I Heart Sufferfests

With the weather promising to be decent and my body hankering for a tough workout, I decided to do a long ride today, one based on this route. The weather actually varied from cool overcast to light rain to cloudless sunshine, but the ride would have taken a long time in any conditions, and it sure did. I have never felt more trashed after a workout or race. Over the last half hour the only distractions from my screaming back were the expectation of cold Coke at home and the cramps in my forearms.

But the ride was also felt really good: fun to do and satisfying to have done. Training is weird like that. I hope I can go at least this far again a couple more times this summer and fall. A few pictures to illustrate the ordeal fun.

This shot’s from late in the ride, but the view is perfectly typical. It’s wonderful, wonderful riding.

Fairly early on, I found this gorgeous ruin – probably of a mill – south of Cannon Falls.

I also saw a beautiful old headless brick silo. The farmstead was gone.

I loved this sign, versions of which I saw several times on the twisty, rolling country roads. It made me think, somehow, of zombies.

Riding through farm country, it was no surprise that I saw lots of livestock, like these very sleek cows:

About halfway through the ride, I hit this climb, which was the toughest “ascent” of the route – though not because it was either long or steep. I was just tired and needed some food and water. The fuzzy black zones in the corners were caused by my camera lens failing to open all the way, but the blurry half-view pretty much suggests how I felt.

I looked like this when I finally took that much-needed break:

My rig, which I realized needs a good name, also enjoyed the rest. I have to remember not to lay it down on the derailleur side. Something chainy/cranky rattled all the way home.

Not long after my break, just after I passed through the tiny town of Sogn, I found a stretch of road through these beautiful rock walls. After this picturesqueness, I pretty much stopped taking photos because I was back in the pain zone and because the remainder of the ride was in the wide-open country, where the sun was unrelenting and the wind was pretty tough, too.

I looked like this after all that cycling. Not pictured is the giant bowl of ice cream I’m going to eat now.