Moving day

If the weather in Minnesota every day was like it was today they would have to put a fence up around the state to keep the crowds away.

The morning was warm with light SE winds. I have a north route, a south route, a southwest route, an eastern extension off the north route, an eastern extension off the south route, the one thing I really do not have is an east route.

There are a couple of good reasons for this. Due east leads past Lake Como towards Lake Phalen. It is a ride I avoid because of a couple of iffy traffic situations and a stretch of pavement which always seems to exceed even the maximum possible amount of broken glass on the road. Today was no exception, by the way. I was riding on a stretch where the street is divided by a center median. On my side there appeared a spot where at least 2 glass bottles were shattered near the curb with glass extending fully half way across the street. I took the lane.

Phalen is also an iffy ride because the route takes me through two different iterations of Glacial River Warren. This means down into the gulch, back up out of the gulch, back down again and up again. And that's just on the way over. This leads to a couple of spectacular high speed downhill coasts but also requires some hard work to climb to the top of those hills. The steepest of the back up out of the gulches comes near the end of the ride as I approach home. If I don't have good legs it is hard work.

Today I had good legs. Today I had the best legs I have had for quite some time, certainly the best legs since I got home, perhaps the best legs of the summer. I felt strong.

I rode to Lake Phalen, the largest lake within the city limits of Saint Paul, the jewel of the East side. Here is a LOOK at Lake Phalen.That vegetation next to the lake shore is some sort of restoration or something and was contributed to by a relative by marriage of TOPWLH. I am sorry I don't have a more interesting explanation but I give what I have to give.

I felt so good that I am glad to report that I did not feel any ill effects of the ride during my second assigned task of the day. I also felt plenty strong for the limited amount of work I had to do to assist Ms. Wireless as she moved away from the freeway in Richfield. She will now be living next to the chain of lakes in the City of Lakes. She moves from a soulless modern apartment building to an old brick building with character. I found myself surprisingly taken with the neighborhood. Her living room has a window on the front of the building, facing the lake. Over there on the lake side of the street there seemed to be about half the population of the world walking, rollerblading, biking and a bit farther away, on the lake, sailing. It is a truly nice spot.

The Vuelta a España began today with a team time trial of 7.7 km, a bit under 5 miles. I myself can ride 5 miles fairly rapidly but not at the speed ridden today by Team Liquigas. The team in the unusual shade of green covered the course in 8 minutes and 21 seconds. If I ride 2 miles in that time I am riding fast. The leader of the race is Liquigas team leader Filippo Pozzato.