30 Days of Biking, Fulton Fondo and Non-Exceptionalism

I got into a discussion with some friends a while back about Lance Armstrong. This was in 2011, and I was convinced a sports figure of such high regard would not have to face litigation, public humiliation and a stunning reversal of fortune considering much of his allegiances were based on a non-profit organization that successfully marketed something as ubiquitous as a yellow rubberized bracelet into a multi-million dollar campaign for cancer research.

I was still on the fence. My friends were well past the first few stages of anger, denial and resignation, while I was still thinking a great American success story had emerged from cancer recovery and won the most difficult sporting event there is, seven times in a row, all while demonstrating a resiliency and determination that maybe survivors have, or maybe that is just the stereotype I bought into.

Personally it wasn't too heartbreaking for me because I spent a lot of time as a kid watching TV and established a long list of sports heroes that is probably not altogether healthy. Sure, he's a guy in lycra who won some bike races, but did he nail a game winning sky hook in game four of the NBA Finals like Magic Johnson? Did he walk on as a pinch hitter in the World Series with gelatin in his knees and pain killers in his blood stream and smack a game winning home run to win game one like Kurt Gibson? Did he overcome racial disparities like Jackie Robinson or Tiger Woods? I mean frankly, as far as sports go, it's a wash. Compare him to the other winningest cyclists of his era, most of whom were doping too, and he is still a significant indicator of what he stood for, an era of sports replete with Sammy Sosas, Mark McGuires and fewer Carl Lewises.

So there I was, in 2011, watching the Armstrong case unravel, and remembering that I had debated strongly for the guy, and I was dead wrong. It is maybe a lesson on remembering not to judge people solely on the extremes of their personality or career; like admonishing a priest who does not decry evolution, or a yoga instructor who displays vehement anger towards something he or she is strongly opposed to, it is simple to take a malleable interpretation of a person's occupation into an extreme state of idolatry.

I do like riding a bicycle though, and for the most part find myself enjoying being around other cyclists. I met Greg Lemond in 2012 and told him what I thought about him beating Laurent Fignon, and Greg, champion that he is, just smiled and made me feel like I had some relevance back then, watching him race down the Champs Elysees, tucked behind those aero bars and cranking for every second...as exciting a sporting event as any I have witnessed before or since.

So...I enjoyed another round of the Minneapolis #30DaysOfBiking challenge in April, and made 30 consecutive days count for a little over 730 miles and 17,000 feet of climbing. I jumped at the chance to apply for an entrance into the Fulton Gran Fondo, and won a prize drawing for the entry fee. Getting in a few hundred miles of riding really must have helped me prepare for the Fondo, because even though the day was windy, and occasionally I found myself bucking a twenty mile an hour headwind without a domestique, it was a great day and a fun afternoon.

During 30 Days of Biking I got a few flats, mostly from having my tires under inflated, the frequent demarcation of trails, sidewalks and urban city streets broken into the occasional rutted gravel road strewn with haphazardly arrayed potholes; during the Fondo at least one large farm truck hurled profanity as they drove past going 60 miles an hour on a two lane farm road...so nothing is perfect.

Nothing is perfect. It's worth remembering that even the purest element is only 99.994% perfect, so how much you strive for that last second, fraction of a second or specific benchmark that defines excellence, nothing is flawless. Learning how to appreciate your own non-exceptionalism is a skill, all the more challenging when so much of expecting yourself to achieve greatness takes away from what is truly great.

I put together a few decent loaves of bread in the past few weeks. I still haven't gotten back to a reliable sourdough starter, so a lot of cranberry walnut breads made with RedStar yeast.

4-22-2016, Minneapolis turns purple. Photo by Michael McKinney

Honey Cranberry Bread, photo by Michael McKinney

Lake Nokomis, Minneapolis. April 2016. Photo by Michael McKinney

Minnehaha Creek, Minneapolis. April 2016. Photo by Michael McKinney

Felt F75X, at Lake Harriet, Minneapolis. April 2016. Photo by Michael McKinney

At the end of the Fulton Fondo, May 2016. 

Image by Sisu, My 30DaysOfBiking, April 2016. 

Saturday, September 29th

Weeds on Cedar Trail.  Photo by Michael McKinney.

MRT.  Photo by Michael McKinney.

Schwinn at Lake Minnetonka.  Photo by Michael McKinney.

Summit Avenue Oak tree.  Photo by Michael McKinney.

What started as a short trip to the Farmer's Market turned into a 51 mile tour of Lake Minnetonka, the Luce Line, buskers on Nicollet Mall and scenery through Wirth Park. 

30 Days of Biking Recap, Shorthand

So, this will be a list of tweets for the month of September, when I participated in a project called 30 Days of Biking. Someday, it would be nice to revisit this concept and add little minutiae and details....pieces of broken asphalt I rode over, curbs I narrowly avoided, street signs I ignored, cars I didn't like driving near me, people I thought were giving me the stink-eye, mechanicals I didn't have to trouble with because the local bike afficianados quietly slipped into my apartment in the middle of the night and tuned up my bike for me, beautiful women seen while riding, crazy people avoided while riding, music listened to while riding, food consumed post, pre and during said bike ride, gears used, ratios attained, wattages produced, miles covered, amount of carbon saved from the environment, number of higher cost bicycles I passed on my way to the library, number of times I witnessed somebody stopping to ask another cyclist for assistance, the irony of following somebody else's footsteps and expecting different results, (the definition of insanity), number of sodudku puzzles completed, the quality of being constantly observed for anything which resembles anger or displeasure with my station in life, an anger which might be assuaged by racing a bicycle on city streets, which is just like racing a car on city streets, which led to my 11 speeding tickets, the amount of time I could have spent fly fishing, the week long self-destructive benders I could have gone on, the amount of time I could have been discoursing Platonic ethics versus Kantian ethos, the number of miles I might have run instead of bicycling, the irony of being proud to ride a bicycle in order to forgo the association of other professional sports and their "home run derby" attitudes, the number of miles I might have walked if my bicycle wasn't running so well, the number of shops I visited, the mechanics I talked to, the variety of tattoos I noticed other cyclists displaying, the the awkward pleasure of reading Steve Tilford's blog and agreeing with him about anything, because he is, in fact, a human being with two legs and two arms and a head on his shoulders...he just rides like a horse, an on, and on, and on....but mostly I should talk about my brother, or my father, or my sister, or my mother or my parent's grandchildren- despite anything I may have accomplished or learned in the month of September, it seems pointless in comparison to how far a person travels without leaving home.
Uh...thanks Steve.

30 Days of Biking, Tweets.

You're dangerous maverick! That's right...ice...man. 30daysofbiking group ride, FTW. 9-30-11

Day 30, first ride on a niceride Minnesota bike. 3 gears; tortoise, tree sloth and manatee.

Day 29, now with Boo-yah!

...day 28 seems a lot more like July 28th than September 28th. With the remaining 59 characters of this tweet, I'd like to

Really calm, peaceful, quiet, relaxing loop around the Ford Parkway and Stone Arch bridges, probably 18 miles.

...around the ford parkway and Franklin bridges. Baker's dozen, rounding up.

Day 25, forty miles into the wind.

movingplanet, 30daysofbiking, Minnesota350. A ride mapped on 09/24/2011 in St Paul, MN | Bike Map | MapMyRIDE: soc.li/oShFmbX

Beautiful day in St. Paul for movingplanet, riding bikes and 30daysofbiking. http://pic.twitter.com/LrkGUlfV

Riding from the Stone Arch Bridge in MPLS to the state Capitol in St. Paul; 350.org, a climate change awareness initiative.

...moment of light, outside the Birchwood, in Minneapolis; September mileage is over 500. http://pic.twitter.com/0lGzF1OL

Running errands, tootling around, being subversive.

To downtown St. Paul and back, with a few stops... http://soc.li/4SrsYPa

I still think this is what a "Studio" apartment is all about...or a trampoline.

5 miles...glad those hikers got freed. that would really suck donkey balls.

Breezy ride to Mississippi Market...for some coffee.

Wow. I thought it was colder, I dressed a little warm.

dropping Ramsey hill, in the rain, on vintage brakes isn't in my repertoire, so I noodled past the James J. Hill stairs.

Is there some big, regional cycling event today? Trails are spacious and friendly.

30 miles today, give or take. Windy enough to start wondering about rigging a sail, and how would that work?

2 bananas, 1 peach, 1 cup yogurt, 2 scoops Recoverite, 8 ice cubes, 1 cup OJ, blend and serve.

...most mis-quoted song. ever. My version, "sharie all night'ay, rock the casbah, rock the casbah"

Nice afternoon bike ride around Bald Eagle Lake, from Saint Paul.... http://soc.li/2DCFOve

Last night, a motorist gave me the bird, the finger, the international sign of F-you; today's goal, avoiding that motorist.

Nice ride to the Luce line and back on the Greenway. A bit windy. A bit surly ... http://soc.li/WrcPXfS

Rode to the St. Paul library. Locked my bike up. Walked to the YMCA. Locked my clothes up. Walked to Subway, ate.

I snapped a pick as the Birchwood group ride glided past me- a lycra clad TGV. http://pic.twitter.com/FhaKIHA

St. Paul Bike Classic.

Here's a photo from my bike ride to Wirth Park this morning. http://pic.twitter.com/xyVriWR

Running the Surly Trail Loppet today. Riding my bicycle to the start.

Looped Harriet Island and Lake Harriet for 45 miles. Number large flying bugs that hit me in the face- about six or seven.

...week one, for 30daysofbiking, about 165 miles, no mechanicals, no accidents and one awesome dog named Eleanor. http://pic.twitter.com/leGUeAm

Easy ride past Harriet Island, from Fort Snelling. 35 miles or so, round trip. http://pic.twitter.com/1l5mcnV

Phase one, in which Doris gets her oats.

Halfway through 33 miles, beautiful day to be riding. http://pic.twitter.com/8V20RFO

Uff-da. Such a nice day to narrowly avoid a side impact.

To lake Nokomis and back, maybe a little bell happy on the trails.

Gusty night for a friendly tour on the lauderdale, greenway and cedar trails.

Rode to Trotters on Cleveland Avenue for breakfast, stayed for lunch.

My ride to the St. Paul Central Library. In a word, drippy. http://soc.li/C9oKkmH

Quick ride to Linden Hills on the new Schwinn frame. I couldn't ask for another. It's just that smooth.

Also considered for further exploration / analysis, amount of money saved by not smoking cigarettes for the past 11 years, amount of additional energy produced on windy days, average speed and velocity concurrent with wind speeds in a given direction per day, amount of calories produced and consumed, meals made, meals eaten per day, amount of liquids consumed / voided, impact of professional sports teams relevant to my daily performance, amount of money saved by not drinking in excess or dining out...

Tweets

I participated in a project put forward by two Minneapolis based cyclists in 2009, called 30daysofbiking. I copied and pasted some of the tweets from my second 30daysofbiking experience, this April, 2011. I also added pictures of the bikes I have ridden for the 30daysofbiking projects I have participated in to this point, a Centurion Le Mans, a Specialized Allez Sport and a Schwinn Super Tour. I am currently tweeting another round of 30daysofbiking, as well as taking an occasional photograph, plotting the maps and distances on Mapmyride and trying to ignore how nice it would be to load a mountain bike on a car and drive to a Regional park...as I have no car and no mountain bike. So, sometime early next month I'll post the thirty tweets on another blog post....

These are from March, 2011.

milomck: getting an early start #30daysofbiking

milomck: #30daysofbiking Nice thing about riding through puddles is clean shoes.

milomck: I rode my bike in the wind and the rain and all, but Fred Armisen was all I could think about. #30daysofbiking #bikerights #portlandia

milomck: #30daysofbiking Ice, slush, heavy wet powder, car, ice chunk-a-chunk-a-chunk, slush, car, irate motorist, ice ice, slush.

milomck: #30daysofbiking Sunny day to ride.

milomck: #30daysofbiking Snow kiters on lake calhoun, visible from the greenway. photo currently unavailable, use your imagination.


The rest of these are from April, starting with April 30th and working backwards.

Dodged the rain and got a short five miles in the sun...with a stop for a late lunch. #30daysofbiking #herecomesthesun

Day 29, guesstimate 20 miles, windy. #30daysofbiking

sorta got lost on the way to the library, now waiting for summer with a muffin and some coffee. #believer #30daysofbiking

17.5 miles. Meh. #30daysofbiking

A short five miles in the rain, and the wind, and the cold. #trifecta #30daysofbiking #hatsofftoroyharper

60 miles on Sunday, 40 miles today, nearing 400 miles...Sort of wish I had a cyclometer though. #30daysofbiking

Minnesota nice, in an unironic kind of way. #30daysofbiking

...something kind of cool about living in a metropolis near a river, 4 river crossings in less than a ten mile loop. #30daysofbiking

"Hon, you're really hard to see at night! Be careful, you guys have had a tough week!" Concerned motorist on Snelling. #30daysofbiking

#30daysofbiking and the sun has returned.

Day 20. Short ride after two yesterday in the not insignificant wind. #30daysofbiking

I can't believe it's snowing in april. I can't believe I'm biking in it, again. Mostly, I can't believe it's not #butter #30daysofbiking

#30daysofbiking Short ride over the river to the Hennepin Central Library.

The reeds give way to the wind and give the wind away. -Ammons #30daysofbiking... http://soc.li/edn4Qzh

stayed in all day and read about meteorites and glaciers and NASA in a vain attempt to figure out snow in April. #fiction #30daysofbiking

Windy, cold fifty miles on the gateway trail. #30daysofbiking

a few more miles, a couple avoided potholes, a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Not so bad, after all. #30daysofbiking #centurion

Riding the Steel Frame Centurion today, with knobby tires and retro-fitted parts. Always a good day to ride. #30daysofbiking

Windy enough for tacking upwind. #30daysofbiking #REI #Caribou #vivacapitalista

Squirrel! #30daysofbiking. A ride mapped on 04/11/2011 in St Paul, MN | Bike Map | MapMyRIDE: http://soc.li/cgTIcRN

Missed a couple days at the start, opened a new twitter and rode again today. #30daysofbiking

"that sat down like a butterfly with sore feet". #themasters rode today too #30daysofbiking

Sunny with the moon visible. Gotta be spring. #letsgoflyakite #30daysofbiking #intothewind

Another beautiful day in Saint Paul. #30daysofbiking

#30daysofbiking All of a sudden, Spring Fever has a lot more to do with gear ratios, clipless pedals, tubeless tires and monocoque frames.

...to lunch. #30daysofbiking

...to the library. #30daysofbiking