Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour 2015 – Day Two

Day two of the LPTST was vastly different for me than last year.  Since main riding buddy, Steve (above), was ill last year, I spent much of the second day riding solo.  Since I didn’t know about the various alternate routes, I tended to stay on the main route along the lake.  The main route is fine and includes many great views of the water, but the alternates offer more elevation variation, challenge, and much less traffic.  This year I had two riding buddies, Steve and Shawn, we took the roads less traveled, and it (as the saying goes) made all the difference.

I intended a smaller number of “highlight” photos, and I actually edited many out.  But this post is still photo heavy because these images evoke too many happy thoughts to omit.

Early in the day, happy to be on low traffic roads, and before any major climbs

Climbs looming in the distance

 Three-speedin’ through the green

 Shawn seems to always climb with a great attitude

 Steve climbing up through high humidity air

 After the initial steep climb to the plateau, the roads wound left and right and the going was somewhat easier

 It was quite blustery up top, mostly tailwind, and we rolled on just out of reach of the rain showers

 Pausing to admire a view of  Lake Pepin…way down there

 The interesting variation in old barns is impossible to describe, we loved riding by them all day and admiring them

 Using the tree as a wind block for our stoves at the Lake City brew-up

 Just ride…until its time to stop for tea (or coffee)

 Hanging out lakeside with my lollygagging buddies

 You’ll have to take my word that its a Bald Eagle.  We don’t see these where I come from, so it was a thrill for me.

 Jon, the Shirt Tail Organizer, leaves Lake City on a lovely tandem.  He had a stoker on the first day.

 Ahhh…empty gravel roads, just like back home…well, not exactly

 Last year there was an old one lane bridge here.  This year, the wide, new monstrosity was much less pleasant to the eyes.  But we used it as re-grouping place anyway.

 The traditional Frontenac wall gathering and photo-op.

 You don’t see the Dursley-Pederson bicycle every day.  Hmmm…maybe I try a bow tie next time…

 Top of wall view

 This Hill Avenue alternate route is as pretty as they come

 Don’t let this fancy dressed lady fool you…she is a strong rider.

 While pretty, Hill Avenue does include one challenging climb.  Although this isn’t the hardest part, its still much steeper than it looks in the photo.

 Noel, in many ways, is the heart and soul of this tour.  I want to ride like this man when I’m his age.  Everyone loves Noel.

 Flower Valley Road is a long, gradual uphill which included (yes) wildflowers blooming all along the way.

After this came the rushing descent into Red Wing, and the bittersweet end of the LPTST for another year.  For three of us, however, there was more three speed touring ahead.  I’ll speak to that in my next post.

Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour 2015 – Day One

 The first day of the Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour always starts with a rather involved ceremony.  Several lead the festivities, but we all participate.  It involves responsive reading, cheering, and singing.  It also involves the blessing of the bicycles and a message from the Queen.  Red Wing locals must figure suffering this kind of odd behavior from the nutters is an acceptable trade for the money we leave behind in their taverns on Friday and Sunday nights.

Then we take to the open roads.  We take our creature comforts, wear our natty attire, and we tour.  We ride on paved and non-paved roads, we climb and descend, and we do some epic lollygagging.

 We take in the sights, do some hike-a-bike sessions, and pose on vast vistas.

 We stop at shops along the way, purchase souvenirs, and acquire goods needed for tomorrow’s “brew-up” at Lake City.  All around were pleasant sights and pleasant people who seem to enjoy them in the same way me and my friends do.  Community, club, or cult?

We ended the day at the historic Anderson House Hotel in Wabasha, MN, and we prepared ourselves for another day of lollygagging to come.

Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour 2015 – Bikes

I was fortunate enough to participate in my second consecutive Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour this year. The link provides a more complete description of the event itself. I’ll use this post (plus two more) to provide a few highlights. This post is simply a photo dump of many of the bikes used by tour participants. These photos will also provide some indication of the dress and assorted baggage used by those of us (nutters of the realm) odd enough to spend a weekend celebrating simplicity.

These were taken at the gathering place prior to the roll-out. Even though this was only my second time here, it was good to see and visit with friends made last year. Once we spent a few seconds reminding one another of names, we picked up the conversation and had a grand time anticipating the adventure before us. What would be a more positive foreshadowing than the aroma of steel, canvas, wicker, tweed, and tea?

The next two posts will include highlights of each of the two days of touring. The big difference this year is the alternate routes we used.  These alternate routes provided a more challenging, enjoyable, and scenic version of the tour this year. Hopefully, the few photos I select will illustrate the visual highlights well.