Lotsa Smiles and the Miesville FiftySix Gravel Road Ride
I put out one of our hummingbird feeders a few days ago in anticipation of the little flyers' return. I'm maybe a little early but not by much. It's my understanding that hummingbirds return to the same place each year so I want to be sure to not do anything to cause them to set up home elsewhere.
For any former controllers visiting here not connected on Facebook, you'll be interested to know that 3 controllers from Minneapolis Center retired this past week: Brian Vance, Kris Henderson, and Scott Goerdt. Brian and Kris's retirements were expected but Scott's, not so much. He told me he woke up a couple of Mondays ago and decided then and there that he was done (I'm somewhat paraphrasing). There were lots of smiles on their faces at Celts Pub in Farmington Wednesday afternoon as a group of us gathered to congratulate them and tip back a beer or two.
There's a new mountain bike trail coming to Lakeville between I-35W and Lake Marion. I showed up Saturday morning with about 15 other guys to help move some dirt around. The vast majority of the work is being done by a professional crew that builds these sorts of trails. The city of Lakeville is providing the majority of the monies for the project but fundraising has also brought in a good amount. They're anticipating a fall opening for the planned 5 miles of trail but from talking with the guys on Saturday, they expect it to be open this summer. I was so impressed by what I saw out there that I brought Tammy back to show her. I plan to be a regular volunteer there as my way of giving back to the sport.
Speaking of biking -- the annual Miesville FiftySix gravel road ride went off without a hitch this morning in the face of a very wet forecast. It was windy and overcast but for the most part, the rain left us alone. I used today's ride as a warmup for the Lutsen 99er race (although I'm doing the 69er route) near the end of June. I've been getting in some decent rides but I needed something to push me on my fat-bike, and this was the ride for that. Today's ride wasn't a race but I'd say a good percentage of the field were giving it their all, including me. I had my bike set up with my 4" Dillinger tires, the same ones I'll be using in Lutsen. Using my slimmer 3" tires would've made the ride easier but I didn't want that. As I sit here at my laptop my quads have an achy feeling that tells me they've been pushed in a way that only a hard workout can cause. I like that. (Photo to the right courtesy of Dennis Kilbride.)
Here's some video from today's ride.
For any former controllers visiting here not connected on Facebook, you'll be interested to know that 3 controllers from Minneapolis Center retired this past week: Brian Vance, Kris Henderson, and Scott Goerdt. Brian and Kris's retirements were expected but Scott's, not so much. He told me he woke up a couple of Mondays ago and decided then and there that he was done (I'm somewhat paraphrasing). There were lots of smiles on their faces at Celts Pub in Farmington Wednesday afternoon as a group of us gathered to congratulate them and tip back a beer or two.There's a new mountain bike trail coming to Lakeville between I-35W and Lake Marion. I showed up Saturday morning with about 15 other guys to help move some dirt around. The vast majority of the work is being done by a professional crew that builds these sorts of trails. The city of Lakeville is providing the majority of the monies for the project but fundraising has also brought in a good amount. They're anticipating a fall opening for the planned 5 miles of trail but from talking with the guys on Saturday, they expect it to be open this summer. I was so impressed by what I saw out there that I brought Tammy back to show her. I plan to be a regular volunteer there as my way of giving back to the sport.
Speaking of biking -- the annual Miesville FiftySix gravel road ride went off without a hitch this morning in the face of a very wet forecast. It was windy and overcast but for the most part, the rain left us alone. I used today's ride as a warmup for the Lutsen 99er race (although I'm doing the 69er route) near the end of June. I've been getting in some decent rides but I needed something to push me on my fat-bike, and this was the ride for that. Today's ride wasn't a race but I'd say a good percentage of the field were giving it their all, including me. I had my bike set up with my 4" Dillinger tires, the same ones I'll be using in Lutsen. Using my slimmer 3" tires would've made the ride easier but I didn't want that. As I sit here at my laptop my quads have an achy feeling that tells me they've been pushed in a way that only a hard workout can cause. I like that. (Photo to the right courtesy of Dennis Kilbride.)Here's some video from today's ride.
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