Blog from Mindy Ahler Olmstead-A very good friend from St.Joan of Arc

(Mindy rode with Cyril to Mankato the first day and offered to make up some miles for him if he just couldn't do it for some reason.)


Short answer - 54 miles today. If you want to count my commuting miles to work that's another 34 this week.

Since I’ve been following along with Cyril’s blogs, I found myself blogging in my head on my ride today, so I’ll share a little of it with you if you feel like reading it.

7:15 is earliest light at our northern latitude. I got up early to try to follow Cyril’s example, but rain accompanied that first light and I lingered in the dry indoors. 47 degrees when I rose – warmer than most days this week. I do have rain gear, so I don’t know why I was being so wimpy. I toast to Cyril as I eat my oatmeal – laced with peanut butter for an extra protein boost. No Ovaltine in this house, but I added hot cocoa to my morning coffee – really not the same idea, but I enjoyed it.

I left the house at 8am. The actual rain had subsided, but the roads and air were damp. Based on the other things I wanted to get done today, I figured I could do about a 30 mile ride and or 4 hours so I’d be home by noon. 8.75 miles and 50 minutes later I arrive at the beginning of the Gateway trail. Most of my route to this point is my very familiar commute to work with a bike lane and familiar in-town traffic (not too heavy or aggressive).

I thought the ride would be pleasant on the Gateway trail and that I could forget that I was actually in the city. Well the first part of the trail parallels the freeway – I think of Cyril with the loud and fast cars whizzing by – I have a green space and a fence between me and the cars and almost no wind. I hear wind in the trees periodically, but it is light enough I never figured out what direction it was blowing – I couldn’t blame slow progress or credit a quick pace in places to wind.

I was determined to keep going for at least 15 miles before resting – that’s what Cyril would do. Are you starting to see a pattern of thought here? Since this ride is for and with Cyril, he accompanied me the entire way in thought and spirit – or maybe I should say I accompanied him. So around mile 17 I took a break at a parking area with a port-a-potty. It was then about 10 minutes to 10am. If I stuck to my original plan I would turn back now. But at this point I was in North St. Paul, all of the ride so far has been through city – although the way the trail is built it’s somewhat isolated from city – and the prettiest part of the Gateway trail is still ahead. Well, for Cyril I decided to keep going. I was definitely rewarded by the beautiful trees that are suddenly turning gold and red, the ducks and geese in the ponds, the cows calmly grazing in the fields, no sound of traffic, and very few other people. Thank you, Cyril, this was the respite I needed. I arrived at Pine Point Park (the other end of the Gateway trail) about 10:30am. I ate the light snack I’d brought along and planned to stop for a bite to eat on my way back home.

I headed back down the trail in the direction I’d come, heading for home. I picked up my pace considerably in these extra 20 miles, but since I haven’t been training for rides like this I began to notice as I approached my morning stopping point that I’d probably gotten a little carried away in going the full length of the trail. I was getting very hungry and wasn’t seeing any place to stop. I somehow missed the quick mart I remembered being just off the trail – could be that it was in the area that has been rebuilt, so it looks completely different. By the time I reached the end of the trail, I was really dragging. Cyril, I don’t know how you keep this up each day. My average pace was just under 13 miles per hour and that was pushing really hard. I put the bike in low gear and crawled along at a snail’s pace up and around the capital and cathedral – pulled along by the promise of a sandwich at the Great Harvest bakery on Selby.


OK, lunch can make quite a bit of difference! The sandwich was delicious and the break just enough time to reenergize and now just over 5 miles left to home.

I reached home and was grateful to be there – a fridge full of food and my own hot shower waiting. In the last 5 miles, the sun had come out and it was finally starting to warm up. I got home, took a hot shower, covered myself in Tiger liniment to ease the sore muscles, took a 20 minute rest on the couch then got up to finish the days work – laundry which I hung outside on the line in the sun and breeze, roasting red peppers on the grill, making supper and checking in on Cyril’s blog.

Well I did ride 54 miles for you today, Cyril, even though I’m sure you would have done it faster and much easier – it was cake compared to what you’ve been riding through. I’ll ride with you again next week either Tuesday or Friday (I’ll let myself be a wimp to weather).

All my love to you and Pam.

Mindy