See a water tower; find a town

Outside of Avon

Fresh from seeing the walking play, Nature at the Arboretum we headed out to the Lake Wobegon Trail leaving from St. Joseph to Freeport.  It was a perfect (almost) summer day with sunny skies, winds from the South at 20-25 mph (gusts of 30 mph), and temperatures in the high 80s. The sides of the trail were covered with summer wildflowers.  We rode through clouds of dragon flies, grasshoppers and at one point a flock of tree swifts.  Just before Avon we spied three sand hill cranes who took flight as soon as I got off the bike to take a photo.  Hawks were soaring in the stiff breezes; we had a cooper hawk, eagle and vulture glide just feet above our bike.  As Thoreau said in the play Friday night, "I must draw my vigor from a wild source".  We were inspired and excited to be out on this awesome day.

The Lake Wobegon trail follows tracks that once went through each of the small towns.  The landmark of note is the distinctive water towers that are usually located at a high point in the town.  As we approach they are frequently the first thing we see.  Water towers serve a practical purpose.  Although you might think they hold all the water supply, they actually only hold a day's worth of water.  It's a back up for peak usage.  The water tower supplies pressure for all the homes in its vicinity.  We rode through four towns during this ride:  St. Joseph, Avon, Albany and Freeport.  Each has a unique water tower that stands over the community.

The color of wildflowers this time of year is yellow but along the Lake Wobegon trail we were treated with the occasional cluster of purple coneflowers which is in the aster family.  This are native, perennial plants and favor dry conditions especially along roads and ditches.  I can vouch for the fact that goldfinches love their seed heads.  I don't trim my coneflowers back in the fall; in winter our goldfinches who stay all year will pull seed from the heads.  It's my favorite flower. 

The journey back to St. Joe was a major effort.  The wind became more of a headwind because the Freeport to Albany trail bends to the Southeast.  We're a high profile vehicle so each gust was an obstacle to ride through.  I was definitely thinking about my feet by the time we got back to St. Joe's.  One hint:  I wear a neckerchief around my neck and keep it damp - cools one down. 

We ate at Kay's Kitchen in St. Joe's.  It's been a fixture in St. Josephs since 1972.   Kay's is just what you would expect for a small town cafe:  great service, lots of refills, and homemade pie!  The perfect end to a  great day of nature and riding. 

Tandem blown into next county

The challenge is whether the lead on this blog should be the wind or the flat tire but really it was the wind that made the day a challenge. We knew we were headed out wherever we went to sustained winds of 15-25 mph and gusts up to 40 mph. But who could resist biking on a day with 70 degree temperatures and blue skies filled with white cumulus clouds that stretched on forever?

We drove down I-94 with many other people to St. Joseph and the Lake Wobegon Trail. St. Joe's is a college town in the middle of our great agriculture landscape. We headed straight into the wind telling ourselves "it's at our back coming home." The Wobegon trail, named after Garrison Keillor's mythical hometown, stretches through farmlands, passes lakes and allows the cyclist to cruise through little downtowns of small communities.

The first stop is Avon with a fully equipped trailhead including a tower for sightseeing and a bathroom. There are covered picnic tables. This central area hosts a farmers' market on Saturdays. Next weekend Garrison Keillor will host his anniversary show from this trailhead. Our chain popped off just before Avon but Will got that fixed in no time. We watched vultures trying to catch a thermal near a farm (in picture). One drifted almost eye level to us. We were probably looking like we'd drop at any moment.

Next stop is Albany with a striking red brick Catholic Church called the Church of Seven Dolors that includes a school and retirement home. Right next door is a golf course and across the street is the funeral home. The complete package for retirees. The big Kraft factory is in the middle of town. Bad news is there are no facilities although we hear the bowling alley located at the turn for Holdingford has nice bathrooms.

We ventured further on the trail (usually we turn for Holdingford) and beat our way against the wind to Freeport. What a pretty town! We ventured out on the street to see Church of the Sacred Heart. It has spectacular stain glass windows that you can only really see from inside because the outside has these thick storm windows.

The wind continued to blow fiercely in our faces so we turned at Freeport for home. It was going to be a 42 mile ride and we were putting alot of muscle into the first half. Remember there is no dropping down on handlebars on the Screamer. Just as we were coming back into Avon the back wheel wobbled. I said, "Something bad is happening..." Yes, something bad had happened - our FIRST flat tire on the trail. Fortunately we were within walking distance of the trailhead and Will skillfully fixed the flat and used all remaining energy to pump air into the tire from our tiny pump.

It was a great flower day - the Lake Wobegon trail really features prairie flowers. We saw banks of daisies, false sunflowers, yellow clover, and birds-foot trefoil. The wooded areas still had Canada anemonies and pink wild roses. We saw our first purple prairie clover and spreading dogbane. Also sighted: pennycress, buttercups, common milkweed, goat's beard. BUT the sighting of the day was two groupings (outside of Albany) of our state flower, the Showy Ladyslipper. This is a truly spectacular flower.

Not much remains on this stretch of the old railway except for some metal mileposts.

The ride back from Freeport was half the time as the ride back (excluding fixing flat times). I hoisted my long sleeve shirt over my head on the way back to see if it could act like a sail. Maybe it worked. Next weekend the Central Lakes State Trail.