Art-A-Whirl, enemy reconnaissance, Sunday ride

Saturday Sascha and I met up with a group of Birchwoodies to check out Art-A-Whirl and afterwards her teammate's Modern Cafe in NE. This was St. Paul's Art Crawl cubed! We only had time to check out one floor of the Northrup-King building, including another teammate's (Kristen Arden) awesome studio, before people started getting hungry. By the time we headed over to the Modern we were almost 20 people, and it looked like we wouldn't be able to get seated, but Jim (Grell, owner and Birchwoodie) made it happen. Cam's road rash and sling from her TT crash last week helped too! There are some tough chicks on Birchwood, with three crashes recently, and everyone getting back on the bike.
__I'm really liking NE Minneapolis. It really reminds me of the best of Portland. Maybe it was just the Art-A-Whirl going on, but it was awesome seeing piles of bikes locked up to anything that was bolted down, homegrown music, homegrown beer, local art, great food served with pride, and a generally hip but unpretentious crowd all having a good time. This is the kind of thing I miss from Portland, and I guess it takes a while to get my bearings and find the places to go and things to do in a new city. It also helps to know people who know these things!
__We had a good time at the Modern, which, like its name implies, is a midcentury-modern cafe with simple but yummy food and a great decor. Midcentury modern doesn't seem to have become trendy here yet, so Jim's in a great position when it does, although he certainly didn't lack for customers when we were there! I felt a bit like I was fraternizing with the enemy, but the only strategy that was discussed was personal grooming and how long it takes before couples stop making out.
__While I'm giving credit where credit's due, I was impressed with Fairview's Southdale urgent care, where I went after having tonsilities symptoms consistent with strep. I arrived at what I expected to be a busy after-work time slot, but got in right away, was seen quickly, was diagnosed quickly and efficiently, and was sent on my way with clear instructions. I received a follow-up call to check on how I was doing, and with the negative 24 hour strep test results. Very impressive!
__Sunday was a sparse day for the Cat6 8:30 Sunday ride. In the end 5316 and a strong new guy Mark showed up, and we did my Rosemount loop since we'd all get lost trying to do the Minnetonka route. Drew (5316) is a diesel locomotive, so I got a good hard tempo workout in. It's about the only way I'd get that kind of workout, because it's hard to motivate myself to work that hard for that long otherwise! This is why I haven't done any road races (other than Oxbow): I like to get my suffering over with in an hour or less!