The 2006 Minneapolis pub ride
On Saturday September 16th, we completed our first Minneapolis Pub Ride. Although the turn-out was light, the ride was an awesome success. The route took us through the U, the west bank of the campus, St Anthony and Main, the warehouse district, and finally into Uptown, hitting all of the major bar areas in Minneapolis.
The day started out a little sketchy, with rain on my way to the start point, Ben’s house in Minneapolis, but it quickly improved. I met Stefan at Ben’s house, and then headed inside for some pre-ride donuts with Stefan and Ben. Brett showed up a little later, and we headed off.
Stop one: Whiskey Junction for bloody mary’s. Although it was barely after 10AM, there were already quite a few people here. We enjoyed their $1.50 bloody mary drink special before heading out.
We then crossed the Mississippi for the first time on our way to the U. More bloody marys were enjoyed at Sally’s, as was the staff. They must put something in the water these days… We then rode through campus where Brett showed us where he hid from reality for many years, in the Chemical Engineering building, and we crossed the Mississippi again on our way to the West Bank of the campus.
From there we rode along the Mississippi past the Mill City Museum, and to the Stone Arch Bridge. There we met with Stefan’s coworker Craig who had just finished the James Page Blubber Run. We crossed the Mississippi River for the third time on the historic Stone Arch Bridge.
We then headed to the St Anthony and Main area where, as luck would have it, there was an Oktoberfest celebration going on. We enjoyed some polka music, some not very polka music, and the City Page’s barrel rolling contest. After beating the City Page’s Lois, I then took on Ben after his win over Brett to take the title as greatest barrel-roller ever. And no, that is not a euphamism. They took pictures, and I fully expect to see myself in the City Pages next week. Buy your copy now. As we were heading out, we somehow hooked up with another group that had just finished the Blubber Run and convinced them to go the Nye’s with us for some drinks at our next stop.
We had some drinks at Nye’s, helped Ralph celebrate his birthday with cupcakes and got to know the blubber runners, Sara, Leah, Becky, Brenda and Brenda’s husband. They were a fun group, who were all older than they looked, and we convinced them to follow us to the next bar, Keegan’s.
Turns out Keegan’s had a tent set up and had an Irish band playing, Score! Although the food and drinks took a long time, we still managed to have a great time there. Leah began demanding songs from the band by yelling song names, and had farily good success. Meanwhile, Stefan danced a little bit with a Bill the Boston terrier.
Leah began demanding songs from the band by yelling song names, and had farily good success. Meanwhile, Stefan danced a little bit with a Bill the Boston terrier.
Leah, Brenda, Becky, Me, Brenda’s Hubby, Ben, Brett, and Stefan
Keegan’s had incredble bloody marys, basically a breakfast in a glass. Celery, pickle, olive, and the breakfast, a hard boiled egg and slice of bacon! Incredible.
From there we headed to Liquor Lyles. My friend Danielle and her boyfriend Wyatt met us there for a few more drinks before we headed back to Ben’s. Althought this last segment was fairly late, the great trails led us back to Ben’s with no problems. It was nice having a light, however. Amazingly, I was able to find the lights for my bike that my cousin Chris got me for Christmas in 1999, and which I had not used prior to this ride. As I’m sure anybody could guess, they were in the glove box of my car.
The ride was a huge success, and I can’t wait until the next ride, see you there.
-Soren
The score:
Mississippi River Crossings: 4
Bars visited: 8
Non bikers that joined us at some point: 8
Miles ridden: ~20
Riders who made the full ride: 3
Hours of fun: 13
Time I got up on Sunday afterwards: 8AM
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