). anyway, we might actually ride up again in august to go see wilco...assuming my saddle sores have healed by then :)

do a second fitting on the bike after the stem change. bring even MORE shammy butter. :)

went to a party on snail lake and watched drunk people blow stuff up. it was fun.


haaa haaa ahaaaaaa. its 300 miles on a loaded single speed, you tell me why i didn't go faster!


"why did she do this?" you might be asking. well, this ride takes place annually to honor glenn, a county cycle regular who did this ride several times a year on his own. he would stop much less, didn't have all the high tech crap we have, and would get by on bologna sandwiches and cokes, not HEED and power bars. he died of cancer, and now this ride is for him. since i didn't know glenn, i ride for him AND for my own father...on his old bike, to ride the miles he can't because of his MS. i rode these miles to feel the joy of the cold northern minnesota air, the feeling of riding towards home, to watch the sun come up, to be on my own moving through space, and to be with people i adore.