Who ever said road biking was boring must have been riding the same loop of highway over and over again until they were dizzy.  I think I would avoid the road ride too if this was the only option.  But it's not!  Variety, camaraderie, endurance training, scenery, and fresh air can all come together to make a great ride.  That's what I hope to create with the new Thursday night COGGS road rides.

My name is Rich Mattson.  I am a roadie.  Oh sure, I own a mountain bike and enjoy getting off the beaten track, but road biking has taken hold of me for the time being, and I like it!  I am 46 years old and have been riding bicycle for about 8 years now, ever since I found that with age comes weight gain.  Biking not only solved that problem, it has also become my favorite pastime. I try to get in at least 100 miles per week.  I have been attending and leading rides through VELO Duluth for 4 years, but these rides did not occur in 2002.  I felt that the COGGS Club was a great forum to start the rides anew.

The Thursday night road rides started on May 8 and will be held every week through the month of September.  The rides start at various locations throughout the northland area. Loop routes are my specialty and will be used whenever and wherever possible. Rides will start promptly at 6:10 PM.  Don't be late or you will miss a great ride.  The pace of the ride will be between 16 and 18 mph, which reflects a fairly aggressive pace, but not a race pace.  Rides will cover 30 to 50 miles and last 2 to 3 hours, depending on available light and seasonal conditioning.

A couple of rides have already taken place.  The May 8^th event was not well attended (smart people).  I started out at the Hermantown Safety Center and went out through Proctor, Midway, and back into Hermantown.  My only riding partner was Mary Jo Howland.  She was not even on the ride, but just linked up with me along the way.  At least the company was pleasant because the weather most certainly was not. Through high winds and cold toes, we chatted our way on a brief 20 mile jaunt, all the while questioning our sanity.  It was fun.  You should have been there.

The May 15^th ride had a little better turnout. The meeting place was Thompson Hill Rest area.  Temps were again cool and quite windy.   As I took my bike out of the trunk of my car, up pulled a threesome that had ridden up the hill from Ski Hut in West Duluth: Ty Frost, Greg Johnson, and Bart Rodberg.  All three of them were on mountain bikes and said they just came to check out the ride.  At this point, I knew this old man was in for a

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