The Rise Up Ride Day 1: St Paul to Lake Auburn
Ready, set, GO
Date: 21 April 2021
Start Location: Springhill Suites, St Paul, Minnesota
End Location: Carver Lake Campground
Distance: 68 km
Time: 4:38
Elevation: 350 m
Total elapsed: 1:35 pm till 8:00 pm, 6:44 elapsed
After a late night arrival at the train station in St Paul and a short but scary ride through the downtown area of St Paul after midnight, I was up early for a lovely breakfast and city tour with two old friends, Sue and Wendall.
Taking advantage of a late checkout, I organized my gear into frame bags and panniers before heading out for a relatively short afternoon ride along the Mississippi River and through the urban spread of Minneapolis towards the west and the Lake Auburn hiker/biker campsite at Carver Campground.
Of course, as soon as I exited the hotel the sky opened with a cold downpour. Not 200 meters from the hotel I pulled into a dry overhang to re-dress in rain gear, cover my Brooks saddle and restart.
Minneapolis, collectively, has decided that this month is a great opportunity to repair and rebuild most of their bike paths. I not only got lost but somehow ended up turning on to a freeway on ramp, stuck on the wrong side of fencing and totally lost. Between the stop and start of city cycling on trail detours, sticky wet aggregate bike paths, and being a slow older guy on an overloaded bicycle, I was well behind schedule when I stopped in the late afternoon in Hopkins for some tasty Tibetan stew.
By dusk, I'd won my race with darkness and arrived in camp to setup my tent in the fading light. It had been more than a year, but rolling into camp, putting up the Big Agnes in a hurry was one of those things you don't forget how to do, like riding a bike.
The guys in the adjacent campsite warned me about the raccoons, so all the smelly stuff (food, toothpaste,and soap) went in the bear/critter bag.
With freezing temps in the forecast, and a Nemo down comforter good to almost freezing, I pulled on my down jacket for a toasty night.
First day…. The anxiety and anticipation of finally getting on the road quickly changed into the familiar routines of ride, eat, sleep, repeat of touring.
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