St. Paul's a Classic, People

I have kept a crazy schedule the last few weekends. For instance, I rowed a 13-mile "race" called the Pike Island Challenge on Saturday morning, and then the next day, biked the St. Paul Classic. 'Cause apparently, Internet? It's not enough for one's butt to be sore from rowing steadily for an hour and a half (though not as steadily coming back down the river...since we got tired of just rowing, and our boat chose to talk...and sing...and have fun...and not row as much). No, no, no: one's butt must hurt from two different hurt-y sports in two days. (And to top it off, I had my first orchestra rehearsal of the season on Sunday night, so by Monday I couldn't move my legs OR arms. At least it was an even level of immobility between upper and lower body.)

So. Off we went at the crack of dawn in 50-something degree weather to enjoy a couple different loops.

Chilly Morning

By the time the sun actually got all the way up, it was a nice 70-something degree day, but a bit on the windy side. Between my ride to the start, two of the loops, and then from the finish line back home, I logged nearly 48 miles for my few hours of efforts. Which isn't too shabby, considering the fact that I haven't been on my bike once since Alaska. Most of it was enjoyable. The weather was sunny and people had similarly sunny attitudes. I've never seen anyone in St. Paul act quite the same way before - everyone was dropping bikes everywhere and not locking anything up at all the rest stops, and no one was stealing stuff! Shocking. (I think part of the reason was most of us thought that if someone was going to steal a bike or something, there's two right next to mine worth twice as much.) I rode with friends K & J (part of the AK chain gang), friend S and her friend H (and saw a bunch more friends along the way).

(K, obsessively checking one of her three (3!) crackberries...I suppose I should probably point out that, in this picture at least, she was trying to figure out where friends S & H had gotten themselves to)

Parts not quite as enjoyable? The part where I was freezing in the near-dark as I went from my humble abode to the start? Not quite as fun. The part where friend K decided to start out going 20 mph? Again, see the above part about having rowed 13 miles the day before and no longer having any quad muscles to speak of.

(Does she have to look so happy about her blistering pace? Kidding, kidding)

The part where I heard a lady directly behind me hit the pavement in bone-crunching fashion after being squeezed by some riders and a couple orange cones? I shudder still to think of it, and I will be able to hear that sound for the rest of my life. (She was hauled away in an ambulance a short time afterwards, I heard. I'm so thankful that was not me! And also very thankful that I heard only of two ambulances being needed, which is pretty good, what with the 6,000+ cyclists out that day.) The part where I indulged in too many cookies, scones, bananas and lemonade at the Indian Mounds Park rest stop? Fine, until I turned the corner after starting back up and spotting a hill...then not quite so fine. (It probably didn't help that I was still chewing the last of the final cookie at that point.)

(Right before the eating-a-cookie-up-a-hill bad decision - I still look fairly happy in this picture!)

All in all, Internet, I had a lot of fun doing this tour. I'd do it again. But maybe not both a 13-mile rowing challenge and this event in one weekend again.