My family was out of town a couple days, so one day after work I decided to take a longer ride, my most ambitious one yet. After consulting with the office bike expert Ellen, I decided to head up on Minnesota's legendary North Shore Scenic Drive (It's an All-American Road!). The section between Duluth and Two Harbors is right next to Lake Superior and has pretty good shoulders. Ellen recommended a route between McQuade Safe Harbor and Stony Point.
McQuade Safe Harbor is one nice boat landing that includes a huge breakwater, shorefishing platforms, four boat ramps, a road underpass, tons of parking, the whole deal. There is plenty of non-boat parking that cyclists can use. It was a nice day for a ride when I took off heading along Lake Superior's shore with a wind to my back. My intent was to get to Stony Point, a little land protrusion that has a gravel road accessing it. I was concerned about the hill just before the road intersection and became more concerned after I coasted quite awhile before the Point, knowing I would have to go back up the hill I just coasted down after already riding 7 miles. But, it wasn't that bad. I have discovered that my perception of hills is they feel much steeper coming down than they do going back up. I would have thought that it would be the opposite, that the hill would seem steep when working hard heading up. They seem more steep when zipping down. I wonder if I am the only one that thinks that.
Anyhoo (where does that word come from? Is it used only in Minnesota?), I made it back up the hill and chugged back to McQuade feeling pretty good, even sprinting out the last mile or so. I did just under 14 miles in 1 hour and 6 minutes, my longest ride to date. My hands felt good and my butt held up, but I am still dealing with right toes that fall asleep.
Crash Course
I have felt pretty good on some my longer or steeper rides, but it is easy to stay humble. I get passed by other cyclists. A lot. On the North Shore it was by a totally spandexxed (is that a word, and if so, is it safe for work?) dude on a nice road bike that passed me like I was standing still. He was flying. Being passed like that, okay, he's in a different league. But I get passed by everybody. Twice I have been passed by girls that looked to be about 12 years old. I have been passed by folks that were about 30 years older than me. I was passed by an older couple on recumbent bikes. Heck, today on the way to work I was passed by a fellow commuter in capri pants. And I was going downhill at the time. Pride is definitely still in the back seat, but I am sticking with it!
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