Perfect End to a Week

I got out on Saturday and did a nice long recreational ride. This is something that I really haven't done in a long time. It seems like I have been riding a lot, back and forth to work, errands, some shorter recreational rides, and rides around town. But, it has been a while since I took off to explore and ride some nice county roads.

Family Spa Day for the women of the family. So, they headed over to River Falls to visit family for the annual spa day event. There was also a scheduled "couples shower" scheduled for the evening. This made for a good recipe for me heading over by bike, catch a ride home in the car.

Took off around 11:30am and headed out through White Bear Lake and up to Marine on St. Croix. North on Highway 95 to cross into Wisconsin through Osceola. Stopped and grabbed some water and a Poweraid at the gas station and was off again. South on some nice quiet county roads for a while. Going up a hill, I could feel the front wheel going soft so stopped at the top to change the flat. Found that the tube was defective. Continued south until I ran into a road closed. I didn't bother to head down the hill to see if I could get through by bike, and instead went east and then south to Somerset.

Stopped again in Somerset for some more water in Somerset then out south of town on county road "I." I had originally planned on avoiding Somerset. The last couple of times that I recall riding through town, the roads were busy and not very bicycle friendly. It's been a couple of years and since they re-routed the new highway 35, traffic was much better. They also repaved county road "I" so that it was much more bicycle friendly. Followed "I" to "A" to "N" to "U" to wind up in River Falls. Rolled up the driveway and said hello and managed to make it before 5. I was supposed to be there at 4:30 and thought that plans would be a little aggressive to make it by then. Given the flat, the stops, and various pauses to look over the map I was pleased that I was not any later than I was.

The ride was wonderful and gave me time to really unwind and relax. Just the perfect thing to wrap up a difficult week and take the edge off before meeting up with lots of family. Instead of holding out for "snacky" dinner at 7, we went to Steve's Pizza for a Greek pizza, salad, and garlic cheese bread. I was so happy to have food. If anyone ever gets a chance to visit River Falls, you really have to stop at Steve's for some pizza.