Just A Little Trip: Part III

More two-track

Jason led us onward and I think that guy knows every stretch of two-track, minimum maintenance, and grass back road in the Dakota and Rice County vicinity.  At least he was stringing together a worthy ride of them on Monday.

He was telling Ben and I that we were going to try and ride to a road Jason thought I hadn't been on yet. We worked our way down some two-track and gravel that Jason reminded me I had been on last in 2010 on the Fargo Adventure Ride. I had a vague memory of some of it, and some was utterly foreign to me now, even though I believe Jason when he said I had been there before.

I can not stress enough how nice the day was. Low humidity, pleasant temperatures, light breezes, and abundant sunshine were the order of the day. How could you not want to just keep on pedaling? Ben was kind of egging Jason on in regard to his later plans and teasing him to stick with the bike riding, but Jason was adamant that he had a busy schedule later and could not ride for much longer.

Well, we still had that mysterious stretch of road to find yet, and we were miles from Farmington, so I wasn't too worried about things stopping too soon. 

Whacked!

Unfortunately, things changed abruptly not much afterward. Jason suggested a turn off onto some grassy two-track alongside a gravel road which went up a long, steady grade. I was third wheel, right behind Ben, when I noted a few branches in our path. As Ben hit these one of them went right up into his SRAM derailleur and whacked it into two bits while shearing the derailleur hangar. Ben tried to stop when he realized what was happening, but it was too late. Fortunately I was able to twitch my Fargo off his line enough to only brush his shoulder as I went by him to his right.

Okay, now we were in a pickle! Ben had to try to single speed his rig, but there was no good "magic" gear, and the attempt failed after only a few pedal strokes. Ben was beside himself with frustration, as you would imagine. Jason realized his plans were altered, not by a desire to ride more, but by a desire to help Ben out of the countryside. Me? Well, I was wondering how far we were going to have to push Ben back to town.

Ben thought he would scooter it back, or run for a bit, but that didn't take long to play itself out. Finally Jason convinced him we were going to push him all the way back to Farmington.

We got yer back Ben!

It had been 15 or 16 years ago, but I remember getting pushed out of Geo Wyth after whacking an XC Pro derailleur once. It isn't easy being the one getting pushed. You have to be really calm and stable on your bike, and you lose an amazing amount of stability when the chain is gone.

I was a pusher this time though, and Jason ended up taking Ben's right side while I pushed on the left side. Eventually we found pavement, which made the job easier, and what is more- the paved road had a generous, wide shoulder. Bonus!

We executed a perfect switch over- Jason trading sides with me, without skipping a beat and Ben never lost much momentum at all. It was almost like a Madison event. We laughed at what the drivers in cars and trucks must have thought as they saw three grown men in what looked like an embrace as we rode three abreast. Well, eventually we got about seven miles  of pushing in and we were back in Farmington once again.

Then it was decision time for us. What would the next few hours hold? Lunch plans were discussed, and possibilities weighed, but in the end, Jason had to get on a conference call, so Ben and I departed and went in search of Carter Lake and the Salsa Cycles demo that would take place later that day.

Lunch somewhere in South St. Paul

Ben was a bit off track when he suddenly slowed and said, "We're eating here!" It turned out he had also been a bit lost at one time with his wife, and they had happened upon this very same cafe.

Well, the grub was fantastic. I wish I could recommend you to this joint, but all I know was that I was in South Saint Paul, Minnesota.

It was really good hot ham and cheese though. You should eat there.

At any rate, then we went onward towards Carter Lake. After going round about due to a detour, we found the spot and we beat the Salsa demo truck there by about 20 minutes. Eventually we helped get them set up, and I did my business while Ben hung out and helped get folks set up for rides.

Ben and I finally bailed out of there by about 6-ish and promptly got turned around trying to leave the Twin Cities. After getting back on track, we then nearly got taken out by traffic three times before turning off the main highway onto a county blacktop headed back to Northfield. I pretty much left for home immediately upon our return from Carter Lake and did the three hour ride back to where I belong.

What a great getaway for a couple of days. It was fantastic to see friends again I rarely get to see, and I cherished each and every moment. Thanks to everyone, you know who you are!

For more on the bikes at the demo, stay tuned....

Just A Little Trip: Part III

More two-track

Jason led us onward and I think that guy knows every stretch of two-track, minimum maintenance, and grass back road in the Dakota and Rice County vicinity.  At least he was stringing together a worthy ride of them on Monday.

He was telling Ben and I that we were going to try and ride to a road Jason thought I hadn't been on yet. We worked our way down some two-track and gravel that Jason reminded me I had been on last in 2010 on the Fargo Adventure Ride. I had a vague memory of some of it, and some was utterly foreign to me now, even though I believe Jason when he said I had been there before.

I can not stress enough how nice the day was. Low humidity, pleasant temperatures, light breezes, and abundant sunshine were the order of the day. How could you not want to just keep on pedaling? Ben was kind of egging Jason on in regard to his later plans and teasing him to stick with the bike riding, but Jason was adamant that he had a busy schedule later and could not ride for much longer.

Well, we still had that mysterious stretch of road to find yet, and we were miles from Farmington, so I wasn't too worried about things stopping too soon. 

Whacked!

Unfortunately, things changed abruptly not much afterward. Jason suggested a turn off onto some grassy two-track alongside a gravel road which went up a long, steady grade. I was third wheel, right behind Ben, when I noted a few branches in our path. As Ben hit these one of them went right up into his SRAM derailleur and whacked it into two bits while shearing the derailleur hangar. Ben tried to stop when he realized what was happening, but it was too late. Fortunately I was able to twitch my Fargo off his line enough to only brush his shoulder as I went by him to his right.

Okay, now we were in a pickle! Ben had to try to single speed his rig, but there was no good "magic" gear, and the attempt failed after only a few pedal strokes. Ben was beside himself with frustration, as you would imagine. Jason realized his plans were altered, not by a desire to ride more, but by a desire to help Ben out of the countryside. Me? Well, I was wondering how far we were going to have to push Ben back to town.

Ben thought he would scooter it back, or run for a bit, but that didn't take long to play itself out. Finally Jason convinced him we were going to push him all the way back to Farmington.

We got yer back Ben!

It had been 15 or 16 years ago, but I remember getting pushed out of Geo Wyth after whacking an XC Pro derailleur once. It isn't easy being the one getting pushed. You have to be really calm and stable on your bike, and you lose an amazing amount of stability when the chain is gone.

I was a pusher this time though, and Jason ended up taking Ben's right side while I pushed on the left side. Eventually we found pavement, which made the job easier, and what is more- the paved road had a generous, wide shoulder. Bonus!

We executed a perfect switch over- Jason trading sides with me, without skipping a beat and Ben never lost much momentum at all. It was almost like a Madison event. We laughed at what the drivers in cars and trucks must have thought as they saw three grown men in what looked like an embrace as we rode three abreast. Well, eventually we got about seven miles  of pushing in and we were back in Farmington once again.

Then it was decision time for us. What would the next few hours hold? Lunch plans were discussed, and possibilities weighed, but in the end, Jason had to get on a conference call, so Ben and I departed and went in search of Carter Lake and the Salsa Cycles demo that would take place later that day.

Lunch somewhere in South St. Paul

Ben was a bit off track when he suddenly slowed and said, "We're eating here!" It turned out he had also been a bit lost at one time with his wife, and they had happened upon this very same cafe.

Well, the grub was fantastic. I wish I could recommend you to this joint, but all I know was that I was in South Saint Paul, Minnesota.

It was really good hot ham and cheese though. You should eat there.

At any rate, then we went onward towards Carter Lake. After going round about due to a detour, we found the spot and we beat the Salsa demo truck there by about 20 minutes. Eventually we helped get them set up, and I did my business while Ben hung out and helped get folks set up for rides.

Ben and I finally bailed out of there by about 6-ish and promptly got turned around trying to leave the Twin Cities. After getting back on track, we then nearly got taken out by traffic three times before turning off the main highway onto a county blacktop headed back to Northfield. I pretty much left for home immediately upon our return from Carter Lake and did the three hour ride back to where I belong.

What a great getaway for a couple of days. It was fantastic to see friends again I rarely get to see, and I cherished each and every moment. Thanks to everyone, you know who you are!

For more on the bikes at the demo, stay tuned....

Just A Little Trip: Part II

Barns With Jason, (and Ben!)

I awoke in a chilly room on Monday morning in Northfield, Minnesota and readied myself for what was supposed to be one of the Jason/Ben gravel rides out of Farmington, Minnesota. Ben hadn't gotten up yet, so I sat down and read an old "Adventure Journal" by Salsa Cycles which had a reference to an old GTDRI in it. I hadn't ever known of the existence of this tiny pamphlet before, but it was cool to run across it. It was good inspiration for the day.

Ben did emerge from his slumber and we took off to go get some grub at The Tavern restaurant in downtown Northfield. I had the Tavern Special, as did Ben. Good grub for a day of gravel grinding should include bacon, so I had that with my meal! After this, we headed to Farmington to, (where else!), a coffee shop to hook up with Jason. (The same Jason I post barns for.) We caught up on a few things, then we hit the road. 

Things had indeed started out chilly, but were warming up quite nicely, and there was nary a cloud to be found in the bright blue sky of the morning. It doesn't get much better than it was that day!

Jason was in charge of navigation, and he was steering us over toward "U-More", which is an interesting area owned by the University of Minnesota and has the ruins of an old WWII facility on its grounds, not to mention many fantastic double track roads and gravel.

But before we got there we went through many tree lined roads near the Vermillion Wildlife Area which were really awesome to behold in the dappled sunlight. I didn't keep track, but I think we spotted at least 4 big hawks in this area which were close enough to really get a good look at.

You could tell you were riding amongst good friends, as Jason and Ben were chatting up a storm as we motored along at 15-17 mph. This area is kind of odd in that you have what seems like miles of dead flat road and then suddenly you find yourself grunting against the onset of rollers with steep slopes that appear out of nowhere. Added with the frequent turns in the tree lined grid of roads and it was almost bewildering to me as I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going for the first several miles.

An example of the ruins on U-More land

We were merrily riding along with little regard to time or purpose until Jason started to become a bit concerned about a potential missed turn. It turned out he was a bit premature in his anticipation of the somewhat hidden turnoff, since we eventually came upon it.

It turned out to be an old service road of some sort, paved in a narrow cement with weeds rising in ever higher ranks on either side. In the shadows and riot of wilderness one could spy the ruins of what, none of us could fathom. They were rather odd structures from the WWII era. Surely someone knows of their past purpose, but at any rate, it remains a mystery to me. I imagine a moonlit night ride would feel a bit spooky out here!

After this we found some of the old route of the original Fargo Adventure Ride. Then they were dirt two track, but now they are gravel. Jason told us that the U of M is to make the area a "model community" featuring sustainable solutions for living. It seems all that gravel and dirt two track is destined to be paved at some point, which only made this ride more special to my mind.

Stay tuned for Part III tomorrow.

Just A Little Trip: Part II

Barns With Jason, (and Ben!)

I awoke in a chilly room on Monday morning in Northfield, Minnesota and readied myself for what was supposed to be one of the Jason/Ben gravel rides out of Farmington, Minnesota. Ben hadn't gotten up yet, so I sat down and read an old "Adventure Journal" by Salsa Cycles which had a reference to an old GTDRI in it. I hadn't ever known of the existence of this tiny pamphlet before, but it was cool to run across it. It was good inspiration for the day.

Ben did emerge from his slumber and we took off to go get some grub at The Tavern restaurant in downtown Northfield. I had the Tavern Special, as did Ben. Good grub for a day of gravel grinding should include bacon, so I had that with my meal! After this, we headed to Farmington to, (where else!), a coffee shop to hook up with Jason. (The same Jason I post barns for.) We caught up on a few things, then we hit the road. 

Things had indeed started out chilly, but were warming up quite nicely, and there was nary a cloud to be found in the bright blue sky of the morning. It doesn't get much better than it was that day!

Jason was in charge of navigation, and he was steering us over toward "U-More", which is an interesting area owned by the University of Minnesota and has the ruins of an old WWII facility on its grounds, not to mention many fantastic double track roads and gravel.

But before we got there we went through many tree lined roads near the Vermillion Wildlife Area which were really awesome to behold in the dappled sunlight. I didn't keep track, but I think we spotted at least 4 big hawks in this area which were close enough to really get a good look at.

You could tell you were riding amongst good friends, as Jason and Ben were chatting up a storm as we motored along at 15-17 mph. This area is kind of odd in that you have what seems like miles of dead flat road and then suddenly you find yourself grunting against the onset of rollers with steep slopes that appear out of nowhere. Added with the frequent turns in the tree lined grid of roads and it was almost bewildering to me as I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going for the first several miles.

An example of the ruins on U-More land

We were merrily riding along with little regard to time or purpose until Jason started to become a bit concerned about a potential missed turn. It turned out he was a bit premature in his anticipation of the somewhat hidden turnoff, since we eventually came upon it.

It turned out to be an old service road of some sort, paved in a narrow cement with weeds rising in ever higher ranks on either side. In the shadows and riot of wilderness one could spy the ruins of what, none of us could fathom. They were rather odd structures from the WWII era. Surely someone knows of their past purpose, but at any rate, it remains a mystery to me. I imagine a moonlit night ride would feel a bit spooky out here!

After this we found some of the old route of the original Fargo Adventure Ride. Then they were dirt two track, but now they are gravel. Jason told us that the U of M is to make the area a "model community" featuring sustainable solutions for living. It seems all that gravel and dirt two track is destined to be paved at some point, which only made this ride more special to my mind.

Stay tuned for Part III tomorrow.