Exploring Morrison County.

Another Thursday and another long ride.  Again the wind was out of the NW, but much stronger than last week.  I didn't want to do a similar route so I opted to go almost directly North, for a long time.  Last week I had "hero" gravel most of the time, this week I had sandy or chunky gravel...Morrison County Gravel.  Nonetheless the roads were great to be on.
The issue with going straight North, with hopes of turning West at some point, is you have to deal with highway 371, the Mississippi River, and highway 10.  I was lucky to find a gravel road the crossed 371 but not so lucky in finding a bridge over the Mississippi.  I ended up heading back south to Camp Ripley and highway 115.  I knew this road brought me into Randall on 10 with a crossing so I stuck to it to avoid anymore dead ends.

I stopped in Randall for some fluids and a Coke.  It was getting close to the time when I thought I should head for home.  I continued west another 30 minutes or so, struggling to hold a line in the crazy gusts of wind hitting my side.  Once I did turn I was flying.  Knowing I would be making great time I stuck to gravel to slow things down a bit.
I wanted to be home around 4:30, Avery had conferences at 5:20, but use all that time.  Being ahead of the game I meandered a bit from the straight shot home.
Ended with a bit over 8 hours and just shy of 150 miles.
It was a good ride but time seemed to drag on a bit more than last time, or at lease time was constantly on my mind.  Having a time I need to be home by makes me a bit anxious on the whole time thing.  The legs felt good as did the mind.  The saddle didn't like me too much for whatever reason so I'm a bit sore from that.  The Evergreen is making some noises from the constant abuse, hoping to address this Saturday afternoon.  The rear wheel, I noticed after finishing, barely spins due to the disc brake rubbing...resistance training!  I reset that damn brake so many times, frustrating.

I head up to Brainerd tonight to drop off gear for the ski swap there on Saturday.  I have another swap in town on Sunday.  Riding will happen when it can.

Happy Weekend.