Event & Trip
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August 18, 2013
Mpls/Stpl, MN
20th Annual Chocolate Lovers Ride |
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Coordinators: Karen Holmquist & Sherrie Mitchell |
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Click on the small pictures to view the full-size photos |
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Photos by: Karen Holmquist |
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| Minnehaha Falls, Mpls | WWI Monument, St Paul | |||
| Chocolate
Lovers' Ride #22!! 22 years!! Yes, that is the number of
years Karen & Sherrie have run this popular ride. Alan
Moore, our "club historian", looked up the first year of our Chocolate
Lovers' Ride - it was Oct. of 1992! Although the ride has evolved
over the years, the basic plan remains - a celebration & enjoyment
of chocolate, and a 20+ mile (round) trip from the Lake Harriet area of
south Mpls, along Minnehaha Pkwy, to Minnehaha Falls, over the Ford
bridge to St Paul, along the Mississippi River Pkwy, up Summit Ave to
Victoria Crossing for lunch, and then a leisurely ride back to South
Mpls. We still start with a tasty breakfast of cherry-chocolate coffee, orange juice, fruit, and chocolate treats. In the old days, most Chocolate Lovers would also wrap their helmets with aluminum foil twisted at the top, with a long crepe paper tail trailing with the words: HERSHEY'S Chocolate Kisses, or just the word Chocolate. We were quite an impressive sight, the group of us riding in line with our long Hershey tails flowing behind us, and the sun reflecting off our foil-covered helmets! This year only our co-chair Karen wore the traditional Hershey's helmet, and she carried it off very stylishly! This year's ride was on Sunday, August 18. It was a beautiful day, although it did get very hot as the day developed. We met at Lynnhurst Field Park in South Mpls, had our traditional tasty breakfast, and then 12 strong fast riders took off on Minnehaha Pkwy, with John Stiefel, our Biking Coordinator, leading the group, and Karen following. Sherrie drove the "sag wagon", as she has for a number of years, prepared to help in any way needed. In the past, she has picked up broken bikes, broken riders (or both), administered basic First Aid (Band-aids), and assisted with emergency help for more serious injuries (only once, thankfully, in all these years). Our group picked up 4 additional riders at Minnehaha Falls, who chose to do the shorter version of the ride (12 miles), thus giving us a total of 16 bikers. We stopped for chocolate and photos at "our" traditional monument at the base of Summit Ave, overlooking the river - see Karen's 2 photos; the other one taken of the group at Minnehaha Falls. After the quick break for chocolate and photos, we continued up Summit Ave to Victoria Crossing and had lunch at Billy's, a spot where we have "done" lunch for many years. The ride back was uneventful, and thankfully, less crowded. Although it was a lovely day for our ride, the route itself was very crowded this year, especially in the morning, with various races and marathons going on, and other festive events along the way, plus hundreds of other riders out, also enjoying the beautiful day. We decided that probably next year we will move the ride to a week-day morning when, hopefully, it will be less crowded and safer for our group. Thanks to all those who came out for our 2013 CLs'R & our 22nd annual ride! We appreciate your participation and acknowledge all those who have ridden in all, or most, of our 22 rides! We look forward to seeing you all next summer, and we hope that many others will be inspired to join us, as well! Karen & Sherrie |
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