Big country makes me smile

What a great day. Yesterday I did some scouting and then this morning my father in law helped me map out an epic ride. The ride consisted of pavement, bike path, gravel and dirt. I left from Minot and rode up to the Souris National Wildlife Refuge. Once there, I'd then cross over the river and ride back to town on the other side of the river. Here's my story.



I headed out into the wind today. Wind was blowing about 15-20 mph. I just kept a steady pace. Beautiful day. Grand scenery.



Pavement turned to gravel. Gravel turned to dirt.



I've lived in the city too long. As I rode through the countryside, the smells of the crops brought me back to my youth. The golden turned barley just swayed in the wind.

Just a few more miles north and I'd be turning east. The bad news was that the bridge was out so I had to back track about 6 miles. That's OK as I got to see more of this.

As I turned back to town, I had a wicked tailwind. I was spun out riding along comfortably at about 25mph. Then I met up with this guy. Wow is that a big combine!

As I rolled back into town, I was all smiles. 4+ hours and 55-60 miles of big country. What a perfect day for riding.

Back from my first GTDRI

I survived my first GTDRI and 100+ miles of Iowa gravel. I'm pretty excited. We all started together and finished together. This poor guy wasn't so lucky.



It was a great time. The whole family came down and we are now back in MN. I'm sorting through my thoughts and pictures. I'll have something up here or on the Salsa blog later this week. I've also got some great shots to choose from for Photo Friday. Stay tuned.

Hope your weekend was as good as mine.

Just got a slide show up and running. Check it out.