Wednesday, June 28. We accomplished the 50 Mile Ride. The Club decided to close out June Dairy Month by reinstituting the 50 mile ride. This was once an annual staple of the Club. The entire Club consisting of the following riders completed the ride: Kyle, his son Matt, John Hendricks, Mark and Megan Peterson, Shayne and Vicki, Mark Wenzel, Chuck, Tom and Katrina, Katrina’s sister and her boyfriend, Mark Temme, Ken Jones, and Bryan.

The riders kept the pace up throughout the ride although it was not what I’d call blistering. By the time the group reached Highway 13, the average was running at 20 miles an hour. That was a good sign as a 20 MPH average would allow the Club to finish at approximately, 9:00 PM. Nine PM would be just a few minutes past that evening’s 8:53 PM sunset.

The riders were entertained by a bear sighting on County E. We were entertained in so much as the bruin decided to hear back into the woods and not cross the road.

From the corner of Park Road and County Highway E the riders dove down into the dam area, climbed back out and headed on the Westboro. At Westboro, the riders were allowed to make their way back to Rib Lake at their own pace. Strongman Kyle Schmitt took the sprint and Ken Jones was second.

ROAD REPORT. Price County has chip sealed County Highway C from the curve at the base of cemetery hill all of the way to the Taylor County line. This was recently done and the road is very treacherous for fat tires, much less a road bike. This route may turn out to be impassable for road rides for the rest of the season.

Ken Kraft will once again be hosting a Medford ride. Ken will host the July 12 ride from his home on County Highway M. Look for bike by the mailbox approximately ¼ mile west of the Castle Road corner.

TOUR POOL. I’m not sure what we want to do with this now that the Tour is in a bit of turmoil over the ejection of top riders Jan Ulrich, Ivan Basso, and Francisco Mancebo. However, I suggest that we go ahead and hold it. We will want to have a wild card entry as either a pick or an optional additional entry.