Despite heat and humidity we conspired to leave work an hour early and head across town and then South to Welch for an evening ride on the Cannon River Trail. Traffic merging from three to two lanes caused bumper to bumper traffic to the 35E merge when we spun off to head South. The longest wait occurred two minutes from the parking lot at Welch where we had to wait for blacktop to be rolled on the road. It gave us time to sunscreen and for me to repack valuables into the bike bag. Still we didn't hit the trail until 5:45 pm.
For those riders like us who like the trail to ourselves, this is a prime time to bike especially during the week. Not only is the trail traffic light, but you also get to see more animals and hear the incredible cacophony of bird song.
You can try to sing this to the 12 days of Christmas, well maybe not...but here is our litany of animals: butterflies, cardinals, cat, chipmunk, three eaglets on the eagle nest calling for their parents, one hummingbird, kildeers on the pond shore, explosive grouse, groundhog, 26 (count them) rabbits, one green slimed turtle on the trail, a weasel and a vulture flying right in front of us at eye level. This doesn't even account for the flowers.
We continued at a good pace even though a tandem passed us (curse them) on the way to Cannon Falls. Just over 13 mph which is now a consistent pace for us. We were the last souls to leave Welch with darkness settling in and a crescent moon shining over the bluffs. The birds were still singing but otherwise it was quiet with the red glow of sunset lingering on the hills.
And yes, this is why we bike...
Showing posts with label tandems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tandems. Show all posts
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Turkeys and Chipmunks and Snakes...oh my!!
After a week of hot, humid weather and frequent threat of storms we had a Saturday ripe for biking. No rain in the forecast. With Ingrid's graduation party that night we decided to stick closer to home and drove down to Welch - earlier than usual but after waffles. There were the rollerbladers who thought they were funny by telling me I only had to coast. It's the same as people who ask us if we wished our harpist daughter played the piccolo. Hey dude, I AM the stoker, the power pedaler, the water carrier. Dork.
Okay, got past that and road first to Red Wing making great time then back to Cannon Falls to Welch. We averaged 13 mph which is a good rate for us at this point in the season. It was hot so we drank plenty of water filling up our bottles at the NEW water fountain in Red Wing. Great improvement. We did see one other tandem coming out of Cannon Falls but they were moving and we were sitting on a bench. It was a regular road bike.
I almost forgot Molly, a young girl, riding with her family. As they approached us Molly decided to nonchalantly ride right in our direction. Her mother kept telling her to move over but it was her father's "Jesus, watch where you're going!" that saved the day.
It was a great day for almost hitting animals on the trail including two garter snakes slithering across (we happen to like snakes having raised a number of them including Baby, the yellow rat snake), scolding chipmunks and two good size wild turkeys who couldn't make a decision whether to climb the bank or go down to the river so instead stood on the trail until the last moment. We also got a good view of one of the parental eagles soaring over the trail. There was too much of a crowd at the eagle nest to stop and gawk at the young eagles.
The star of the wild flowers was the cow parsnip which stands in some places almost three feet tall. These have broad clusters of white flowers that seem to attract lots of bees. Beware of the wild parsnip which will do bad things to your skin (these are yellow). We also saw penny cress, red clover and birds-foot trefoil in addition to lots of flowers we didn't identify because of our great speed.
After the ride we changed shirts, me baring my midriff to the crowds and headed to Red Wing for lunch. We highly recommend Lily's where we had chicken curry and Thai chicken wraps, tall ice teas, and excellent service. You can also buy your greeting cards while you eat. They are a coffee shop too.
Met Uncle Jim at Ingie's graduation and we traded bike trail stories then went to my brother's to congratulate him on returning safe and sound from the Rocky Mountain bike tour. Just can't get enough of the bike.
Okay, got past that and road first to Red Wing making great time then back to Cannon Falls to Welch. We averaged 13 mph which is a good rate for us at this point in the season. It was hot so we drank plenty of water filling up our bottles at the NEW water fountain in Red Wing. Great improvement. We did see one other tandem coming out of Cannon Falls but they were moving and we were sitting on a bench. It was a regular road bike.
I almost forgot Molly, a young girl, riding with her family. As they approached us Molly decided to nonchalantly ride right in our direction. Her mother kept telling her to move over but it was her father's "Jesus, watch where you're going!" that saved the day.
It was a great day for almost hitting animals on the trail including two garter snakes slithering across (we happen to like snakes having raised a number of them including Baby, the yellow rat snake), scolding chipmunks and two good size wild turkeys who couldn't make a decision whether to climb the bank or go down to the river so instead stood on the trail until the last moment. We also got a good view of one of the parental eagles soaring over the trail. There was too much of a crowd at the eagle nest to stop and gawk at the young eagles.
The star of the wild flowers was the cow parsnip which stands in some places almost three feet tall. These have broad clusters of white flowers that seem to attract lots of bees. Beware of the wild parsnip which will do bad things to your skin (these are yellow). We also saw penny cress, red clover and birds-foot trefoil in addition to lots of flowers we didn't identify because of our great speed.
After the ride we changed shirts, me baring my midriff to the crowds and headed to Red Wing for lunch. We highly recommend Lily's where we had chicken curry and Thai chicken wraps, tall ice teas, and excellent service. You can also buy your greeting cards while you eat. They are a coffee shop too.
Met Uncle Jim at Ingie's graduation and we traded bike trail stories then went to my brother's to congratulate him on returning safe and sound from the Rocky Mountain bike tour. Just can't get enough of the bike.
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