Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Another Great Ride

Gray when we started out, but the sun came out eventually to give us a nice warm glow to an otherwise windy and cool evening. Five riders tracing out the standard Saint Paul route with an end at the Birchwood Cafe. Another great ride!  (The embedded map reflects a slightly lower mileage because of low sample rates.)

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Sunday, March 25, 2012

TNR Review, 3/20/12

We had a great little ride from the Monument, this being the first official ride of the season, we started it off with a repair or something.


The route:  15.6 miles. 49 minutes.  We were under way by 7:08 and ended up at Dunn Bros at 7:55.  Temperature about 62 degrees.  Cloudy with a few sprinkles, but not enough to even think about raingear.



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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Welcome to the TNR!

This is the official blog for the unofficial Tuesday Night Ride, or TNR.  Weekly scooter ride in the Twin Cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This year we're leaving from the parking area near the World War I Memorial Monument in Saint Paul.  It's at the west end of Summit Avenue where it intersects with the River Road.

We meet after 6:30 and ride at 7:00pm.  If it's raining a little bit, we might still right.  If it's raining a lot, it's likely someone will want to goad you into riding anyway.  And if it's snowing, we might discuss it, but won't ride.  Be prepared to ride for an hour or more, and have a scooter that is capable of highway speeds.  We don't usually go on highways, but a 50 cc scoot just won't keep up with the pack.

It's a weekly ride, so if you miss a week you can show up the next week.  Once a month, once a season, it doesn't matter to us.  We just like to ride.

The ride is usually led every week, but some weeks you'll all show up and have to come up with your own route.  The "standard" Saint Paul route is known by many, and you can take that.  Or you can just wander.

We typically end somewhere for refreshments after the ride, and it could be anything from ice cream to a sit-down restaurant.  Alcohol is not guaranteed, but it's possible, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of bringing someone underage.

Helmets are not legally required for motorscooters, but on the TNR, they might as well be.  We're not comfortable with riding with folks who don't respect the dangers of riding, and not wearing a helmet kinda falls into that camp.  Let's not argue about it.

Finally, the TNR is full of all sorts of different people.  We try to be as inclusive as possible, but most of us are experienced riders, and as such we tend to go on more "technical" rides.  Nothing scary, but if you can't ride in a group and manage a hairpin turn, crossing railroad tracks, and/or maintaining a safe speed, you might want to wait until you've got some more miles under you before joining up.  Not sure?  Just ask!  We're quite friendly.  Most of the time. :)