Saturday Rides Starting from Starbucks in Rosemount, MN
During the off-season, we've been working with Grand Performance and Louis Garneau to design and prepare a new club kit for you and we are ready to share the result. As you can see, we kept the same four colors and a few of the design elements from the previous kit. Overall, the new design is cleaner, brighter, and — featured prominently on the front and back of the jersey and vest — has the same new club logo as our web site.
Read MoreWinter is here and it's been quite cold so far this season. I've been cleaning, waxing, and maintaining my bikes. I'm also riding on my trainer and exercising indoors to strengthen my core and keep in shape. I bet many of you are doing the same.
During this off-season, I've also been busy moving our web site to a new hosting provider, so it can be more modern, fresh, and connect with social media. The web site features our new logo, which adds recognizes Gary's work to build and lead the club over the last 15 years. The new logo will also be on our new kits, which will be available to order soon.
Read MoreThere will be a ride Saturday, starting from Starbucks at 10:00, we'll ride west on the Prior Lake route counter clockwise. We'll skip the stop in Prior Lake, so it will be about 40 miles. This may be the last group ride of the season, because the temps are going to get colder for a while and it may stay that way until Spring, so come out and join us.
Read MoreThe weather is looking good for us this long weekend, so I think a couple more rides may be in order this year. It looks like it should reach around 50 degrees on Friday and Sunday, so you can plan on a ride leaving Starbucks at 13:00 both days. I have family plans on Friday, so I won't be able to ride, but I will lead the Sunday ride.
Read MoreSunday afternoon looks like it will be warm enough for a ride for a few hearty souls. It's supposed to get cold overnight Sunday morning, but it should warm up into the mid 30s in the afternoon. Let's plan on a ride Sunday at 13:00 and I'll post an update on Sunday morning.
Read MoreIt's colder today, but a warm-up of sorts is in store for the weekend. Let's plan on a 10:00 ride from Starbucks going South for about 30 to 40 miles. I'll look at some routes and we can decide on the distance based on everyone's time constraints and the temps.
Read MoreIt looks like we will be able to ride again Saturday morning. I'm letting you know now, so you can plan your Saturday, even though a change in the weather forecast could easily derail our ride. So, you can plan for a ride from Starbucks leaving at 09:15, riding to Hastings and returning around Noon.
Read MoreOnce again, the weather forecast for this weekend is far from ideal. It's going to be cold all weekend, but, if the roads are dry Saturday, I'll lead a ride at 10:00. Look for an update Saturday morning.
Last Saturday, we repaired some bikes at the Free Bikes 4 Kidz warehouse in New Hope. This year, they have over 9,000 bikes that need to be repaired before December 2, when they are given to low-income kids.
Bikes are collected one day a year, by Allina Health, and they go through several steps before they are ready to be given to a kid. Bikes are organized by size and type and put into the warehouse in neat rows. They are cleaned, a pre-check is next, a mechanic checks and repairs the bike, and, finally, a quality check is done by a senior mechanic. As of today, more than 1,000 bikes are ready to be given to new owners.
Thunderstorms are forecast for Saturday morning, so let's give back to our community and volunteer as mechanics for Free Bikes 4 Kidz. You may remember that I sent a message about this opportunity a few weeks ago. They have a 26 slots open on Saturday 09:00 - 12:00 at their warehouse.
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