MS60 2013

Ming and I rode the MS 60 this year.  It was sparsely attended, so it wasn't difficult to find a few coworkers near the beginning, including Alan who was riding my hybrid bike I used in Iowa for my last two RAGRAIs and Dan and Paul, who were riding road bikes and kept ahead of us most of the way, but finished at the same time.

Here's Alan with my bike and Dan.  You'll note the clothes that look a bit warmer than usual.  It was cold and windy.  I didn't even sweat that much during the ride it was so cool, and I wore gloves almost the entire ride.  Below you can see snow.  Well, it's sleet.  It sleeted on us in the early part of the ride, just after this point, accompanied by a nasty headwind.  Later, a few miles from the finish line, the snow just came down hard.  If it hadn't been warm out earlier in the week, there might have been actual accumulation.



Ming.  Shorts, but a jacket, and he's wearing gloves.


Alan, likewise in gloves, rolling into the rest stop.  This was on the way to the finish with the wind at our backs.  Much more pleasant than the 20 miles into the wind.


Paul, bundled up as well.


And here's some of that sleet I was talking about.  There was a lot more a few moments later.  If you're riding 52 miles into the wind, it's nice not to have to worry about ice and snow.


As I said, it wasn't very well attended, and Ming noted that there wasn't an immediate sign up for next year, leading us to believe that the 60 attendance may be poor enough that they scrap it in favor of consolidating under the MS150.  Not that I'd blame them.  The MS60 can be cold and sometimes people just aren't trained to ride 50+ miles yet if they're casually riders.  There weren't even that many people cheering at the finish line, which is usually one of the more amusing parts, particularly if you're struggling in.

And I found this in my tire after the ride.  We moved from an ice arena to a school, and I end up with a staple in my tire.  Some teacher needs to be more careful with her/his assignments.  I'm glad it left a big enough hole that I didn't have one of those sneaky flats that would have waylaid me during the Almanzo 100.