Ride Sunday, July 12

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There’s a good chance of showers Saturday, so we’ll ride Sunday morning, when the weather will be better. We’ll leave Starbucks Sunday at 08:00 and head north to St. Paul, then we’ll head west to Minneapolis via the Greenway and back to Rosemount. We’ll stop at a park in Minneapolis for restroom and snack break.

There won’t be very much traffic Sunday, and it will be sunny with temps from 69 to 76 degrees and light winds from the north, so it should be a great ride.

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Rides, July 3 and 4

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The heat and humidity will continue this Independence weekend, so you’ll want to get out for a ride early in the day. I’ll lead rides Friday and Saturday morning. The temps both mornings will be from the mid 70s to the mid 80s with light winds and some clouds.

Friday’s ride will be off-road along the Minnesota River. You’ll probably want an off-road bike, since there are stretches of sand and some mud. I’ll be leaving my house in west Bloomington at about 07:00 and riding my fat bike to the trailhead at Lyndale Avenue in east Bloomington by 07:30. From there, I’ll ride east to the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge and I will be there about 08:00. If you’re coming from Eagan or Rosemount, you can take Nicols Road to the Cedar Ave bridge and cross the river. We can follow the Long Meadow Lake Trail or the Fort Snelling Trail east and north before returning home. This ride will be at a slow, easy pace (~10 mph average). Contact me if you plan to ride, and let me know where I should expect to meet you.

Saturday’s ride will be from Rosemount to Northfield, clockwise. Meet at Starbucks and be ready to ride at 08:00. Our friends at Brick Oven Bakery are only open for pickup, so we may need to find another spot stop in Northfield. Let me know if you have an suggestions. Otherwise, Odd Fellows Park looks like a good place to stop.

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Ride Saturday, June 20

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We’ll have winds from the east yet again Saturday, but we’re not going to Hastings this week, we’re headed to Cannon Falls, starting at 08:00. Anyone wanting to add nearly 30 extra miles and 3 times more climbing can follow our Cannon Falls and Welch route or the slightly longer 89-mile version.

We’ll stop for a nature break at Lake Byllesby Park, since Hi Quality bakery isn’t open for dine-in service. The weather Saturday should be great, with mainly sunny skies, temps from 68 to 75 degrees, and ENE winds at 6 mph.

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Ride Saturday, June 13

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Saturday’s ride will be a repeat of last week’s ride, because the weather will also be a rerun. Again, we’ll start at 08:00, with a ride through Hastings following our 53-mile Revenna Trail route clockwise. The weather Saturday should be great, with mainly sunny skies, temps from 57 to 65 degrees, and winds from the East at 8 to 11 mph.

Gather in the parking lot near Starbucks in Rosemount by 08:00, while social distancing. I’ll divide the group, as needed, and the first group will head out. Each group will follow the previous one, until everyone is on the road. This worked well last week, even with a flat repair by the first group, and both groups had the same average-moving speed. So, the “slow” group wasn’t (although the “faster“ group rode a few more miles).

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Ride Saturday, June 6

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After a three-month hiatus, we will return to club riding Saturday at 08:00, with a ride through Hastings following our 53-mile Revenna Trail route clockwise. We’ll gather in the parking lot near Starbucks in Rosemount by 08:00. I’ll divide the group, as needed, and the first group will head out. The second group will wait a minute and follow, repeating that until everyone is on the road. The subgroups will stay separate until after the ride, and then you can do what you want. I think it may work best to have the slowest riders in the first group and the fastest riders in last group, so we don't drop and lose groups along the way. This route is pretty simple, so it will be a good test for us.

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Ride Saturday, March 7

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Spring has come and that often means windy rides. The forecast for this weekend is for temps in the 50s and 60s with winds of 12 to 20 mph. We can't avoid the wind, but we can still get outside and check our legs.

Saturday's ride will have some cross winds, but mostly head and tail winds. We'll follow the 44-mile alternate Castle Rock route, which is fairly flat and should be a good season opener. We'll meet Saturday afternoon at Starbucks in Rosemount and start riding at 1pm. If you drive to the ride, don't forget important things like your helmet and shoes.

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Ride Sunday, November 3

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Sunday should be the warmest day in the near future, and winds will be light, so we’ll ride from Rosemount at starting at 13:00. At this time of year, I’m tired of nearly all of our routes, so we’ll do the 49-mile Hastings & Hampton route counter clockwise. We’ll stop at the Lock and Dam for a nature break.

I’ve created a short survey for your feedback again this year. Please take two minutes to fill it out so I can see how we’re doing.

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Rides Saturday, October 26

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There will be two ride options Saturday and both rides will start at 09:00. One ride will start in Rosemount and another will start in Plymouth.

Gary Johnson will lead the ride from Gleason Lake Elementary School, 310 County Rd. 101, Plymouth. From Rosemount you can figure a drive of 70 minutes. If running late for some reason you may call Gary at 651-367-4115. Please park at the north end of the school parking lot next to the play ground. It will be a no drop ride that is a 40 miler with roads through Loretto and Independence Lake. The roads and beautiful scenery will be a nice change of pace for everyone. Coffee at the end will be at Penny's coffee shop in downtown Wayzata.

I’ll lead the ride from Rosemount and we’ll head south to Brick Oven Bakery in Northfield.

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Ride Saturday, October 19

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As requested by many of you, we will return to the Prior Lake via Bloomington route that we rode on September 7. The route is about 59 miles long and it crosses the Minnesota River at two different places, so there’s some climbing but it’s worth it for the scenery and this time we’ll have beautiful Fall colors along the way. We can do a stop at a Cyclocross race in Bloomington’s Moir Park and/or Edelweiss in Prior Lake — I’ll let you decide Saturday.

We should have great weather again Saturday with moderate winds from the west and temps from 50 to 58 degrees. We’ll leave Rosemount at 08:30, since the sun is coming up at 07:30 now.

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