Weekend Recap - Saturday

A rare South Dakota treat happened this weekend: It was nearly perfect riding weather!! In an attempt to get some riders in the area out Saturday I chose to stay close to home instead of heading to Sioux Falls and riding with Snakebite and the boyz.

Laura and I had some miscommunication so I was waiting for her to get back from hitting early rummage sales but was unaware that she had made arrangements for Marissa to watch Carson for the short time she would be gone. As it closed in on our 8:00 departure I called CDV and told him to go on and I'd do my best to catch up. After talking to Marissa and learning of the earlier plan to watch her brother I finally got out the door about 8:15 and the hunt was on.

It's been fun this year running without any computers on the bike other than the Garmin that I run in my jersey pocket. I just run a comfortable pace and don't think about what I'm running for speed. That being said, I averaged over 20 mph into a slight (soon to be brisk) NW wind between Vermillion and Centerville as I attempted to chase down the rabbits group up ahead. I did so, but not until we hit Centerville city limits.

The bonus of catching CDV, Cycling Cathy, Ed F., and Chad P., was that the plan was to stop at the Royal Bake Shop. This brought back memories of my childhood and after all these years I almost habitually ordered one of their apple fritters that I loved as a kid. After a short stop it was off to Viborg into the ever increasing wind.

A brief stop in Viborg and then it was off to Irene. As we pulled into Irene we ran into three rollers who had left Centerville and was doing a similar route to us, just in reverse. I had seen them earlier in the day on my sprint up Hwy 19 to catch the group. We chatted for awhile and then it was off to Volin and the Volin Cafe for lunch. We mowed through lunch and then headed back towards Vermillion. Cycling Cathy peeled off and heading back to the thriving metropolis of Wakonda and the rest of us soldiered on.

Ed and I soldiered on to Bunyan's for an icy mug (or three)of liquid refreshment before Ed finished up a century on his way home to Burbank. Retirement is treating Ed well!

It was a great day of riding spent with cycling friends from the area. Now we just need more friends to join us. I'm sure people are still riding, they are just being anti-social as of late. As you can see from the following chart, it's not like we set a blistering pace. Considering I was around a 21mph average for the first 25 miles, I only ended up averaging 16.4mph. That means we were probably going 15 or so as we chatted and had a great ride.