Stupor Bowl 13

I'm becoming part of the crowd at Foci. I had a solo slot for Saturday morning. Lucinda calls me up and asks to join in. Niiiiice. Another partner and a good one at that! I put some things up for sale in the gallery. Buy my kitschy hearts. My idea, anyway. A great place.

 

Pause for effect...

Stupor Bowl time! Zito gruffs at registration when I ask for his pen. "This is a messenger race! Every rider should have a pen, and a lock." OK, OK. Quick slice of pizza then catch up with the crowd for the LeMans start from the top of Gold Medal Park.

I've studied the map but even as I'm running for my ride, I wonder which way to roll out. Just go. Hit the downtown then Nordeast stops, then over the river to Haleks at 22nd and Washington. Group up with Lou, Henry and Steph for the next five stops. Through the bad part of near northwest MSP to a house in Bryn Mawr.

The roads are tight with parking down both sides, 2-inch coating of old ice and salt slush filling the tire tracks down the middle. Three inches of freshies on the unshoveled walks. Gotta stick to the main roads where possible. So glad I tricked out my 'cross bike with full fenders for the winter. I'm stayin' dry..mostly.
 
Through the park over the tracks under the highway and onto the bike path toward Red Dragon south Minneapolis and my old stompin' grounds. It's great coming up to the corners and here comes another bike from the other direction, and there's Henry and company coming in from the side! Big clusters of bikes at the stops and they're scattered over the roads all over town.
 
Me and a tagalong I've guided to Minnehaha Coffee get chastised for rolling into the mystery stop 7 minutes before close. 4:53. He tells us the other mystery stop, in Highland Park, St. Paul. From there, I take a long ride along the river to Varsity Bikes at the UofM. Night is falling, it's getting cold and there I haven't seen any riders for a while. Varsity, too, is dark when I get there. I figured.
 
17 of 21 stops completed. A burrito and a shower. We're done. The Winner's blog, well done. I did basically the reverse route of what he did.
 
Next year baybeeeeeeee:
- Bring a large scale map and mark the optimal route. Got plenty of time beforehand to sit down and plot it out. I would have cut my four hour time by an hour at least.
- Bring a troupe that will actually ride this thing. A team of 2-4 fun-loving crazies is perfect.
- And don't forget that pen and lock dammit.