WFMAT - A little Fargoing with friends

I mentioned a couple of days ago that we had a little gathering.   It was an amazing day.  I've held off with my story because I've been waiting to read a few of the other blogger's stories.   Today, I'll share my version of Wednesday's Fargoing Minneapolis Adventure Tour (WFMAT). [caption id="attachment_243" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Fargoes, friends and food - All days should start this way!"][/caption] WFMAT started off innocently enough when GT said that he wanted to make it up to the cities for a couple days of riding.  He also said Captain Bob wanted to come too.  Like any closet tour planner, I took this opportunity to claim one full day for a little Salsa Fargoing Adventure. I didn't even tell GT and Captain Bob what our plan was until the night before.  I only sent them a list of gear and recommended that they not drink too much and make sure their legs were feeling good. After some late night wrenching finishing off GT's Fargo, we each got about 4 to 4.5 hours of sleep.  5:25AM came up quickly.  I woke Captain Bob and proceeded down stairs to check the weather.   I was hearing some mild thunder, but thankfully the radar showed only some really small cells. We proceeded to the starting point.  Just as we were heading out, I got a call from Koski and he said it was dumping rain in Bloomington, our half way point destination.  I didn't tell the guys and continued to tell them we'd be OK.  Just as we rolled out on the paved bike path, we started getting wet.  Crap.  Another phone call.  I stopped.  Thankfully it was Kid Riemer and he was heading out to meet us at the Cedar Bridge.   I could tell GT was a little skeptical.  Oh well, as tour guide it was my duty to let them know we'd be OK and it was going to be awesome.   Little did we know how awesome it would be. We were still waiting for about 5 guys at the trailhead.   Due to the early morning shower, we were a little wet and cold, so we rolled out slowly to keep warm.  Riding two up with one close behind, we rolled the 5-6 miles of gravel double track.   In those few short miles, we had an owl swoop in front of us and land in a tree just over the trail, we saw some river otters and then we capped it off with a view of a bald eagle.  Not bad.  The sun also came up and thankfully the skies were clear.   We took a slight detour so Captain Bob could photograph some urban art and then I showed them the old Cedar Bridge. Our crew ended up being 9 folks and after grouping up, we headed west to a nice spot by the river.  We found just the right spot.  Meiser pulled off and Kid, Meiser and I unloaded our gear and started making breakfast and coffee.  My stove crapped but we had two good ones so we were OK. [caption id="attachment_244" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="You can carry lots of gear with a Fargo"][/caption] Another group built and managed a small fire.  It wasn't that cold, but the combo of a little rain, some sweat and cool breeze coming from the south west really chilled some folks.  Nothing like a fire, hot coffee, some hot oatmeal, pastries from Baker's Wife, and a few dark chocolate covered raisins to warm your body. [caption id="attachment_245" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Fire & Coffee - Ahhhhh....Internal & External Heat! "][/caption] After the last hard boiled egg with hot sauce went down, we hit the trail.   We ended up with 40-45 miles of pavement, gravel, sand and single track. [caption id="attachment_246" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Late Fall Single Track"][/caption] Everyone ended the ride with smiles.  Our all day adventure ride gave us plenty of time to chat, have fun and share some great stories.   Finished the day up with some king size burritos.  Now that is what I call Fargoing.  Thanks crew.