TRAM 2003, Day 5, and yes indeed, Day 6

Well, we were on The Ride Across Minnesota.

I have some photos from Day 5, here are the GRider and I departing from the campus of Gustavus Adolphus on our way to the official starting line downtown.

There are probably some technicalities involved here.  We may not have reached the official finish line on the previous day and I think we didn't actually ride through the official starting point on day 5.  Mostly we knew we had to ride across the route 99 bridge over the Minnesota River and we headed out in that direction.  Also of importance is that we were TRAM veterans and we knew that Day 5 was a shortish ride, we knew we had plenty of time.  What that boils down to is that we were NOT early starters.  We just dropped down off the hill at a comfortable time, rode towards where we needed to be and somewhere along the line we were on the route.

Good enough.

All of us thought the climb up out of the valley on State Highway 99 would be daunting.

Well . . .

It was a piece of cake.  It was long to be sure, but not very steep.  We, like most of the other TRAM riders, approached the climb gingerly, seeking to conserve energy for the hard climb.  For us, when we were about a third of the way up we began to be treated to the vision of young and strong riders who had done the climb the same way we were doing it but who having reached the top were so disgusted by how easy it was that they were descending back to the bottom to try it again, intending to try it the second time in an attack mode.

The deal was that there is something about percentage grade allowed for state aid highways, something we had not been subject to on some other climbs on what were county highways.  On this state highway the climb was long, but it wasn't very steep.

It was NOT very hard, much to our surprise.

My recollection is that the only bit of unpleasantness is that upon reaching what seemed like it should be the top of the hill, we were directed to turn right and confronted with a bit more climbing.

Still not very hard.

And then out into some extremely scenic and pleasant parts of Minnesota.

I think this is Lake Washington, a few miles east from Saint Peter.

I am pretty confident that was rest stop 1.

This one could be as late as rest stop 3.  At this point we were riding along one of the state trails.

Santini at the finish.

This might seem duplicative of a photo previously posted by staff, and although somewhat duplicative it is, it is not the same photograph.

There were two cameras there and I invite you to compare the images to discover the very slight differences.

And so on Friday THE RIDE ACROSS MINNESOTA was over.

Early on Saturday morning two of the riders set off to complete a ride across Minnesota.

Day 6.

Here are Andy and I departing from the overnight motel in Faribault to complete the ritual begun when on Monday we dipped the rear tires of our bicycles into the waters of Big Stone Lake in Ortonville.

And here we are, front tires dipping into the waters of the Mississippi River in Red Wing.

What this means is that it is not possible to travel from the southern boundary of Minnesota to the northern boundary without crossing somewhere along your route a piece of pavement where Andy and I rode our bicycles during the summer of 2003.

And, I speak not for Andy at this point, but I am pretty much pleased with this whole accomplishment.  This is exactly what I was thinking about when I suggested to family members the concept of a ride across Minnesota.

Me at Bay Point Park in Red Wing.

I like to refer to that photograph as my return to civilian status.  No bike shoes, no helmet, and if I recall correctly, a Diet Mountain Dew.

TRAM 2003.

And just for good measure and to complete the TRAM set I also have a couple of my official as taken by the sponsor TRAM photos.

TRAM 2002:

I ordinarily don't ride much in the drops but looking up the road I could see the photographer.  I posed for the photo in the drops.

TRAM 2005:

It was cold in northern Minnesota in August in 2005.  That year we got up in Hibbing for Day 2 to have the Weather Channel report an all time record low overnight.  Then early on Day 3 we rode through Embarrass where I observed a bank time temperature display indicating 32F which remarkably apparently was NOT a record low for Embarrass on that date.  If I recall correctly the official photo was taken on Day 4.  It was still arm warmer and leg warmer cold.  I've got one of my Ralph Steadman designed jerseys on there and sunglasses constructed from the material Unobtanium and featuring Ram Air Surge Ports.  I am riding FirstLOOK, the same bicycle I was riding November 15, the last time I rode here.

It is cold here today, but it is November, cold is not unexpected.  The good news is that the big winter storm with measurable snow falls that is underway even as I type looks like it will pass to our south.  The radar shows blue for snow for extreme southern Minnesota and northern Iowa but the direction of the storm is resolutely to the east, towards Milwaukee and whatever outposts of civilization exist on the shores of Lake Michigan opposite Milwaukee.  So the bicycle season may not be quite over here just yet.