June 20

Ride Report - June 20, 2007

Medford - Pie Ride

Today was a beautiful day, for the most part. As the Freewheelers gathered at Bryan's house they had pie on the mind, as tonight was the annual pie ride. But before there could be pie, there was some bike riding to do.

There were storms in the area. Park Falls had hail mid-afternoon. There were storms in the whole area late afternoon. But Medford was dry. A good crew showed up. From the North, Chris, Jeff, Mark, and Wally. From Medford and surrounding area, Bryan, Tom, Nathan, Mindy, Cathy, Paula, Ken Jones, Ken Kraft, Buzz. Hope I didn't miss anybody

No sooner did we set out under sunny skies, that the clouds rolled in. As we headed through town out to Q the drops started falling. As we rolled up Q towards M it rained harder, almost too hard, but it never got to the point of hail. The wind wasn't bad, but the blue sky Tom had been chasing dissappeared.

Ken, Buzz, and Paula opted for a shorter route. The rest took a breather at M to evaluate the situation. We decided to cut it a little short and head back in on E and around the lake and home. It rained pretty much the whole way. One storm chasing us into town where we got a final soaking. A couple mechanicals made things interesting, as when Wally was heard to say, "That's not good" as the front brake fell away from the wheel. Who is his mechanic? Jeff flatted in town and walked it home.

Upon getting into town, we noticed hail in a few places. Little did we know what we had missed. Just ask Ken, Buzz, and Paula. By cutting the route short, they road into the teeth of the storm, and the hail. They got pounded, searching for shelter any place they could.

Sidenote to this story. On Thursday I was talking to some people camping at Lake of the Falls. They spoke about going through a terrible hailstorm in Medford, and seeing a bunch of cyclists. They also took video of the hailstorm as they drove through it. Awesome is the only word to describe the sound. I'm trying to get the video so I can post it, and we can all see what Ken and co. went through. These guys came out of the storm, and drove by us as we were at the corner of M and Q. We were so close.

But the reward! Who can complain about the weather when there is pie, and lots of it waiting. The pie ride lived up to its reputation, as there was a tremendous selection of pie to choose from. Everyone enjoyed the feast. Thanks again to the Bormanns!!!!

June 27 is the Rib Lake 50 mile ride. There is also a shorter course available. Please be prompt. Let's get on the road at 6:30 sharp!

July 11 we will be riding from Blomberg's High Point Village. See the ride schedule for directions. Their regular Wednesday mountain bike ride will be taking place on the Timm's Hill trail. You are welcome to join them, or invite other Fat Tire folks to ride. Ken Kraft says he will be grilling dead animal parts for our enjoyment.