... And Chaos Ensued

Today was scheduled for 100 miles into Rochester. 4:45 came pretty early for the second day in a row. We were loading at 5:45, breakfast at 6:00 then scheduled to hit the road.

We were at a really nice Holiday Inn in downtown Mankato last night. The staff, again, did a great job. Breakfast was ready early. These groups are anxious to get on the road.

The route started out of the hotel with a quarter mile climb. I would estimate it at a 10% grade, very similar to climbing Teton Pass but fortunately much shorter. Yesterday when we descended into town without having to work for it, I expected there would be a payment due later.

There were many turns on today's route. The next challenge of the day came at mile 2.7 where there was supposed to be a left turn. The cue sheet didn't match the road number, and there was a road closed sign. Well, you know how that sometimes goes. Since this was the lead group, we weren't sure how bad it would be. So, off we went through the construction hoping it would only be a quarter mile or so, and that, at worst, we could walk through. Well, we walked through in some places but for almost three miles. The staff was able to get the rest of the group re-routed based on our experience. The day wasn't off to a very good start, for us or the construction workers.

The forecast called for thunderstorms today. We were hopeful we would be able to get into Rochester before things got bad. Most of the group cleared the first sag stop in Waseca at mile 32.9, including me, but by now everyone had an eye to the sky. It was obvious that it wasn't going to be a matter of whether we would get wet, it was a matter of when.

At mile 38, three of us took shelter in a machine shed as the sky went green, then black and the heavens opened and poured. We had a pretty good lightening show during the two hours we waited in the shed. One of the other riders tried to raise someone at the house to let them know we were there, but no one came to the door. So, here we sat in the shed with the geese and horses trying to wait out the storm. The lightening was relentless, which is the real danger.

Many of these riders are from the east coast. They are getting a good indoctrination of Midwest culture. Everybody had a story tonight of good deeds done by the locals on the road today. Some may have been a little strange, but the intent was good.

Many people continued on to complete the route today. The last riders are not yet in. It's a tough day to have a century and lose, at least, two hours because of weather. It's still raining and thundering. The staff has had a long day as well, trying to keep track of everyone when they had to scatter to various places for shelter, then sagging people in that didn't want to ride.

Today's route took us through St. Clair, Waseca, Medford and W. Concord.

Many of you know Medford as the location of the Outlet Mall south of the Twin Cities. It was pretty interesting coming in from the west. It's a rural county blacktop with a huge mall on it.

The McDonald's there did a booming business today, especially for coffee and hot chocolate. It got cold waiting out the storm. Of course, all the other customers there thought we were crazy.

I can honestly say of all the cycling trips I've taken I've never had such weather before. I'm not sure I've ever used my rain gear prior to this year, although have always carried it just in case. If I could have gotten to my luggage after it rained, I would have had my winter vest on today too, that got packed "just in case." Who would have thought just three days ago we were talking about temperatures above 100??

It's suppose to continue to storm tonight, but be beautiful tomorrow. Winds, however, out of the north.

We ride to LaCrosse, Wisconsin tomorrow -- 89 miles. There will be an option tomorrow to ride 40 miles of the Root River bike trail in southern Minnesota, although we will not go through Lanesboro.
~Lisa