MS150 Ride summary

Just a little MS150 summary...We drove our camper to Proctor on Friday evening and camped in the RV lot. There is no pre-registration for us so we have to register at the high school Saturday morning before we begin our ride. We got there at 6 AM and waited thru a long line to get that done. It was close to 6:30 when we got on the road. There are several rest stops on the route located 10 to 15 miles apart. Our first rest stop was in Carlton and we made good time to there. We had lost the other team member on the way there, so we waited 25 minutes before we decided to head on out. We run our own pace for most of the first day. We did pick up some riders that latched on throughout the day. For the most part we were running between 17.5 to 20 mph. We did see our other team member a couple times that first day, but he seemed to want to ride alone, so off we went. Just past the second rest area in Mahtowa, we came upon a crash. When I ride events like this, I try to pay attention to who I pace line with. If I do not like how they are riding, I just back off and let them go. I have witnessed a lot of crashes and do care to be part of them. We had our lunch at Willow River. Sub Way sandwiches, cookies, watermelon and chips was on the menu. This is the only Sub Way I eat all year. It wasn't bad. We rolled into the Hinckley finish line at 12:10, took a shower, set out the lawn chairs, snacked and watched the other riders come in. Some were still arriving at 4:30.
The next morning we left Hinckley at 6:30 AM. There were a lot of people out ahead of us, so the for the first leg we did a lot passing. We did hook up with a couple pace lines the second day. If we could find them running around 20mph, it was perfect. On two different occasions, we were in lines I did not feel comfortable in because of what I thought were amateur pace line moves. If we got behind a guy that was adjusting constantly, leaving a gap, then bridging the gap and hitting the brake...we were out of there. There is no risk taking on that tandem. Pizza was for lunch at Forest Lake and I opted out of that one. After lunch it seemed we rode more by ourselves, every now and then picking up a drafter. We ended up crossing the finish line at 11:50. We then cleaned up, had lunch, and watched the other finishers until about 3:30. The last little of the ride was uphill...maybe 1 to 2 miles...and it was a little tough after 70+ miles. We heard some complaining as we were standing around the finish line. I did not understand that. So it's a hill...get over it. All in all, a very good time for a very good cause.