Tour de Tonka 2023

Note: The Tour de Tonka was on Saturday August 5th. Here's my report. Did I take pictures? Well no.

I rode my bike 50 miles today. I did the Tour de Tonka 47 mile ride, and then rode 3 more miles around the Minnetonka High School so I could say I rode a half century. I can’t tell you how pleased and happy I am about this ride. To an experienced, younger rider this must seem like no big deal, but it was a big deal to me. I rode strongly, didn’t give up on the hills, averaged close to 13 mph, which is fast for me. I had fun, didn’t get tired until the very end, and chatted with my friends from the Minnetonka Bike Club at each rest stop.

I did the TdT 2 years ago but I did the 36 mile ride then, and I had my old bike. The 47 mile ride is much much prettier. It starts at the Minnetonka High School, goes through Deephaven up to Wayzata, out in the country north of Mound, down through Mound, through Navarre to Excelsior and back to the High School. It wanders all around Lake Minnetonka and the surrounding countryside. Some of the route was new to me but when we got to Mound we were riding on roads and trails that I ride on all the time, so that was nice! It took me not quite 4 hours, and that’s with hanging out at each of 3 rest stops for a little while.

There were some really big hills, but I didn’t quit. I used my full pedal stroke like I’ve been practicing and stayed steady throughout. Lots of people zoomed passed me of course, but there were plenty of people behind me and I never felt like I was being left behind. The 47 mile course intersected with the 71 mile and the 100 mile courses so sometimes there were really good riders around you. And at the end all the routes converge so there were little kids riding with their families too.

The rest stops had so much food! I told Lee it would have been easy to gain weight on this ride. That’s a nice thing about cycling, I don’t have to be concerned about what I eat, I’m not going to get sick from food bouncing around in my gut!

All in all it was just a great experience. Next up, the Looney Challenge. Time to get serious about running for 2 months so I can do well in in the 10k and conquer those 19.3 miles!

Biking

This is my new thing this year. I signed up for the 47 mile Tour de Tonka Ride so I’ve been working on making sure I’m ready for that. And I joined the Minnetonka Bike Club, a riding club for older riders in the Western suburbs of Minneapolis. They have 3 different levels of rides and 3 rides a week. I started out riding with the middle group, the Explorers. They ride on Tuesdays, usually 12-20 miles, at a 10-12 mph pace. I like riding with them but they are a little slow for me. So I started riding with the more advanced group too. The Ramblers ride on Thursdays, usually 20-30 miles, at a 12-14 mph pace. Sometimes they are a little fast for me so I have to work to keep up. But there’s always a sweeper; nobody gets left behind.

I love riding around my area of the Western suburbs and discovering all the trails. But I REALLY love riding with the groups and trying out trails and roads all over Minneapolis! I’m getting to know areas that I didn’t even know existed!

Biking is different than running in one major respect. Running races are for all levels of runners. It doesn’t matter if you are an elite or a back of the packer, at almost all races everyone is welcome. Bike races are different. If you don’t like to go really fast, don’t have the appropriate bike for the race, then bike racing is not for you. But organized rides are for everyone! There aren’t as many of them as there are races, but there are some, and that seems to be enough. 

I’ve done the Tour de Tonka before, and the Fall de Tonka too. This year I did the Tour of Saints, up in St. Joseph, Minnesota, about an hour and 15 minutes from my house. It was 35 miles of rolling hills, out in the country. It was a beautiful ride, challenging but not TOO challenging. I even found myself thinking at the cut off for the 50 mile route that I could do 50 miles if I wanted to.

I’m still running some, but not very much right now. I’ll step up my running after the TdT is over, so that I’m ready for the TCM Looney Challenge and the other races I’ve signed up for this fall. There’s the complication of cataract surgery to consider too. After the surgery consult (that keeps getting rescheduled) I’ll have a better idea of what kind of surgery I’m getting, and when. I depends on $$’s and what the recovery is like. I’m guessing I won’t schedule the surgery until January so I can use HSA $$ but we’ll see.

I’m also planning on adding swimming to my exercise mix. Not a lot at first, just occasionally to see if I actually remember how to swim freestyle! But later this winter I’ll get more serious about it and maybe next year I’ll sign up for a triathlon!

Its fun doing a variety of workouts. My body has fewer aches and pains, but I’ve been gaining a little weight, cause nothing burns calories like marathon training! But so far at least I don’t miss it. I’m not sure if I’m finished with marathons or not. I’m certainly keeping that door open!