Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dipstick

Who's dedicated (er, stupid) enough to ride when it's 12 degrees out. Yep, these 2 fools. At least there was no wind.

Red Lantern bailed via e-mail (sad, very sad). Johnny B at least called to bail in favor of shorter MTB ride. As scheduled, Painman and I set out for the "Loop" at Noon.


The start was the worst. Damn near froze our faces off heading down the hill to cross the river. I'm not one to use my brakes on downhills, but today, it was either that, or frostbite. We spotted a couple Bald Eagles standing on the ice on the St. Croix River stalking the open water for fish, way cool. We stopped to de-ice in both Prescott and River Falls. In Prescott, I literally had ice (frozen sweat) on my chest inside my jacket, and our facemasks were frozen to our faces. Later, we hit my new favorite part of the loop, a steep gravel climb on the banks of the Kinnikinnic. Painman became the 3rd person to successfully summit the climb, without dismounting, after myself and Johnny B (The challenge is now on Treb).

Unfortunately, our longer than normal stops, and reduced speeds forced us into my typical battle with daylight. We amped it up in the final miles, and arrived back in Hudson right at sundown. I'm headed over to the 318 ride tomorrow again. Looks like it might be a little warmer, but with a light North wind. Brrrrr.