Saturday, October 18, 2014

A Mix

Some of these odds and ends were supposed to be Posted last week.  Things around here simply got busier than they needed to be, I was too distracted or possibly even slightly lazy.  Let's go with all 3??  Regardless of the reason, no writing or photo uploading occurred, so new content didn't get added and the result this week is that not all of my news is fresh.  Hopefully it isn't too stale.

Last Friday I carried a handsaw back up into the deep end of one of our soybean fields to trim and remove some deadfalls that had tipped into the cropland, hindering the soon to be harvest.  All broken limbs gone, Wed. of this past week the beans are gone as well.  The deer and turkeys have done their very best all season to take their role in harvesting and now they'll have to bend down just a bit further to continue.  No problem though, there are adequate supplies down low for the remaining harvesters.


Last weekend Miss K. (Kiara) at Viking Bags asked me to inform my Blog and other riding friends that if they mention Coop's Corner, a discount will be applied to their order.  My Viking Sport Tail Bag has been on most every ride lately; was last weekend and will be again today when Ben and I head out.  Contact Kiara to find out more.

Saturday I made a long overdue visit to Diamond's for coffee.  Early Morning Mike wasn't there so it was only slightly lonely and lots of quiet at first.  The drinkers and riders did start showing up though and it was as good a session as I've attended lately.  Paul and his wife arrived on their brandy new copper colored Can-Am.  I'd already pushed a couple of the tables together and it didn't take very long for those 6-8 spots to be taken.  Paul's wife sat down next to me, commenting "I'll stay with you guys until you start talking motorcycles."  It was long past an hour later when she got up and moved over to one of the couches with her IPad.  I do recall that motorcycles were discussed eventually.

Jeff finished and mounted, only the very tip of his vast sailing knowledge shared with us, coffee cup emptied and he headed for home.  These two guys WERE talking motorcycles, BSA machines specifically.  Railroad bridge construction continues across Central Ave.......Lucy's business has suffered during the process but we get away with some very casual and creative bike parking while Mpls artery traffic is rerouted.


 Sort of a BSA I suppose, but this one from Kawasaki.


 Dave's lovely Indian......





Paul and his wife finished with their coffee and further story telling....you can see the coffee hasn't stopped flowing for everyone else yet.


MY plan had been to go out for a ride on the lovely Saturday afternoon and that plan included Ben on his 'new' Repsol 600 (I still haven't tried it....today???) but upon arriving home I discovered that the family was in the midst of one of our largest housecleaning's ever!  It lasted well into the evening, bridging over to Sunday morning but did NOT interfere with the back road ride that St. Paul Jim and I managed to sneak in later in the day.  J.P. rode down from St. Paul and met me across the river where we hooked up, ending up down in Alma at Pier4 for lunch.  It started as a bright cool day but once the clouds and stronger winds came, we very quickly lost what certainly felt like 15 degrees.  Our rides home were brisk in the brisk weather and we both encountered drops of rain.  No photos taken but it DID in fact happen.


Imagine me, Coop, belonging to a bicycle Blog!  Yes.....it happened this week.  I received an email from (motorcycle) riding friend Dave, once an almost famous bicyclist, that through some of his old contacts, he'd discovered a bicycle blog that had content I'd appreciate and be able to "use for reference."   He was correct.  Both he and I have already found interest and value there, primarily under the Favorite Gravel Routes heading.  In fact, Dave rode one of them this week, the Filthy 50 -2013.   Craziest of all, my Avatar makes it look like I truly do/can belong!

Everything I did yesterday was absolutely necessary but very boring so that won't be shared.  The last couple of weeks have been almost too full.  Today's intended fullness will hopefully be a couple of rides with son Ben; one pavement based (need to try that orange bike) and one a bit dustier.

We'll see what happens.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, they really have the place torn up. Is all of that just for the railroad bridge? Is the antique shop still across the street?

    Now you just need to dig out the bicycle for your alternate blog...

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    1. Richard, the bridge is for double track, the very Main line of BNS&F railroad. AMTRAK, coal, shale sands oil, etc. all run over this main line. They built a complete temporary bridge while this one is being constructed. It has been a real challenge for the businesses up and down Central Avenue.

      Yes, antiques are still being peddled. My bike and a few others are hanging in the garage....all I'd need to do is......

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  2. Do they allow motorized vehicles on that trail?

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    Replies
    1. Karen,
      Do you mean the bicycle rides? I haven't looked at all of his sections but I'm quite sure that everything listed under "Gravel Routes" are public roads for any kind of state licensed vehicle. He's got a section of "Trail Rides" as well which I haven't looked at yet because my bike is still hanging in the garage.

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  3. Wow, you sure have been busy. And you've managed to get some riding in too.

    We've been working on yard projects in between rain storms.

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    1. Brandy,
      The reason we didn't get our pavement ride in yesterday?? We returned home to fine Peg busy with our ongoing landscaping project....ongoing as in 2+ years. It isn't finished yet but progress was made.

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