Tour de Twin Cites Redux

Minnesota is a great place for cycling, in particular in and around the Minneapolis area. I went up there to ride a 600k brevet on Sep.19.2015. This would be my fifth 600k with the Minnesota Randonneurs group.

The ride was the second edition of the Tour de Twin Cities. Here is an image of the route, which consists of two clockwise loops starting and ending in Brooklyn Center, MN. Blue and green are the seven legs of the first loop (231 miles), yellow and red the four sections of the second loop (144 miles). 

Weather forecast was for lots of sun and temperatures in the 50s and 60s.

Prologue: Brooklyn Center
After driving up with Kathy to the Twin Cities from Chicago, on the recommendation of a co-worker we had dinner at a trendy place called Victory44 which was on the way to Brooklyn Center. They had good food and unusual entrees. I had a cucumber salad plus  Ham and Pickle Tots, and part of Kathy's "The Perfect Burger". We also had some brews (Deschutes Hop Henge and BauHaus Stargazer). Then it was on to the Doubletree. The hotel was quite nice, a highrise and we were on the 9th floor. After organizing things for the 6AM start I set my alarm for 5:00 AM.
zzzz...bing bing bing 
I showered, had coffee and a Fosdal's chocolate bismarck for breakfast. Yes we had stopped in Stoughton, WI on the way up at Fosdal Home Bakery for a dozen chocolate bismarcks. It was a little cooler (mid 40s I heard) than the forecast but well within rando variability.


Everyone met in front of the hotel at 5:30 AM.  One of the ride volunteers, Norman Ehrentreich,  did the bike inspection. 
I saw some familiar faces - Marc Olsen, Bob Elias, plus  Jonas Nygard, Rob Welsh, and Alex Piotrowski all three of whom had just done PBP. Someone named Rich Gordon recognized me and introduced himself as a friend of Dawn Piech, who rode PBP with me this year. We rolled just after 6:00 AM, heading NW to Wyoming, MN. Here is a link to this section: Brooklyn Center to Wyoming.

Part 1: Brooklyn Center to Wyoming - 33 miles

As the first part involved riding on trails, Norman led us out to make it easier for us to navigate the turns. I asked jokingly if he would be around later to lead us back to Brooklyn Center on that trail section. Once we got on roads we were on our own. Although we crossed the Mississippi there wasn't a lot of climbing and the group mostly rode together to the first control in Wyoming. I just got some water for my Infinit powder and took off, but went back to ride with the group because I mistakenly thought my GPS was telling me to go the wrong way. 

Part 2: Wyoming to Taylor Falls - 22 miles
A couple riders made a light and went ahead, and the rest of us had to bridge the gap to catch them. We kept up a fast pace on this short section all the way to Taylor Falls, which had a nice descent into the town. Along the way Jonas noticed some workers in a field and called out to them asking if they were growing hops, it turned out they were. Beer making is big in the Minneapolis area these days. Jonas also told me about the town of Lindström, MN with the water tower in the shape of a Swedish coffee pot, and how a famous Swedish writer wrote about the fictional characters Karl-Oskar and Kristina whose statues appear in this town. The movie "The Emigrants" featured these characters. 
At Taylor Falls I just got water and mixed up some more Infinit and was ready to go.

Part 3: Taylor Falls to New Richmond - 31 miles
I was looking forward to the next control where there would be food provided by the TCBC volunteers, so I didn't wait around for other riders. I figured they would catch up to me. From the control there was a bit of a climb on a busy road, which crossed over a gorge where the St. Croix river runs and there were the falls. After crossing the river we were now in Wisconsin. The climb wasn't too bad, then there was a bit more climbing before turning onto a scenic low traffic road with a nice descent. Then it was mostly mild rollers to New Hastings.  


Here is a link to the section from Wyoming to New Hastings. 
The control in New Richmond was in the town's community center. TCBC had a pile of Subway sandwiches, different kinds of chips, a big plate of cookies, bananas, plus a cooler with different kinds of drinks. It was quite a spread. Others showed up pretty soon after I got there. Gary Bakke and his wife were there to greet us and sign our control cards. I spent almost 45 minutes at this control.


Part 4: New Richmond to Hastings - 42 miles
I started out this section with five other riders. Jonas and his buddy would peel off just after crossing the St. Croix river back into Minnesota around mile 21. The route to that point was a mostly  gradual descent to the river. The approach to the bridge was a bit rough on a sidewalk paralleling WI-35, which led to the bike path along I-94. Shortly after crossing the river Jonas and friend turned north, and I was riding with Malcolm Fraser, Bob, and Hall Sanders. We next rode on a series of challenging rollers, until we descended to cross the Mississippi river into the town of Hastings. After riding through town we crossed the scenic Vermillion river gorge and entered the park where TCBC had setup a control stop with snacks and food. This was a real treat to have food provided at these two controls. I had a Coke and some fruit, filled my water bottles, grabbed a Snickers for later and was ready to go. Malcolm was ready too, so we took off together heading west. 


Part 5: Hastings to Burnsville - 26 miles


This short section seemed to take forever as there was a moderate headwind from the west. We were dragging on the 15 mile stretch on 160th St/CR-46. We traded pulls into the wind which worked really well. At one point where we switched over th the path parallel to the highway, we passed a woman riding a fat bike  pulling a child in a trailer. I told her it looked like she was getting a really good workout. In Burnsville Malcolm said he needed about ten minutes, so I found the last portion of mac-and-cheese and that was my dinner. I also loaded up a bottle with a couple of hours of Infinit powder for the next leg. Just as we were leaving, Bob and Hall arrived.

Part 6: Burnsville to Waconia - 38 miles
We still had an hour or so of daylight as we left just after 5:30 PM. This leg had a few sections of bike trails and included an info control. We had some good views of the sunset while riding on one of these trails. We crossed the Minnesota river at Chaska and stopped to put on our reflective gear, with about twelve miles to go to the Waconia control. When we got there I scrounged the last of another soup pot, some sort of ham and cheese I think, and loaded my bottles once more with Infinit. I still had a few potato scones which I had been eating all day, and I bought a couple of bananas as well.

Part 7: Waconia to Brooklyn Center - 38 miles
Finally on the last stretch of the first loop! This section is mostly on trails, and I knew from last year that this section would be slow, due to the many trail-road-trail transitions. We started out with a  long stretch, 12.5 miles, on the Dakota Trail. There was a surreal section on this trail where ahead was a fireworks display, and in my mirror I could see the quarter moon setting to the southwest. After the Dakota trail the cue sheet had 37 instructions with many road and trail crossings. Both Malcolm and I had a GPS and these were indispensable on this section of the ride. I was having some trouble interpreting my GPS and at one point we were 100 yds apart each yelling "This is the way" (Malcolm turned out to be correct). We finally arrived at the Doubletree at 11:43 PM. Upstairs TCBC had lots of food, in a room right next to ours. I had some pizza and Asian food, and took some Ensure for the road. Back in my room I had some chocolate milk, then showered and crawled into bed. I slept OK but remember hearing the door next door a number of times as later arriving riders stopped in for food.

Part 8: Brooklyn Center to St. Bonifacius - 37 miles
At 5:00 AM I met Malcolm as planned in the lobby and we took off into the pre-dawn. I remembered this stretch from the previous year and we made our way on trails first crossing the Mississippi then heading south through St. Paul parallel to the river, passing a railyard

Not my photo but we went past this bridge.

to the left and the city waterworks to the right. Some of the bridges we passed were lit up with colored lights which was really cool. We eventually turned west and rode over the river and then hooked up with a sequence of great trails through Minneapolis. We made faster time compared to the previous night, but still had some navigation confusion. Back on the road we passed through the tony suburb of Wayzata where the route took us to a road where the bridge was out, so we had to find an alternate way to get around that and back on course. Then it was seven miles on the Dakota trail which took us to the next control. I got some food and a yogurt parfait which I ate on the sidewalk, only later noticing the chairs and tables inside.  Here is a link to the second loop: Parts8,9,10,11

Part 9: St. Bonifacius to Cokato - 36 miles
The route continued on to the west first with another 11.5 miles on the Dakota trail, then back to country roads. Yesterday's west wind was now a south wind, and getting pretty strong. Along this stretch Malcolm stopped and I kept going, and quite a gap developed. At the top of a hill I waited until I could see him in the distance then I continued riding. The road now had turns with sections headed north, and on those stretches you could make really good time. Otherwise the cross wind kept the speed down. Finally the route headed straight north which was blissful - I estimated the tailwind at 17 to 20 MPH. As I approached the control there was a rough set of RR tracks for which I failed to slow sufficiently, and the shock knocked some stuff out of my handlebar bag. No impact to the bike fortunately. As I was about ready to leave Malcolm arrived, and got some food at Subway. Feeling a bit pressed for time, I took off thinking I might not see him again.

Part 10: Cokato to Monticello - 36 miles
 After another nine mile stretch north, the route started angling back to the east, with pretty much non-stop rollers to then next control and beyond. I was feeling pretty sleepy this stretch and when I unexpectedly found a McDonalds in Annandale I got a medium coffee, which seemed to help. Or maybe it was the crosswind that was present pretty much all the way to Otsego. I pedalled along, enjoying the pretty countryside and enjoying the nice day. In Monticello I ate whatever food I had left and mixed up my last batch of Infinit. Just as I was ready to go Malcolm arrived! So I waited with him to ride with on the last leg.

Part 11: Monticello to Brooklyn Center - 36 miles
The route started out headed east, then angled southeast and finally south. We could tell by the flag that there was a strong south wind so we decided to try and take turns pulling as we did the day before. This lasted just a few miles then Malcolm said he wanted to drop the pace and encouraged me to go ahead. I would have stuck with him, but I knew he would be OK on his own as he is a strong cyclist. Besides it was the last leg and still daylight, and there were plenty of riders that would be coming along behind. So I kept going and soon Malcolm dropped from sight. In addition to the wind, there were quite a few rollers that kept the ride interesting. As the miles passed by, I continued to ride past farm fields with corn and soybeans, even as Minneapolis became ever closer. Once the route headed south the route finally approached urbanization. Near the end of this last section we were supposed to be riding on a trail. but most of the time I elected to ride on the street that ran in parallel to avoid the bumpy street crossings on the trail. I was tired with the wind and the distance, and at one point it looked like a hybrid rider on the path was going to easily pass me, but he turned off. After a certain point cross streets were numbered, and I needed to get to 66th Street: 129th, 128th....85th...etc. until finally 66th Street! Then it was just about one mile to the end. 

Epilogue.
Norman was there with food and drinks from the back of his car. What a guy! He noticed dark clouds to the south and then the rain came in as I was coming back out of the hotel after showering. Malcolm had come in ahead of the rain, asking about dinner, but we had to get on the road.  Got on I-694 and missed the first two turns (my fault) but then we got on track and made good time all the way back to Illinois. Listened to "Go Set a Watchman" on the ride home. Not her best work I'm afraid.

Thanks to TCBC members Rob Welsh, Gary Bakke & Co., Bill Hague, Norman Ehrentreich and Jerry Hofmann for their many hours of planning, emails, checking routes, providing food and refreshments and supporting everyone on the ride.

GPS Stats:
Total ascent: 13590 (ridewithgps says 9916)
Max speed: 41
Moving time: 25h 6m
Stopped time: 3h 42m
Odometer: 380  (bike computer says 382)
Moving avg: 14.9 (bike computer says 15.2)