Fergus Falls to Alexandria, MN
Distance = 47.07
Time = 3.32.45
Max speed = 20.5 mph
Avg speed = 13.3
Our last morning! We got everything packed up then headed down to the Viking Cafe from last night. The dive! They serve a pretty good breakfast! A bunch of old geezers hanging out eating breakfast and drinking coffee. You know it's good! We all took off together but were quickly separated again. Lorrie and I were just taking it easy and wanted to make sure we took in all the scenery. It was almost completely on a trail so the riding was nice. There were a few little hills but nothing major. We skipped the first rest stop and were promptly passed by Brian after he'd stopped there. A little while down the road Tim and Heidi passed us. It was weird to think we had been ahead of them at all! lol But they said they were taking it easy as well. We started seeing riddles along the sides of the trail. I was reading out the riddle and Lorrie was yelling out the answer. She was riding with Heidi and I was with Tim. It was still too fast to get all the answers.
But they all had to do with Christmas and Santa Claus. We decided to stop at this rest area and get Lorrie's gears checked out one more time. The mechanic told her if that didn't work to check it out at the next one. lol Good quality work eh?! We also had our photo taken with the Claus Family. It had to have been hot in those outfits. But they looked pretty cool. I can't remember the name of the town but it was very cute. There was a bed and breakfast for sale as well. They were serving breakfast and coffee on their porch... or what it their patio? Got some food and water and took off again. The trail, I think it's the Heartland Trail, was really nice. I think I heard that it was re
latively new, which explains the lack of cracking and such. The scenery was nice too! Yes, it was mainly still farmland. But I *am* in Minnesota ya know! And some of the are quite picturesque... if you ask me. The last rest area was very small but they had a lot of watermelon! Bonus! Lorrie had her bike checked out one more time since it was still making a chinking noise. He determined that it was the pedal and not the gears. Said she needed to have her bearings reset. Sheesh! So we decided to embrace the noise! lol I grabbed one of the milks they have been giving out the past few days and put it in my pocket to save for later. I had wanted some before but can't imagine how milk would sit in my stomach while cycling. It doesn't sound promising! Lorrie took one too but after about a mile stopped and drank it because it was harder to carry than to just drink! lol Nothing major happened between this point and the finish. We just took our time, talking, and enjoyed the end of the ride together. It was ki
ndof exciting to get to the finish! We had to stop and take a few pictures of course! This was the entrance to the Douglas County Fairgrounds... and the unofficial finish. But we didn't know that. So we were excited! lol 
There was another gentleman who was also finishing so we took a photo of him 
as well! So we did it. Together. And we still like each other. That's pretty cool. We continued on that road and the official finish was there. They had an inflatable arch, cow bells, a radio announcer, etc. It was pretty cool. There was a small crowd but nothing major. Heidi came running out to greet us. She said they'd been waiting but got hungry so were in line for food. We put our finishing medals on and went to line up for food. It's always about the food eh!? lol Burgers, chicken, watermelon, salads... it was all there. So we all ate together and hung out. That was nice. I was under the impression that as soon as they got there they would disperse and we wouldn't see each other again. Nice surprise! They all left shortly after we finished eating. Except Jan. She had to wait for Brian to ride someplace else to pick up his van. Poor guy! We stuck around and waited for the last rider to finish. I thought maybe they would have something for the volunteers like at the AIDS Ride. We waited for quite some time. I did get a cowbell out of the deal. Some guy saw me dancing and said I could shake the bell too! lol Cool! A kid next to me wanted one too so I went and found one for him to keep. I wasn't giving up my swag!! Well... I would have. But I didn't want to! lol Anyway, the last riders were what I assume were a mother and her son. It was pretty cool but, I have to say, slightly anti-climactic. And then we headed home. And the
last photo on my little disposable camera was one of my trucks in a parking lot in Alexandria! (= Works for me! It's been a great week and I'm very glad that I got talked into doing this ride! I'd be happy to do it again next year. The Minnesota AIDS Ride, called the Red Ribbon Ride here, was the week before this year. Maybe I can do both and just ride all during July!
Distance = 47.07
Time = 3.32.45
Max speed = 20.5 mph
Avg speed = 13.3
Our last morning! We got everything packed up then headed down to the Viking Cafe from last night. The dive! They serve a pretty good breakfast! A bunch of old geezers hanging out eating breakfast and drinking coffee. You know it's good! We all took off together but were quickly separated again. Lorrie and I were just taking it easy and wanted to make sure we took in all the scenery. It was almost completely on a trail so the riding was nice. There were a few little hills but nothing major. We skipped the first rest stop and were promptly passed by Brian after he'd stopped there. A little while down the road Tim and Heidi passed us. It was weird to think we had been ahead of them at all! lol But they said they were taking it easy as well. We started seeing riddles along the sides of the trail. I was reading out the riddle and Lorrie was yelling out the answer. She was riding with Heidi and I was with Tim. It was still too fast to get all the answers.
But they all had to do with Christmas and Santa Claus. We decided to stop at this rest area and get Lorrie's gears checked out one more time. The mechanic told her if that didn't work to check it out at the next one. lol Good quality work eh?! We also had our photo taken with the Claus Family. It had to have been hot in those outfits. But they looked pretty cool. I can't remember the name of the town but it was very cute. There was a bed and breakfast for sale as well. They were serving breakfast and coffee on their porch... or what it their patio? Got some food and water and took off again. The trail, I think it's the Heartland Trail, was really nice. I think I heard that it was relatively new, which explains the lack of cracking and such. The scenery was nice too! Yes, it was mainly still farmland. But I *am* in Minnesota ya know! And some of the are quite picturesque... if you ask me. The last rest area was very small but they had a lot of watermelon! Bonus! Lorrie had her bike checked out one more time since it was still making a chinking noise. He determined that it was the pedal and not the gears. Said she needed to have her bearings reset. Sheesh! So we decided to embrace the noise! lol I grabbed one of the milks they have been giving out the past few days and put it in my pocket to save for later. I had wanted some before but can't imagine how milk would sit in my stomach while cycling. It doesn't sound promising! Lorrie took one too but after about a mile stopped and drank it because it was harder to carry than to just drink! lol Nothing major happened between this point and the finish. We just took our time, talking, and enjoyed the end of the ride together. It was kindof exciting to get to the finish! We had to stop and take a few pictures of course! This was the entrance to the Douglas County Fairgrounds... and the unofficial finish. But we didn't know that. So we were excited! lol There was another gentleman who was also finishing so we took a photo of him as well! So we did it. Together. And we still like each other. That's pretty cool. We continued on that road and the official finish was there. They had an inflatable arch, cow bells, a radio announcer, etc. It was pretty cool. There was a small crowd but nothing major. Heidi came running out to greet us. She said they'd been waiting but got hungry so were in line for food. We put our finishing medals on and went to line up for food. It's always about the food eh!? lol Burgers, chicken, watermelon, salads... it was all there. So we all ate together and hung out. That was nice. I was under the impression that as soon as they got there they would disperse and we wouldn't see each other again. Nice surprise! They all left shortly after we finished eating. Except Jan. She had to wait for Brian to ride someplace else to pick up his van. Poor guy! We stuck around and waited for the last rider to finish. I thought maybe they would have something for the volunteers like at the AIDS Ride. We waited for quite some time. I did get a cowbell out of the deal. Some guy saw me dancing and said I could shake the bell too! lol Cool! A kid next to me wanted one too so I went and found one for him to keep. I wasn't giving up my swag!! Well... I would have. But I didn't want to! lol Anyway, the last riders were what I assume were a mother and her son. It was pretty cool but, I have to say, slightly anti-climactic. And then we headed home. And thelast photo on my little disposable camera was one of my trucks in a parking lot in Alexandria! (= Works for me! It's been a great week and I'm very glad that I got talked into doing this ride! I'd be happy to do it again next year. The Minnesota AIDS Ride, called the Red Ribbon Ride here, was the week before this year. Maybe I can do both and just ride all during July!
No comments:
Post a Comment