Since actual New Year’s Day, we’ve been to South Africa, got snowed in in Red Wing, Minnesota at the Big Turn Music Fest, and did a LOT of snow shoveling.
Now that it is March, we are looking at the coming season of biking and nice weather adventures. Dan got out this weekend for two 30 mile rides around town, dodging potholes, icy patches and dirty piles of melting snow. It was wonderful to be back on the bike even under those conditions.
We are making some plans for the summer which you will hear more about in coming posts. The first will be the Bike Around Missouri – a 300 mile, five day ride around central Missouri. We’ll actually come pretty close to Hannibal, so that will be fun. Also, this ride will be fully supported by our friends at Pork Belly Ventures (our outfitter when we rode RAGBRAI in 2017.) Pork Belly provides some amazing amenities, including hot showers in a customized semi trailer, and a beer truck at the end of every day…and great music every night. So, as Lisa said, “It will be a training ride” since we don’t really have any worries and the individual days are not that long (daily average of about 60 miles.) That will be in the second week of June (Dan will celebrate a birthday while on that trip.)
The second trip of the summer may be a bit more challenging: we are planning on riding from our house in St. Paul to Chicago on the last days of July, arriving in time for the Lalapalooza music festival which starts on August 1. We’ve booked our hotel in Chicago, and will be buying tickets for the festival soon. We do, however, still need to do some work on the route. I think we’ll follow the river down to LaCrosse, and then take advantage of Wisconsin’s extensive series of bike trails to get us over to the Milwaukee area and then follow the lakeshore into the city. We’ll enjoy the big city for a couple days, and then take the Amtrak Empire Builder back to St. Paul.
More to follow on those ideas, but for now, let us wish you all a happy new fair weather biking season, safety and most of all, adventures!
Confluence 
Dan! I think I conjured you, or at least had a premonition about your post. Only minutes before receiving the e-mail notification I was wondering how you guys were and what you might be up to next! Sounds like some great adventures and music are in store. I wonder if you’ll hit any of the Katy Trail in Missouri? Looking forward to following your blog posts and living vicariously. peace, pcb
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PCB – can we get together? We’ll have some time after the ride – yes, we’ll ride a section of the Katy – PM us!
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So good to read your accounts again, Lisa and Dan. Summer treks sound exciting, as, I’m sure, will be the accompanying narrative. Be well. A few more shots in the spine and I might actually be able to get back ON my bike—for the first time since November. Oh, well. Forever young (?) Bill
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