Cannon Valley Trail - 40+miles

It was a wet weekend to say the least! Kept an eye on the weather Sunday morning; and we took a chance that it would be cloudy and hopefully stay dry till we were done with our biking. CO and I left the TC by 8:30 am headed south on Hwy 52 to Welch! Although the group would start their ride at 11:00 from Red Wing to Welch, we just had to get our miles in for the day. So the plan was to drive to Welch and do the usual 40 (Welch to Cannon Falls-10 mi, back to Welch-10 mi, then to Red Wing-10 mi, back to Welch-10 mi). The debate CO and I had was whether to join the group from Red Wing to Welch and back........have lunch and then back to Welch............grand total 60 miles or do our norm and meet the group in Red Wing and bike with them to Welch and we would just drive to Red Wing and meet the group for lunch. The decision would be made when we came back with the group from Red Wing to Welch and see if we were up for another 20 miles then the usual 40 we normally do on the Cannon Valley Trail.

As fate would have it, about half way back from the Cannon Falls to Welch, my saddle(seat) broke off. I have an old(16+ years) Trek 21-speed mountain bike, which pretty much have all the original (except for tires) parts. For sure extra screws will be added to my emergency kit. The largest of the allen wrench in my folding bike tool was used to hold the bracket in place (the screw broke) and a mini-bungee cord was wrapped around the saddle with both hooks tightly hooked to the bottom of the Allen wrench which replaced the screw that should have been bolted the saddle to the bracket. Keeping my posterior balanced on the saddle with pressure to keep the seat from slipping off the bracket took some creative maneuvering. I did not want to end this trip with less then 20 miles; so I made it back to Welch at a slower pace and told CO to go ahead and get as many miles and I would do what I can and then drive the car to Red Wing and meet the group for lunch.

It was a cool cloudy day and I felt pretty good about pedaling another 10 miles; and although CO was ahead, the group was still behind and felt I could probably still put in my 40 miles and make it back to Red Wing in time for lunch.

That I did! CO got 50+ miles and the group got their 20 in.

Keep pedaling and see you on the trails!