Sakatah Trail - Mankato

Distance = 10.18
Time = 56.18
Avg speed = 10.7 mph
Max speed = 18 mph

Happy Vesak! Though I'm not sure that is an appropriate salutation. Today is the day people, mainly Buddhists I suppose, celebrate the birth, enlightenment, and and passing of Buddha. Lorrie and I went to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN for a Vesak celebration. Her friend Darshi was part of the celebration so we wanted to support them. Our plan afterwards was to do a bike ride on the Sakatah from the end opposite to where we usually ride. I don't know what I was thinking this morning when I got dressed. I wore a short-sleeved shirt. Thank goodness I brought a jacket "just in case." When I packed up my cycling clothes, I didn't include long pants. I'm not sure where I got the impression that it would be warm. It wasn't! And it rained the entire day.

After the Vesak celebration, we headed toward the trailhead. The rain seemed to be coming harder and harder. But still we went. The whole time we were both waiting for the other to say that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to go. But neither of us said anything. So we went! lol Got changed in the car and off we went. I happened to have a pair of nylon sweatpants in my bag so I rolled those up and wore them. They didn't keep me particularly dry but it took longer for my legs to get wet and they did shield me from the wind. Lorrie had brought all the right gear! What is wrong with this picture!?? lol I'm usually giving her some of my things to wear. What I was thankful I'd brought was a plastic-like totally waterproof jacket. It was an accident that I brought it though. It was already in my bag. lol I was very thankful!

The ride was good. We decided with the weather and my cold we should only go about 10 miles. We ran into two other women who were cycling. Ha! Tell me women aren't tougher than men! (= We had to cross a set of railroad tracks, which was interesting with the water mixed with oil. No incidents though. At five miles we got to the lake where Lorrie and Darshi go for birdwatching. It was nice to see the place they talk about. We stood there for about 15 seconds admiring the view before turning around and heading back to the car.

Getting changed in this kind of situation is always an adventure. I backed the SUV up to a tree so that we'd have a little cover from the water. But then it was too muddy. So we took off our wet layers outside then slid into the front seats to change the rest. We used my sweatshirt as a towel... since I didn't think to bring one of those! lol And we got into our street clothes without being arrested! Good job!

I had a $30 gift card for Whiskey River so we went for steak after our short wet ride. That was a nice finish! A quick stop at Cherish's house on the way home and we could call it a full day!

My training for the Red Ribbon Ride and MS TRAM are VERY lacking! I am trying to get my brain wrapped around two things. That's it! Cycling and studying for licensure. Somehow those two things together seem like a LOT! But I'm working on it.