LDT III

We had a very successful third Lour de Toren yesterday. After a slightly rocky start of pushing the start time back and a slight issue of the starting point address, 4 of us met up at Brewberry Coffee for the pre-ride meeting.

Stage 1: I'm not sure how we ended up with the plan, but the first stage was a gruelling slog up to the Groveland Tap. There was some debate if it was over 5 blocks or not, but clearly it was enough for our already weary bodies. We recharged with some oatmeal stout and cheese curds. While there, Dan, Gabe and Michael met up with us. Now seven strong and able to create a more effective pace line, we pounded out into the quickly evaporating afternoon.

Stage 2: It was nice to ease into what would be longer stages toward the end of the tour. This stage found us bounding our way across St Clair all the way to Snelling. A harrowing right, and the technical section of the "race" was upon us. Having to deal with Snelling Ave traffic is never fun. Fortunately, there was only a breakaway of two, and the peloton rolled comfortably to Gobe's. A much needed rest with Summit EPA was much appreciated after that stage.

Stage 3: Now it started to get hard. The calculations were made, and we figured we could squeeze in Costellos into the route. Down Randolph we flew. There was pandemonium amongst the riders as Joe took an alternate route that the rest of the peloton didn't realize was an option. As we wound our way around Edgecumbe and then Lexington toward Selby, we had our first mechanical of any LDT. It was extremely lucky that the weather cooperated with us, with 30 degrees and barely any wind, it didn't make us suffer waiting for the downed rider. The hard fast rule of the No Drop ride didn't bring us down too much. And with a second flat, we limped down Selby to the third stop. Amazing how people will perk up with Bells Two Hearted. Autumn and Alex met up with us here. Unfortunately, the two flats took their toll on Michael and he had to drop out. He also thought he knew what the next stage was about.

Stage 4: Save the best for last. All good downhills must come to an end. And the end it was. We left Dan and Gabe to ride in their own pool playing group. Essentially, stage 4 was an uphill time trial. Everyone set off at a pace that I didn't think we could keep. If it hadn't been for that light at Lexington, I'm sure I would have been dropped well off the back. Things strung out pretty far for a while, but as riders approached the top, we grouped together again. Being a school night, we lost a couple near their house on our way to the Longfellow Grille. 10.1 miles at the end of our ride. I don't know if that mileage can be exactly accurate as we only had one computer, but I would say that's close enough. Unfortunately, some businesses close a little early on Sunday night. We happened to end at one of them.

So, it wasn't a great stage 4 ending. Marty decided, he had had enough, and with the real need for some food, we ended up at Pizza Luce. The last bit of drama coming from a lost key and the need to cut a lock in order to get home. And even though we are not supposed to have support, we technically were finished with the ride. So the cable cutters my wife brought us were allowed. Though we could have used the key we later found wrapped around the chainstay of Joe's bike.

Best Lour de Toren ever!