8 lake tour

OK, season report:  Fully up to speed (pretty slow) but completion of one of the main regular rides.  I rode all the way out to Highway 96 and came back through the newly completed path next to Sucker Lake and Lake Vadnais, a ride commonly known as the 8 lake tour (although it may actually be 10 lakes).  The season is no longer in the preliminary stages, it is now full on.

Of course a check of the log reveals that this year is the first time since 2002 that ZERO miles were ridden in March and that April will be the all time lowest number of miles ridden.  So, well, nothing to be done about that, for what it's worth, the season is now on.

I swung into Sucker Lake expecting to be blocked by the incomplete construction.  Instead, the path project at Sucker and Vadnais Lakes is complete.  All new pavement (albeit significantly more narrow than last year) and an April Monday dearth of fellow citizens,  it all seems pretty good, I found myself down next to the lake.

The construction project still needs some details completed as is still visible in the foreground.  Incidentally, we have a quite similar fabric fence bordering our front yard.  For the record, ice out at Sucker Lake.

It doesn't look like the culvert where the beavers caused such a problem last summer has been upgraded, what I could see of the pipe looked the same.  It will maybe be all right because fairly obviously the beavers have been downgraded.

The water is down at least a couple of feet from where it was last year.  Last year that was each and every possible bit a shallow lake.  It has reverted to a low spot with visible creeks and patches of dry high ground.

So, down onto the new path around Lake Vadnais.  It was good to be back at my favorite lake.  This is the only patch of ice I found on any of the 8 lakes.  There is a goodly bit hanging on the shore there (north facing and in the shade of that nice stand of pine) and a few middling bits floating in the lake.

Even so I am going to go ahead and declare ice out at Lake Vadnais.

I know at least one Guest Rider will be interested in this, the view of what the new parking area at the bottom end of the lake looks like.

Parking will definitely be more organized (and paved) out there.  I am uncertain where the picnic table will be but I suspect the porta potties will be behind the trash location visible on the left.  There are two stone fishing platforms out there at the end.  The trees along the north side of the lot have survived and one of the trees out at the fishing platforms is still there.  The big cottonwoods which would be off to the right of this photo are gone.  All in all, I approve.  Of course, the path is 10 feet wide instead of a 22 foot roadway and pedestrians ARE going to be a bigger problem, I had a slight issue with one today.  But I ride out there in times of low traffic, both pedestrian and bicycle and I think it will be OK.

So, enough about the northern lakes, how about a little bicycle content?

Today I passed through 52,000 miles cumulative since I started keeping track and two miles later broke a spoke for the first time.  I was turning into my driveway when it happened.  I hit that bump at the bottom of the driveway and PING.  Quite loudly and resoundingly, PING.

I was only doing about 3 mph which turns out to be a good thing because when a spoke breaks your wheel goes instantaneously out of round and when one of the newly projecting pieces of the rim comes up to where the brake pads are located . . . well, your wheel stops and so do you.  I propose this as another possibility of what happened to Justice Breyer.

Fortunately for me, I was already pretty much stopped, no problem.

Find the big gap where there aren't any spokes, there used to be a spoke there.

The wheel is pretty fancy though, don't you agree?

I headed over to County Cycles, a new employee greeted me at the counter, glanced at the wheel and expressed confidence that this could be fixed.  She took the wheel into the back room mechanic's area through the front of the store ingress point.  As it happened, my preferred mechanic was in and he came out through the back way leading the new employee over to the wooden cabinet where spokes are stored (on the job training).  He saw me and proclaimed, "Gene!  Is this your wheel?"

The part was in stock but quite pricey for a spoke.  I knew this was going to be so but still remarked to Scott that I could get a new wheel for the price of the spoke.  Scott quite correctly replied that although technically that was true that I couldn't get this wheel at anywhere near that price.  If you have a really pricey wheel set you have to expect that repairs to the wheels are going to be really pricey.

The replacement part was located and Scott asked me if I had a few minutes.

Long story short, bike fixed.

Thanks County Cycles.

I've got a couple of other things but I note that the weather forecast includes quite coolish temperatures for later in the week including a possibility of flurries.  I think I will save that other stuff for later.

For today, I wore out a bicycle part.  No matter the financial aspects, I am pleased.  It means I ride a lot.