Myself and Robbie, rolling through the countryside.
This last weekend I participated in the 4th annual Ragnarok 105 gravel race in southeast Minnesota. It's become a tradition for me to kick off my cycling season with this bruiser of a race. This year my pal Robbie drove 10hrs from Michigan to test his mettle with me.
Snow hazard, and a typical view of the course. / Lots of farms and rolling hills.
We ended up having a very long day on the bike on account of some hefty cramps that set in on him early in the race. But its hard not to enjoy an all-day, scenic bicycle ride with a good friend. We dug deep to get him to the finish and over the many (massive) hills. I was proud to watch this guy climb EVERY hill on his bike while other riders around us were getting off to walk the worst of them. Well done, sir! In the end, we rode 111 miles for the day, on gravel, up hills and through significant saddle pain.
Robbie, still going. / The look of a man who just finished 111 miles of bikeracing!
I'm really racking up the miles this year and pumped to have an awesome cycling season. I've even got some destination cycling trips coming, so stay tuned for images and stories from those.
PS - I love warm weather - don't you?!