Timothy Pate

In a week, I’ll be riding 50 miles in the Fulton Gran Medio. All winter I’ve been riding our e-bike, and this has been an extended winter. My leg muscles are just emerging from their long winter’s nap, and I know that I need to kick my training into high gear. Despite some heavy wind and spritzing rain in the forecast, my buddy Sam and I headed out for our own 50-miler.

The wind made downhills feel like flat ground, flat ground feel like uphills, and uphills feel like 90-degree vertical climbs. If we get lucky with a windless day next weekend, 50 miles might just be a breeze.

I told Sam my goal this year is to take more photos on our rides. We rode hundreds of miles together last year but rarely pulled over to capture the views. Minnesota really is a beautiful place to explore by bike, and I’m hoping to share some of that beauty here throughout the year.

As you can see, we’re still waiting for our leafy trees to fully bloom. I decided to have some fun with the editing and really pull out the yellows and reds in these photos. In actuality, the landscape is mostly brown with some shocks of green, but I liked this look for today’s ride.

We stopped for lunch in Excelsior, but abandoned our planned destination when we saw they were out of food. With most other cafes closing by 2 p.m. in the tiny town, we meandered over to Kowalski’s Market and picked up some paninis. At this point in the ride, my legs were shaking, and I would have eaten just about anything. I finished most of my food before remembering to capture the moment.

Despite the lack of training, I was able to get through this challenging 50-mile ride without too much trouble. I’m feeling confident I’ll survive, if not thrive, next weekend. Until the next ride…