260 Miles

I played hooky from work today. A couple friends and I went biking for the day. Before I left I put on windpants and a hooded sweatshirt thinking I wouldn't need to wear them all day. I never took the extra clothes off. We were cold riding in the wind all day. I met up with my friends in Maplewood at Liberty Motorcycle. This is the place where I rented a Honda Rebel 11 months ago and rode for the first time on the street. I saw my name on the wall where we signed the brick with a silver sharpie. I even saw the bike I rented. To my surprise, the bike had only 150 miles on it now. I put 100 of those miles on there so it hasn't been ridden much. We headed east and south through Woodbury, Afton, Hastings, and stopped for coffee and tea in Prescott. We headed south and golly, those bluff roads are awesome. Inside my helmet I was yelling "Awesome!" in a Grinchy voice. I love going up and down hills. One hill was so steep I had to downshift into a lower gear. I could smell the grass as we passed people mowing their lawns. I could smell the cows and the manure. I could smell the lake. I could smell the hot grease as we passed roadside cafes. We went through Diamond Bluff, Maiden Rock, Stockholm, Nelson, and Wabasha. We kept Lake Pepin on our right. I saw some white caps out there. The wind was breezy but not gusty. We stopped for lunch and headed back through Hastings and Afton again. What a great trip; we're gonna have to do that again. Playing hooky is so much more fun than working.