Rainy Cannon Falls

Cannon Falls Trail
D = 20.13
Time = 1.30.21
Max = 21.5 mph
Avg = 13.3 mph

RAIN! Wow!! It was raining in Northfield this morning so I waited. I figured it would clear up by late morning. And it did so that was a good idea on my part! I got all my stuff together, including Emma, and took off for Cannon Falls. There was a haze the whole time but I figured that would be no big deal. By the time I got to Cannon Falls that haze seemed to have cleared mostly. Got everything set. I was a little cold so I wore a fleece jacket under my plastic rain jacket. I also wore my thick long tights with the water resistent panels (NOT water PROOF!). And off I went. It was a great ride because NO ONE was around! It was just me. It drizzled most of the time but then about mile 5 it started to rain. By mile 8 it was a downpour. I *loved* it!! I had planned on going out 15 so I'd have a 30 mile ride but I didn't figure I should allow myself to get *that* wet. So I got to the 10 mile point and stopped under cover for a moment to situate myself and my clothing. I put an outer glove over my cycling gloves and that helped... except that my cycling gloves were already soaked! lol But it kept my hands from getting much colder. So off I went back the way I had come. It continued to rain almost the whole way. I would say at about mile 18 it let up a little. And then it basically stopped when I got back to the car. Ha! What's up with that!? Got all my stuff put away and realized I had no pants to change into. I'd brought a shirt, jacket, socks, etc. But no pants. So I put a jacket on the seat to protect it from my wet ass. While I was putting things away, a drug deal was happening right in front of me! lol I thought I had left all that behind in LA! But what else is there to do around Cannon Falls!? Took Emma to one of the fields at Carleton to play a little frisbee then headed home. A good afternoon!

First Ride 2007

Cannon Falls Trail
Cannon Falls, MN
D = 20.19
Time = 1.38.52
Max = 23 mph
Avg = 12.2 mph

The first exciting thing about this ride was that I got to buy a floor pump the day before in preparation! lol The ride itself was pretty generic. I remembered my butt balm so not much issue there. My hands got a little sore from the pressure though I move them around a lot. There weren't too many people on the trail... but enough. I had a couple encounters with Boy Scouts... they moved over for me and then a couple of them gave me a high five. That was cute! But I wanted to tell them afterwards that I'm gay. lol No, I didn't do that.

There were 4-5 sections with ice on the trail...

So I had to do a little bit of mountain biking. At first it was great and I was having fun sliding around. Then I had an image of falling and breaking my collarbone so I took it easy. It was still fun though! And really, had I fallen it would likely have been into snow and grass so I would have just gotten a little wet.

Then there were some real obstacles...

Of course I was able to work my way around that. No jumping boulders for me! Especially on a road bike! lol It ended up taking me a little longer than usual because of the ice and such. But it was still a nice ride and the weather definitely cooperated! I got back and woke Emma from her nap...

so that we could go play some frisbee! (= That's all she thinks about ya know! All in all a good little start to my cycling season this year. I will do a couple of these rides and then try to hook up with the club in Northfield and try to do their 40-mile Saturday ride. It will be nice to ride with people again! (=