For Saturday’s ride, we will be starting at 08:00, as usual, and heading west to Prior Lake, then we’ll head up to Eagan and return to Rosemount. This is a new clockwise route, although we’ve ridden most of it in the other direction many times. We’ll have great weather with sunny skies, temps from 64 to 71 degrees, and NW winds at 7 mph.

For those of you who ride the Minnesota River Bottoms, be aware that two riders were held up at gunpoint on June 11 at 9pm about a mile east of Hwy 77 on Long Meadow Lake trail. The perpetrators attacked them and took their possessions, including one of their bikes. The other bike was damaged and not able to be ridden. A second law enforcement officer was recently hired and they are doing extra patrols in the area. I’ve heard of similar robberies of road cyclists in California, so be careful out there.

The USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships are this weekend in Knoxville, TN. The Individual Time Trial National Championships were held earlier today and Chloé Dygert and Lawson Craddock are the new ITT champions. The Criterium National Championships are Friday evening, and the Pro Road National Championships are Sunday morning and afternoon. The upcoming races will be broadcast via FloBikes, so check it out if you’re a subscriber. I’ve watched them on YouTube previous years, so we may be able to find them there, too.