The rain gods provide rest days

I got home from work and started to gear up. TOPWLH was surprised, saying, "I thought for sure today would be a rest day." I replied that the rain gods provide rest days, otherwise we ride.

I assume the rest day assumption was based on the extremely ugly conditions this late afternoon as much as it was based on yesterday's major exertion. And it was ugly today. The temperature was in the 90s and the dew point in the 60s. This translates into hot and humid.

But out I went. Heading out into a strong headwind with conditions like today is very hard work. But I set off spinning a smallish gear in the small ring, just trying to work the tightness out of my legs. I rode absolutely as far I thought I could and then turned back. Well, starting out like that at 5pm leads to three things when the turn is made. First, I now had a tail wind. Who doesn't love a tailwind? Second, the tightness did depart and my legs started to feel good. And third, it started to cool off a little. It was not that bad. Even so, intervention by the rain gods would not be looked upon with extreme disfavor. After all, a day off restores freshness and strength and who doesn't love feeling fresh and strong?

This is a picture of the Governor's Mansion. No, you say? You have seen the Governor's Mansion on Summit. OK, but this is a house built in 1888 by Andrew McGill, the tenth governor of Minnesota just after he was elected Governor. My regular southern route takes me past this house and its neighbor, built the next year by businessman Joseph Moore, on Scudder Street in Saint Anthony Park.These two sit atop a hill with their backs turned to Langford Park. Langford Park, like many small parks in Saint Paul was a low area and mostly swampy at time of settlement. It was drained and filled and turned into a park at about the time these houses were built.The houses are towered Victorians designed by the same architect and were nearly identical when built. The McGill house lost its porches and other decorative touches in a 1930s remodeling. The Moore house retains the original exterior features.

Three kinds of weather

It was quite an unusual day today, featuring at least three distinctly different weather conditions, perhaps four.

When I got up this morning the day was mostly clear and cool. There were some clouds and that is the pattern that dominated early. By 8am it was completely cloudy and extremely threatening. B. Babe wanted to ride today but when she rolled out of bed the prospects were for cold and rainy and she eventually deferred her season opener until nicer weather. That was plenty good with me because I wasn't riding either.

Around noon it got worse as first a heavy sprinkle arrived and shortly thereafter a slightly more persistent rain. It did not rain for long and it never rained very hard, but definitely weather condition number two, rain.

But by 3pm it was clear and the sun came out and warmed the afternoon to 70 or so. The wind and sun dried out the pavement. Out the door I went.

It was windy, tres windy, but the 70 held on until I was nearly done. I was warm enough, overall I am going to say it was a plenty nice ride.

The wind was blowing hard though, extremely hard out of the south and west. This necessitated a route I don't often ride. This is the hard wind out of the southwest route. It goes much farther west than my normal south route, taking me into Minneapolis, through the UofM campus, across the Stone Arch Bridge and up the river road to the northern terminus of that street, just beyond the Broadway Avenue Bridge. This section of Minneapolis has changed enormously through the years I have lived here, from a railroad yard and industrial area to townhouses and riverfront park. One thing has not changed, however, and that is the Grain Belt sign.It has been a long time since I had a beer but there was a time when Grain Belt Premium was near the top of my list. The brand was sold to G. Heileman, a LaCrosse based brewer and, to my palate at least, the beer lost its signature flavor. Mr. Wold, help me out with this if you are here (gee, I guess I doubt that) but G. Heileman beers, with the notable exception of Old Style, were a little more acidic, maybe even sweet, while the original Grain Belt Premium was a very grainy tasting beer. The brand was later acquired by the people running the Schmidt brewery after it was no longer the Schmidt brewery, Minnesota Brewing I think they called themselves. The brewmaster, I think I have this right, was the former brewmaster from when the brewery was still Schmidt and Grain Belt came to taste a lot like Schmidt, never one of my favorites. Eventually the brand was acquired by Schell's, I think the last remaining regional brewer, located in New Ulm. I suspect the more full bodied Schell's taste may suit Grain Belt Premium more than the Heileman or the Schmidt recipe. But I don't really know.

And this is the end of the road, the farthest north you can get on the river road on that side of the river in Minneapolis. That is the Mississippi River above the Saint Anthony dam. That's a railroad bridge, I think the Soo Line, probably now the Canadian National and a fairly undeveloped looking but not park shoreline.It is Memorial Day weekend and tomorrow is the Indianapolis 500. With the first selection in the driver draft, a selection I traditionally reserve for myself for no other reason than that I hold the draft and therefore deserve the first pick, I select Ashley Judd's husband.

Santini, you are on the clock unless Bianchi Babe beats you to it. Jimboy to follow, again, unless B. Babe gets off a choice. Emily, you can participate if you like. So can Adam and Kelsey, Nancy too, if she wants to. But watch out, at some point if you have not all made a selection I am going to make a second pick and the second round will have begun. My second pick is likely to be A. J. Foyt.

Let the carnage begin. No wait, Jim Nabors has to sing. Then let the carnage begin.

Twenty-five percent

Today featured the first morning ride and a little bit of recycling. A morning ride is a sure sign that summer is upon us. It was warm enough this morning to give it a try but weather conditions made a morning ride unlikely. It was still dark when I got up (from the overcast) and it stayed dark as I went about my morning tasks. But about 8:30 it started to lighten up and suddenly the sun appeared.

I geared up and got out into the garage. I noticed the sky was still a bit threatening but I decided to try it anyway. When I was about a mile out from home there was a peal of thunder. Ooops. I headed for home. As I neared home it didn't seem so bad after all so I veered slightly off course while still maintaining a homeward course. Ooops. Another peal of thunder. I hurried for home.

I sat in my garage and lubed my chain (which actually needed it pretty badly). Sure enough, there was an episode of sprinkles, enough to almost but not quite wet down the driveway. I went into the house to give the lube time to penetrate the chain links. After about an hour I went back out.

By now weather radar indicated the rain had passed and there should be a lengthy window of opportunity. I finished up the chain maintenance and set off. It ended up being a pretty nice day.I discovered that it rained a fair amount along the river in Saint Paul. The road still had some damp spots and even a couple of pothole puddles.

I hardly ever ride in Minneapolis. Well, that isn't quite accurate. I ride through about a tenth of a mile of Minneapolis every time I ride to the river. But I don't ride in Minneapolis very much. Today I crossed the Ford Parkway Bridge into Minneapolis and detoured to Minnehaha Park and this view of Minnehaha Falls.

Lots of Euro sports today. The Giro enters its second week without much in the way of resolution to this point. The race seems to be marking time waiting for the arrival of the mountains. The racing so far is just setting the stage for Tuesday when there is a big mountaintop finish which is the first stage of the meat of the competition.

In England the FA Cup went to extra time. Didier Drogba scored in the 116th minute to propel Chelsea to a 1-0 victory over league champion Manchester United. The game was played in the new Wembley Stadium. The new stadium was built at a cost of 750 million pounds. That makes it a 1.48 billion dollar stadium. I hope it is nice.

Nantes has Toulouse at home in its final home game as a member of Ligue 1. The game is underway as I type, no report of any score yet. The league season closes next Saturday at league champion Lyon. Lyon has already clinched the championship, its sixth in a row.

I watched a little Louis Vuitton today but I think I came in too late in this round. There wasn't much in the way of competitive tension in either of the semi-finals and I had a hard time getting very interested. Both series are pretty much settled already.

The corn is up. It came up overnight last night as these little rows of green were not there yesterday. The rows are not very distinct yet. I couldn't get a picture from the vantage point I intend to use. I had to get down close to the ground to get an image but I think it is clear that the corn is growing. At the other end of the grounds the soybeans are already up as is a grain which I cannot yet identify but which I suspect is wheat.

EDIT: Final score from Ligue 1 - Nantes 0:0 Toulouse

Horses

I forgot. Yesterday I saw horses.

Actually it isn't that unusual. I ride past the Fairgrounds fairly often and nearly every weekend there is a horseshow at the Coliseum. I have seen horses with riders dressed in formal dressage costume, riders in cowboy costumes, a show with riders in all manner of outlandish costume party costumes and even an Arabian horse show with riders dressed as, well, I guess they intended to be Arabs. Last week I saw harness horses with fancy carriages. Horses are common.

But yesterday I saw horses walking up the sidewalk at the farm campus. Yup, walking on the sidewalk. Next to the street, but walking on the sidewalk. They had riders and the riders had costumes, blue ones. Police uniforms.This is the Ford Dam, built in 1917 with the hydroelectric plant completed in 1924. The dam has provided all of the electricity to power the plant ever since and continues to be one of the principal assets of the company at the site. The hydro plant will almost certainly continue in operation and its 18 megawatt production (enough to power 10,000 homes) will continue to be put to some as yet unknown use.

It was 71 today with a light breeze from the south. It was one of the prettiest days in the history of days and it was a pretty nice ride.

Fast and strong

I have been a bit worried about average speed. I do not race, even against myself, but a comparison of average speeds so far this year to average speeds for most of last year was starting to make me feel, well, slow.

Today it got all better and in the process reminded me of why it got all better. I am a whole lot faster when there are no issues of heating and cooling to be dealt with. For example, staying warm takes energy. I have always found that I am slower when I ride in the cold. The converse is also true, overheating takes energy. I don't like being cold, probably I overdress. I don't overdress enough to perspire but I do overdress enough that it saps my energy. I am slower when I am overdressed.

Today was the first day when it felt like summer and when there wasn't any problem with staying warm or with staying cool. It was warm enough that I was dressed in only a sleeveless jersey and shorts, cotton socks and shoes, helmet and gloves, sunglasses. It was warm enough that no base layer, no jacket, no arm warmers, none of that stuff was needed. It was warm enough that I got that evaporative cooling thing going so I was not overheated.

I was fast. I was a full 1.1 mph faster than my previous fastest average speed for so far this year. WOOHOO. I feel fast, I feel strong. I came home, walked into the house and burst into a nice sweat. It felt very good.

I rode the full southern route, all the way to the Highway 5/West 7th Street Bridge across the Mississippi. Here is Fort Snelling, the Mendota Bridge and I am guessing a Northwest Airlines flight landing.The corn has been planted. I did not bother to photograph it because the only evidence that is visible is a new set of tractor and planter tracks in the field in a distinctly row pattern. There is no mistaking that work has been done in the field, but no green shoots poking though the soil just yet. I think it won't be long now, though. If I recall correctly from my tenth grade biology seed sprouting assignment, that corn will be fully sprouted within just a few days and should be peeking above the ground within 2 weeks.

Chelsea 0: Manchester United 0. Both sides presented something less than their top squads and played an apparently uninspired scoreless draw. After all there was nothing of consequence to contest today so they will wait to test each other in the FA Cup final.

Hero of Labor

May 1 is Labor Day in many places in the world. We were in Paris last year on May 1 and it was a national day of no labor. This is a concept we should seriously consider in this country.

In honor of Labor Day here is a Minnesota hero of labor. This is Floyd B. Olson, Governor of Minnesota from 1931-36. He was a progressive and an ally of Wisconsin's Robert LaFollette Sr. He was elected to the statehouse as a member of the Farmer-Labor Association, a third party which later was merged into and became a pillar of what is now in Minnesota officially known as the Democratic Farmer Labor party.

Olson is regarded by many as the first Minnesotan to be considered to be "Presidential timber". Olson declined to run for President as a third party candidate in 1936 and instead ran for US Senate. It has been reported that he was on a short list of potential replacements for John Nance Garner as Vice-President (Garner had been a rival of Franklin Roosevelt for the Democratic nomination in 1932 and many felt that their alliance was an uncomfortable one for both men) but Democrats and Farmer-Laborites felt Olson would be more valuable as a supporter in Congress of FDR's legislative agenda.

While campaigning for the Senate Olson was diagnosed with stomach cancer and he died before the election. Olson's popularity with his core constituency of farmers and working people never diminished.

Olson Memorial Highway in north Minneapolis is the most visible state memorial to Olson.

In the background is the Cass Gilbert designed State Capitol. Mr. Moohoo takes note of the fact that people in Michigan are posting photos of the Minnesota state capital grounds. Harumph.

FAQ

What's the deal with the blue thing?It was a pretty uneventful ride until the very end when I achieved an important annual milestone. An important milestone but a negative one.

About once every year I fall off my bike. Today I fell off my bike.

It was actually quite similar to last year's fall off. I was riding in an area which I am pretty familiar with and was paying attention to the wrong things. What I wasn't paying attention to was what was right in front of me. I rode there a couple of days ago and there wasn't any road repair sign on the edge of the pavement anchored by sandbags. Today there was. I hit it.

Once is an accident. Twice is a bad habit. Look where you are going dummy.

But I learned plenty from last year's fall. Last year I grabbed for the cross bar that I ran into, hoping to hold on and to save myself. With no hands on the bars the front wheel jerked abruptly to one side and I went down violently. I ended up with a very deep abrasion of the knee and scrapes on elbow and upper arm. This time I saw the sign too late but I reacted differently and kept my hands on the bars. I rode the bike down. I rolled with it and distinctly felt each impact as I hit on my hip, then my shoulder, and then ever so gently, on the side of my helmeted head. Last year I scrambled up. This year I went ahead and laid there for awhile, accessing my condition and composing myself.

Last year was August and I was dressed in shorts and short sleeves. This year I was fully layered up, tights, long sleeve jersey, jacket. More layers equals more protection as I soon discovered when I got up and started to examine myself and the bike. Riding the bike down is definitely the way to go. I didn't even abrade any of my clothes. The bike did not escape unscathed but suffered only a bit. The right lever impacted the sign and has a scratch and a tiny chip in the carbon. The left lever has a very small scratch. The left rear QR has a bit of a scratch. The human took the rest of the impact. The only big deal was that the impact on my hip apparently applied a strong sideways torque and the seat was twisted badly to the side.

On the first or second ride of the year I thought I felt a bit of a wiggle in the seat but upon testing found it firmly attached. Well, maybe not quite as firmly as I thought. Fortunately I carry a multi-tool with me and the seat was quite easily readjusted. The brakes were fine, the wheels were fine, the pedals were fine.

I rode home, about 4 miles, and along the way found out that the shifting was fine.

I got home, undressed slowly, examining the points of impact. Again, clothes fine, no wounds, no visible bruises.

So I am typing, my left little finger (impact side) hurts a little. My hip hurts a little. But I think I got through the fall without any injury. Knock on wood.

Not looking where you are going and running into something while riding a bicycle? Once is an accident, twice is a bad habit.

The true north, strong and free

Today's wind conditions were similar to yesterday's so I again rode out to the north. I soon enough found myself approaching the radar speed sign. I got myself into the big ring and prepared to sprint. This time the wind was a quartering head wind and I don't think my number was as good as yesterday. But I couldn't tell for sure. I had to wait at the STOP sign for a car and I ended up following it through the speed zone. And another car came behind so I am a little uncertain if there ever was a moment when it was my speed being measured and not one or another of the cars. I was dead on sprinting when I went past the measuring device though and I did pass a hybrid.

Not that big a deal you say? That a road bike sprinting should be able to overhaul a probably non-sprinting hybrid? Well, maybe so. But this was no hybrid bike I passed. Nope, right after the speed sign I caught and passed a Toyota Prius.This is a marker on a boulder near my house indicating the 45th parallel. Since I live slightly north and east of this boulder I live in the northern half of the northern hemisphere. So that's sort of the true north. I live, just for one example, north of Toronto, Canada's largest city (but south of Montreal).

Oh, that's my bike in front of the marker.

First flowering shrub

I saw a flowering shrub on the ride home tonight, the first of the season. The light conditions had deteriorated so I didn't get a picture but I will try to get one tomorrow. The shrub had no leaves on it but a profusion of nice white flowers. The lawns are starting to green up, spring is in the air.

Continuing with the transportation theme, here is a photo of my bike at a historic transportation site. This is a marker commemorating the Red River Ox Cart Trail. The text reads as follows:

"More than 100 years ago the famed Red River Ox Cart Trail passed along here, following closely the route of St. Anthony Avenue into St. Paul. The trail began as two early traces -- the East Plains Trail and the Woods Trail -- far to the north at Pembina and the Red River settlements. The trails joined at the mouth of the Sauk River near St. Cloud, and wound south east of the Mississippi.
The first ox cart train was brought south in 1844 by Norman W. Kittson, trader for the American Fur Company at Pembina. Six picturesque two-wheeled ox-drawn carts carried $1,400 in pelts and left some $12,000 in the tills of St. Paul merchants. Within twenty years, carts were annually hauling more than $250,000 worth of pelts, pemmican, buffalo robes, foodstuffs, and other goods to St. Paul. There cargo was unloaded at warehouses, repacked, and sent downriver by steamboat to St. Louis for shipment east.
The sturdy wooden carts had six-foot wheels held together by wooden pegs and rawhide. Ungreased, they set up a squeal heard for miles. Their drivers, the colorful Bois Brules, wore coarse blue cloth, brass buttons, red sashes, beaded caps and moccasins. Caravans left the Red River in June, arrived in St. Paul some 30 days later. The drivers loaded the carts with food, medicines, hardware, liquors, tobacco and dry goods, then headed north again."

And this is a nicely restored ox cart that I passed at another location on the way home.So, today's quiz: Does anyone have any comment? Anyone? Does anyone note anything about the two photos? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

More on that later.

It was windy today, hard riding again. But it was shorts weather for only the second time this season. It was a good ride.