It was a windy weekend and after the recent push for steady miles, I wasn’t too motivated to get time on the bike. As the wind lasted through Saturday and into Sunday, I chose an alternative ride to Downtown Minneapolis versus the usual rolling hills of Medina.

My ultimate destination for the day's ride - the newly constructed Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins

I had not yet seen the new Twins Stadium (Target Field) after its completion and knew that one of the major bike trails heads right toward it from the west metro. Thus, I took the full 15 miles worth of dedicated bike paths into town to see the wonderful new stadium that I am funding with my precious tax dollars.

I would appear to be a great place to watch a slow, boring baseball game

Earlier in the weekend, I had finally decided to make a purchase that I have been pondering for several months. As photography is a sort-of hobby for me, I’ve wanted to get back into true SLR technology with either a Canon or Nikon DSLR camera. In my youth, I owned several SLR cameras and (as the nerd I was) took many of the pictures featured in my high school’s 1989 and 1990 annuals. But, for the past ten years, my photography had been limited by using decent point-n-shoot cameras due to the practical nature of having other priorities (a house, cars, kids, etc).

Now – don’t get me wrong to think that the camera makes the photographer. I totally understand that real photography is 99% composition and the equipment is a far secondary element of a great picture. Plus, the cameras that I have used in the recent past (a Sony DSC-H1 and a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5) are all great cameras that produce wonderful pictures. The modern digital camera technology is phenomenal and enables even the novice to get really great photos for less than $200. But, SLRs offer that final element of control over the primary influences on the picture (aperture, exposure, and ISO) that transform a picture from a snapshot to something really composed.

I'm already enjoying the new camera - with its photos of my Wisconsin-made vintage Trek 560

Thus, after looking around for several weeks, I determined that the newly released Canon Rebel T2i was the camera for me. Without jumping into the $2000 pro-class of camera, it provides a nice range of features (both automatic and with detailed controls) that I was hoping to find. It also has an amazing movie capability – producing HD movies with little hesitation.

For Sunday’s ride, I packed the camera into a bag and carried it along hoping to get some photos of the new stadium. The ride itself was rather uneventful both there and back – except for the wind. It was a lovely 15mph+ tailwind for the journey into town, but became a brutal 15mph+ headwind for the full duration home. Here are the stats loaded into the Garmin Connect site:

If you look at the elevation profile on the Garmin site, you will see that it is a nice, steady downhill into town. This is noticeable during the ride, as the first half include a lot of coasting and general easy pedaling. Of course, riding on dedicated bike paths is never a great way to ride with a steady tempo and decent speed, because you are always slowing down to avoid something or interact with some aspect of traffic control. Oddly enough, the majority of the obstacles are found in the suburbs and things clear out rather nicely as you get closer to downtown. Some city planners were thinking ahead to secure the abandoned railroad corridors for parks and cycling – providing wide-open, uninterrupted riding for many miles all the way to the heart of downtown.

The Shimano 600 drivetrain is bomb-proof and has served me well for over 20 years of riding

I chose to take the Old Steed™ just for something a little different. I have not ridden the older bike outside at all this spring season, so I thought it was time to get some miles into the bike. Plus, it’s quite friendly for bike path riding, as the steel fork is more forgiving and the nimbleness of the bike allows for quick turns. Although I tout the virtues of carbon fiber bike technology, it’s hard to beat the ride quality of a well-constructed steel frame.

When something is made with quality, it can become timeless - like these Mavic MA-40 rims

The bike performed well for being around 25 years old. It’s technology reflects its age, but I’ve been able to keep it in excellent condition so it rides like a charm. When purchased, the bike was a Trek 560, which was the lowest end model that still incorporated the Reynolds 531 frame technology. It had the very first year of the Shimano 105 components installed and some really crappy wheels. Over the years, I have since upgraded the major drivetrain components to period-correct Shimano 600 technology and got rid of the Biopace chainrings. But, with six gears in the freewheel and downtube shifters, it is still old-school riding at its best.

Sometime in 1988 or 1989, I upgraded the wheels to set of Mavic MA-40 aluminum box rims with Mavic hubs. They are 28-spoke things of beauty and cost me (at the time) about the same amount of money I paid for the entire bike. BUT – they were the one upgrade that totally transformed the feeling of the ride and took my bike from an low-end racing bike to one that rode with the best technology of the time. To this day, the wheels are still amazing – smooth as the day they were new – and a complete joy to ride.

Getting to work with two toys that I have - cameras and bikes. That's how I define a good day.

Once I made it to the stadium, I whipped out the camera and took a few images. I wasn’t able to stay for long and concentrate on using the camera to its fullest, as my daughter made it home from a weekend trip to see cousins and called me while I was at the stadium to say she got home early. Thus, I packed up and braved the headwinds for the return ride. I didn’t really miss anything exciting at the stadium, as it was pretty buttoned-up due to lack of any event taking place. It’s surely an impressive building and looks to be a great place to watch a baseball game.

Unfortunately, I think baseball is one of the slowest sports ever created and it really is not my thing. Maybe I will get a chance to go see a game for the sheer novelty of the event, but do not expect to become a regular attendee. Thus, the few short minutes I spent outside were enough to satisfy my curiosity of the place and I don’t have much desire to return.