Even though yesterday was the first day of #30daysofbiking, today was the MSP Kickoff Ride 2016. Since I'm a fan of this biking challenge, I thought it'd be fun to do this group ride. The temp when I left was a windchill of 15º with the winds of 26mph with gusts of 40mph. My initial plan was to ride to the start of the ride, Gold Medal Park, hang out with folks, then ride home. Since it was soooo cold, I had no intention of actually riding with the group. When I was trying to figure out what time I needed to leave, I used yesterday's ride time, but I forgot to divide it by two. Instead of arriving at 11:00, I arrived at 10:30.
Two other guys arrived a bit ahead of me, so I immediately asked them about the nearest coffee shop. They said they were going to Dunn Bros, and invited me to follow. As we were parking our bikes, RAGBRAI was mentioned, so I told them I rode last year. One had ridden and was trying to talk the other into this year's ride. They invited me to stay and have coffee with them. It was a great time reminiscing about RAGBRAI and trying assure the other guy that he needed to ride this year. On the way back to Gold Medal Park, I decided, what the heck, I'd ride the group ride even with the cold and wind. Standing around waiting for the start, I chatted with other fellow cyclists and enjoyed the camaraderie.
My first decision would have been the best. The ride, itself, was slow and freezing. They warned us it would be slow, but it was extremely slow. I'm going to say I froze my ass off today. Actually, my ass was fine, but my fingers and toes were numb when I returned home. Anyway, Day 2 is finished. Only 28 to go.
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