20 miles before lunch, 12 miles after lunch

Yesterday I took what is for me the extremely rare step of passing on a bicycle ride on an extremely rideable day. It might be the second time I have done that this year and I also think maybe only the second time I can distinctly remember ever. I am not sure why I passed, probably something related to extremely important football of the American variety. TOPWLH and I instead settled for a walk around the neighborhood as evening approached. We took a different walking route than what I have previously referred to as my four corners route. We ventured completely outside the four cornered box, walking past Brimhall up to Snelling. I think she thought she had me when she demanded to know, near the end of the walk, what was the exact mileage of the trek. I ride a bicycle. I ride a bicycle a lot. Really a lot. Two and a quarter miles, give or take a hundredth of a mile or two.

Having squandered a day yesterday I was a little more motivated than usual to ride today. The overnight forecast predicted thunderstorms and sure enough, when I checked the weather radar shortly after rising there appeared to be two lines of storms forming up in southwestern Minnesota and beginning their marches towards where I live. I calculated that if I got out by a little after 10 I might well have enough time to get in the two hour bicycle ride that I prefer before the rains arrived. I hoped that it would be warm enough by 10 to make for a comfortable ride.

The sun was out and the temperature was about 67 at 10 so I started out. The wind was pretty brisk from the SE. The combination of that wind direction and my intention to stay relatively close to home to avoid the possibility of early arriving rain catching me 10 miles from home (which has happened a couple of times) led me into some places where I do not ride often.

As I got south and east of Lake Como the sun disappeared behind the burgeoning cloud cover. I turned back down Front Street towards home, a route which lead me past the entrance to Calvary Cemetery. There are some interesting places in the cemetery and I photographed two.

This is a spot that I think regardless of personal faith position most people would agree is a pretty holy spot. The cemetery is on top of a hill which clearly was, at the time the cemetery was founded, well out into the country. From the top of the hill you can see the Saint Paul Cathedral and the State Capitol. This spot was chosen with care. Buried under the four large stone slabs are the first and second bishops of the diocese of Saint Paul and the first and second archbishops of the archdiocese of Saint Paul.The triangular stones similar to the ones in the foreground and behind the bishops all mark gravesites for persons whose names begin with the word Reverend. The other groups of identically shaped stones in the background all mark the gravesites for persons whose names begin with the word Sister.

All buried with a clear sight line to the Cathedral.

It was an important early burial site for Roman Catholics in Minnesota. Many of the faithful went to great lengths to demonstrate their faith and perhaps not very coincidentally their wealth. This is the marker for beer baron Theodore Hamm.I wanted to get in the two hour ride but I kept feeling mist hitting me. Eventually the mist became a little thicker and I broke off what I was doing and sprinted for home. I was disappointed in not getting the full two hours, I only got in 20 miles but here is what the driveway looked like as I opened the garage door to get inside.I made it home but it appears that I just barely made it.

I went in and had lunch. Eventually I sat down at the computer to create some important new content for the internet. Almost as an afterthought I checked the weather radar. I was surprised to find that the first wave of rain appeared to have broken all apart without actually doing much in Roseville.

I decided to try to verify this information by other means (I decided to look out the window). The sun had reappeared. Another check of the radar gave me confidence that more bicycling was possible so I headed out to re-cycle.

The wind had switched around from the SE to the SW and this time I ended up on south and west of Lake Como, on the Fairgrounds. There was another gate open that I am not used to seeing open, this time the gate to what is called Heritage Square. They have old timey stuff there and I was able to gather some information related to the steel wagon wheels recently posted elsewhere on the internet. This is more what from my life perspective I take to be normal looking wagon wheels.Heavy mostly wooden construction but clearly with metal "tires", the wear point, the contact point with the road. Wood seems like it would be lighter, iron seems like it would be more durable.

I had already ridden before lunch. It was fun to be out again, I felt really strong. I had no guest rider for scale but here is what the corn looks like today.That's pretty mature looking corn, I don't think it will be there much longer. This year I hope to be around during the day when harvesting occurs. I would like to get a photograph of that previously undocumented here but obviously very important stage of the story.