Busy Day - Rochester, MN

I was in Rochester, Minnesota, today attending training on business writing and presenting. The most stressful moment of the day, as far as I'm concerned, is when the professor said, "It's time for the break. You have 20 minutes, and when you get back, you'll need to present a two minute presentation on a topic of your choice." Oof. I don't think Ming, who was along, was any more comfortable than I was. I chose to talk about how to ride a century on a bicycle, focusing on set a goal, fit your bike, and train. The comments on my presentation style included that I lean a little to one side. Which is true, but not because I'm a natural leaner, like the prof might suspect, but because I have one leg shorter than the other and tend to try to even out a bit so my feet don't ache. I think I should have mentioned that in the presentation just to head off the criticsm. I wanted to mention during the bike fit portion that you should put your wheel on the right way, because Ming of the wrong-way wheel was in the audience, but I thought I'd laugh and lose my place if I did that. One speaker gave us a nice little 80 second presentation comparing sex selection via ultrasound in India to abortion in the U.S. That was special.

The weirdest moment of the day was getting on the escalator at the Rochester Mall/University to head down to find my ramp ticket, and seeing Klund and some of his family as I descended. I stared at him for a moment as he stood in front of the chocolate shop, and he stared at me as I slowly descended, clutching a cup of decaf. I think we were both trying to figure out if we were really seeing each other in a mall in Rochester. When I was sure it was him, I said I'd be back as soon as I could do a u-turn at the bottom.

The best food of the day was at Little Oscar's, just south of Eagan in Hampton, Minnesota. We stopped on the way home to have a Caboose Burger, half a pound of hamburger topped with hashbrowns and scalding hot, and a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie ala mode. Exceptional. I'll be going back to try breakfast sometime, perhaps on the way to the Cannon Valley Trail.