If you were to study the image above, you would likely notice that – although bike related – I am clearly not riding my bike. This seems to be my fate when riding in Pope County, as I am now two-for-two in 2011 when it comes to getting flats on the roads of my youth.

But, that didn’t really diminish the day as I was able to take part in my 2nd Tour de Prairie Lakes, based out of my hometown of Glenwood, Minnesota. If you are a longtime follower, you may remember my post regarding last year’s event. It was a beautiful day for cycling in 2010 and the 2011 event also offered great riding conditions.

For any cyclist, the biggest challenge on the road is usually the wind. If the conditions are windy, I will generally find other things to do than ride the bike. But Saturday offered perfectly calm conditions and set itself up well for the 60+ miles that I planned for the day.

The Tour de Prairie Lakes is a fundraiser for the local Habitat for Humanity group in Pope County and is in its sixth year. It is not a large event by any means (I think this year’s total was just over 90 riders), but that doesn’t diminish the quality. It offers lot of options for the courses/distances, so that any class of rider can enjoy themselves (or push themselves more than they imagined).

Without my brother this year, I decided to follow a similar route as the 2010 ride and target around 60 miles of cycling. Based on my condition for 2011 (which isn’t quite to the same level as last year), I just wasn’t excited to stretch the distance any farther. Plus, riding alone takes some additional effort.

Just before the official start was to take place at 7:30am, I heading into the Lakeside Ballroom from my dad’s house – a nice 3 mile stretch of road that hugged the northern shores of Lake Minnewaska. Compared to last year’s fog, this morning was clear – except for some minor, overnight storms that were slowly leaving the area. It was cool for the start (mid-50s), so I bundled up with knee and arm warmers – which was good because I left them on for nearly the entire duration of the ride.

A quick check-in and I was off to the first stop in Starbuck. While cyclists were being directed to go clockwise around the lake, I took off in the “wrong” direction and headed toward Starbuck via the north side. I had a goal for this which was to stop along Priest Point and witness the various changes that have taken place since my youth. Not only has my old house had its share of changes – but so have most of the other residence along “The Point”. The biggest change has been to the old Sparks property, which is now divided up and slowly getting houses built.

After the brief tour, I was back on the highway and soon entering the Starbuck park for the first stop. Even with my little excursion to the old homestead, I was apparently the first to arrive and was soon treated to that typical, Scandinavian hospitality – where I was offered every possible combination of food and already had a cup of sports drink poured for me before I could say “no thank you”. It’s actually one of the great characteristics of this cycling event – where all of the volunteers either know you directly, or want to “visit” with you and learn all about your career, your family, etc. If you like to talk with strangers who act like they have known you forever – the rest stops along the Tour de Prairie Lake are perfect for you.

Knowing that I only had about 10 miles of a 60 mile plan, I nibbled on a few grapes and headed back toward Glenwood. Since I was still going the wrong direction, I met with most of the cyclists who were still making their way toward the first stop. Those who were planning on the full 100 mile route would head to Starbuck and work their way further south of the lake – eventually passing through Terrace and north to Sedan before working their way up to Villard and Lowry. I wasn’t that ambitious, so my next major target was the Villard stop (after a brief stop-over again in Glenwood).

Prior to hitting Glenwood, the road took me along the south lakeshore which was hit hard by some storms around two weeks ago. There are still trees and various damage scattered along the entire area and it was a little sad to see the changes that nature forced upon the area. During the storm, the winds came from the north – which means the southern shore was hammered with big waves that tore through docks and boats and shoreline. Twisted metal remnants were still around as it takes time to bounce back from such an extreme event.

To reach Villard from Glenwood – the main obstacle is “Soo Hill”, named after the railroad that commanded much of the territory back in the day. There are two ways to conquer the hill – gentle and long or steep and short. I chose the steep approach as I prefer to treat the hill like a band-aid and get rid of it as quickly as possible. This had me climbing the hill along a twisting road near the Barsness Park. There are a couple of sections that are crazy-steep, but it is unavoidable.

Once up the hill, I worked my way over to the start of the dedicated bike trail (an old railway bed) that heads to Villard. Before leaving Glenwood, I stopped at “Mount Look-out” which provides a great panorama of the entire lake. It also makes you realize that the near 300 feet of climbing results in some nice rewards.

The ride to Villard was uneventful. Along the way, my iPod ran out of juice, so I found myself without any music and only my thoughts to keep me company. What little wind that existed was also at my back and I could hunker-down and just pedal away at a 20+mph rate without expending too much energy. The Villard stop was a welcome sight and I chose to hang out for a while talking with the volunteers and other cyclists.

After jumping back on the bike and pedaling for a few short yards, I heard the all-too-familiar hissing sound of my rear tire going flat. The picture at the beginning of this post tells the story, as I spent at least 15 minutes making the repair. The unfortunate aspect of the repair is that I could only get about 50-60 psi back into my tires with my mini-pump (I normally ride at 110 psi). This means the rest of the ride was a little scary and I had to be cautious with a soft, squishy back tire.

But it didn’t stop me from moving forward to Lowry. Although I had a mild wind in my face, it was an uneventful final 25 miles to the ride. The stop in Lowry was fun with more talk to the volunteers, but I was soon off to complete the final leg and finish the tour back in Glenwood. The tradition is to celebrate with some watermelon – and I enjoyed my available slice with nearly 60 miles in my legs. I still had a short 3 mile journey back to my dad’s place, but those were easy, flat miles.

At the end, I spent about 3 1/2 hours pedaling with around 5 hours in the event talking with rest stop volunteers and fixing the tire. It is a great way to spend a beautiful summery morning and I’m thankful that the Glenwood community puts on the event.