As promised, Hoppo showed up at 9 to make sure we had an excellent experience leaving St. Paul. Although we were sorry to say goodbye to John and Maryann, we were eager to resume our journey.
Shortly after crossing the river, where we had great views of Minneapolis in the distance, we were on a trail.
We were joined for awhile by two of Hoppo's friends, Jan and Scott. Our group attracted a fifth rider whose name I failed to learn. All the conversation and the camaraderie made time and distance fly by. We were on a highway of a trail, the Midtown Greenway.
Hoppo escorted us for 40 miles. It was great having a guide. We didn't need maps or a GPS.
He kept up a brisk pace and a lively conversation. Each time we have seen him on this visit, he was wearing a different Triple Bypass jersey. The Triple Bypass is a bicycle event in Colorado where gluttons for punishment can ride 120 miles over 3 mountain peaks in a day. Hoppo has done this 7 or 8 times, and is headed out there at the end of this week to do it again.
He knew all the places to stop. Before we knew it, we had ridden 40 miles. He left us with only one turn to make on our own, and we managed to find it because it occurred at a T-intersection.
We should have had ice cream when Hoppo did. The last 18 miles seemed almost as long as the 40 he rode with us.
Fortunately, we were ensconced in our hotel by 3:30. The thunderstorms forecast for this afternoon seem to have bypassed Monticello. We hope you escaped them too, Hoppo.
We had dinner served in a molcajete at Panch Villa's.