It was already beginning to warm up and we had a head wind, so Pit Two was quite welcome. The theme was Baseball and the crew was dressed in costumes such as baseball players (of course) and ketchup and mustard bottles. Probably the most amusing was 82-year-old crew member, Echo Thoren, dressed as a hot dog (right). She was tending the ice and when riders approached her she asked, "Wanna touch my bun?"
Rather dull looking highway with fairly heavy traffic riding into this pit. It was already after 1:00 P.M. and I thought it was time for lunch, but found out I still needed to make it to Pit Stop Four! Thankfully, it was only 7 miles to the next pit, so I estimated that I'd be there by 1:45.
Pit Stop Four/Lunch - Welch Mill, MN (54 miles)
The second half of this stretch was all down hill through some of the most beautiful landscape of the ride. The first part, however, was still against the head winds and up a slight grade... so I didn't arrive at this pit until about 2:00. I was afraid they would close the pit and I wouldn't get to eat lunch; but I wasn't alone, there were many people still at the pit when I rode in. Lunch consisted of a tasty selection of Tuscan Italian chicken sandwich or marble hummus sandwich for vegetarians and a pasta side salad. The lunch crew's theme was Wheel of Fortune, complete with a costumed Vanna White and a fill-in-the-blank contest.
This stop was the first of three where I would have bike trouble. I had noticed, since the last pit, that my back wheel seemed to be wobbling. When I dismounted for lunch, I realized I had lost a couple of spokes. The wheel was bent and rubbing against the brake, and I was worried that I might not be able to ride for the rest of the event. But our Bike Techs from Erik's Bike Shop did a terrific job of replacing the spokes and straightening the wheel. It was in perfect alignment, better than before. It took them a while to fix, though, and by the time I was ready to roll again I was the last rider.
The next 11 miles were on the Cannon Valley Trail. It was a gorgeous, lush ride along the Cannon River into Red Wing. My bike seemed to perform much better, too. With the wheel fixed properly and flat terrain, I managed to make up some time and passed several people on the trail. (Now I know it's "not a race," but I just didn't want to be the last rider in.)
Pit Stop Five - Red Wing, MN (65 miles)
"Happy Birthday" was this pit's theme, complete with clowns, cupcakes and a karaoke machine for anyone who wanted to belt out their best Tom Jones. I was tempted, believe you me, but it was starting to get late and I wanted to finish the ride before it closed at 7:00. It was already 4:30 and I had 20 miles yet to go... the twenty hardest miles of the day. Not just because it was the end of the day, but because the route had taken a detour from previous years to prevent us from dealing with the heavy traffic flow on Highway 61. Several riders told me that in the past four years of the Red Ribbon Ride, Day One's route consisted of the flattest road terrain of the ride, but this year there were two big hills (one of them two miles long) that awaited us before we made it into camp. Add to this a touch of head wind and we were in for a challenge.
Pit five was the last pit of the day, and we still had 20 miles to camp. Lucky for us, our Chipotle sponsors set up a mini pit half way to camp. They had an enormous RV which they dubbed the Burrito-bago (left). This great bunch of guys (mostly managers from local Chipotle stores) went out of their way to make us comfortable. They sprayed us with water as we approached their pit and provided us with ice water, Propel and the modern-day comforts of their air-conditioned RV--with an actual bathroom! How luxurious after a day of nothing but porta-potties and corn fields.
We took off from Mall of America at 7:00 A.M., I pulled into Lake City by 6:30 P.M. A total of 85 miles in 11.5 hours. Riders had an option of riding an additional 15 miles by getting shuttled back and riding the additional miles to complete a full century ride--100 miles. Of course, you get to repeat the experience of riding that final two-mile hill. Apparently, six riders chose to do just that. As for me, 85 miles was plenty.
miles to Lake City