It Couldn't Have Been Any Worse... Or Any Better!

Submitted Rider Story From 2009 Ironman


We started with a group of 6 at about 7:15.

We rode like crazy to Jordan with that tailwind.

I noticed a soggy rear tire about 4 miles from the High School, but managed to nurse myself to the Hoigards service stand and they got it fixed.

Meanwhile in the Jordan HS lunchroom, we ate, drank coffee, and spent about 45 min rationalizing that the lightning would probably strike other riders before us.

An annoucement for busses back to Lakeville was eventually made and a few people cleared out.

Half of our group decided to finish the 65; my brother (Brian Johnson), me (Jason Johnson) and my friend Mark Nelson from Brainerd set out to complete the 100.

We got soaked to the core by the time we were half way to LeSuer, but the tailwind made things seem bearable.

We found out later that a local "Farm Show" was the soucre of un-ending diesel truck and RV's traffic roaring past us on one long N/S stretches.

When we got to LeSeur; there were about 50 people in the school.

After eating and getting a coffee, a whistle blew and a guy said a sign-up sheet would need to filled if you wanted to get a bus ride back to Lakeville.

All but us and about 8 other people got up and left.

A security girl came up and asked me if I was going to be there long, because if I was she would take my clothes an put them in the Home Ec. room dryer!

We stayed for an hour, our clothes eventually became warm but still moist.

Just as we left LeSeur and realized why it had been so easy to get there (big east wind), Brian, my brother got a puncture in his front tire.

We returned to the school to fix it under some shelter and then began the 20 mile trek to Montgomery.

The wind was terrible, our speed ranged from 9 to 12 mph, we had to really work together on that stretch.

Earlier, due to the amount of time we used resting, we had thoughts of skipping the rest stop in Montgomery, but by the time we got there we needed a reprieve from the wind.

There were a few riders in the small school, but the volunteers were basically packing thing up, we stretched and huddled around the dryer vents in the mens room.

As we left the building I was starting to feel really cold and tired, but after we started pedaling things became better.

As we approached Lonsdale, my mother, who had been waiting in Lonsdale for us to show up, intercepted us on the road and took a few pictures as we descended a big hill.

Shortly thereafter we turned North (out of the wind) and I felt reborn, the rain had somewhat stopped and our speeds climbed; 20+ as we came into town.

After a short stop at the Legion Hall and a bit of warm food, we hit out for the last leg.

It felt good to know that only 20 miles remained and I knew relatively how the route would be since it had been part of the previous year's 62 mi route.

I was challenging with all the hills but the rain had stopped and I was happy the leg was mixed with north running stretches out of the wind.

As we approached Lakeville we ran into some other riders which was a rare site since LeSeur.

It took us 7hrs 15min of pedaling and a combined 3.5 hours of breaks to finish.

We were probably some of the last people to roll in, and the sag wagon passed us many times on the last leg.

My truck wouldn't start after we had loaded the bikes up, my starter went out; finally it went and we raced home so my brother could get his suitcase and get to the airport to fly out to Spokane WA.

We all were completely wet for about 2/3rd's of the ride, but the breaks helped and we were determined to do it since my brother flew in from Washington to ride.

What a test, it really couldn't have been any worse!....or better

- Jason