Join the Cycle starts SO SOON!

... and I really really need to make the time for some training rides! So yesterday I peer pressured my sister Meryl into most of a nice long ride with me. We started out heading into Saint Paul, and it was definitely the longest ride she'd been on. She was so pissed, she tried to throw me into the Mississippi!

Just kidding! She actually did amazing, and rode over 35 miles by the end of the day. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride, warm sun, cool breeze... And most of our ride was along off-road bike paths hugging the Mississippi. The river was absolutely gorgeous, and only stinky for about a mile's portion. (it was a swampy area)
So maybe I have a morbid fascination with destruction, but the highlight of my day was taking a short stretching break while watching this old factory building get torn down. I thought it was pretty amazing, and I had never seen that kind of action from so close. Eventually it started to get pretty dusty, so we moved along, but not before snapping a few photos.


So I always joke that once we leave LA on our bikes, I'll be carrying my weight in sunscreen, because I am pretty concerned about sun protection. (I've got some irish blood, and am from FL, and refused to wear sunscreen as a kid, and got burned a whole lot, so I'm a little obsessed with taking care of my skin now)

But for some reason, yesterday I flaked out... remembered to apply the stuff to my face and the back of my neck, but I was wearing a long sleeve shirt at the time, and not thinking I'd be stripping down to a tee for the bulk of the day. So this morning I woke up in lobsterville... and my arms are not happy!

I guess it'll just be a base for that sexy tee-shirt tan I'll be working on all summer!

~casey