WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDE REPORT, PART 2 (scroll down and read Kenny's report 1st)

Picking up where Kenny Bloggins left off, the remainder of the group was still a dozen strong. We ripped up more gravel hills to the base of a skijump that overlooked suburbia. There was some man made snow up there, so we unsuccessfully attempted to slide or snowboard down it on my Xtracycle snapdeck. It would've worked if the snow was a little harder. Stupid sexy Indian summer heatwave.

Our Zeigle Scout guide said we just had a few more hills to climb, liar. Roller after roller, it hurt so good. At one stop we thought to ourselves, are there any bars in Bloomington still open? Yes, and it's called Majors. Normally frequented by business types and overly perfumed/cologned people that are dressed to impress, our smelly carcasses made our way just in time for last call. Sierra Nevada Celebration ale in a big mug never tasted so good and the hop aroma momentarily blocked the smell of us.

A few of us had planned to camp out in the park, since we were already most of the way to work. So while the main group headed northbound into Minneapolis, 5 of us headed south to the Minnesota river to start a fire and finally kill the beers we'd been hauling around all night. With fire started, we all told our stories of the first few WedNiteRides we've done. These stories dated all the way back to 1995, just before the enhancement of singlespeeds and derbying entered the fray and changed it for good.

Bedtime was slightly before the sun came up and those warm temps from the day had dropped into the low 40's F, a full 30 degrees. Waking up to cool air, the sound of a river and rustling leaves is like therapy for anything. Then I looked over and saw the carnage from last night and all pretty images of Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom went up in smoke.

The two mile ride from the camp spot to work was just enough to burn some fumes off. I still smell like campfire and my body feels like it was rolled off that skijump a few times, but my only regret is not doing this more often.