Keystone Trail, Omaha, Nebraska

Friday, September 14, 2012

20 miles

Left Sioux Falls this morning a little before 8 am. Drove south to Sioux City, Iowa and continued south in Iowa on Interstate 29 until we were east of Omaha, Nebraska. We then crossed the Missouri River and arrived at the trailhead for our ride. 

While we were in Iowa I got some information at the visitor's center about barn quilts. We were going to be driving through a county that had some of them and we thought it would be fun to go see some of these quilts that were painted on old barns. We spent almost 2 hours trying to find them. Unfortunately, we never found them but we did get to see some of the area called Loess Hills. We also went through the town of Onawa whose claim to fame is that it has the widest main street in the USA.

We started our ride in Democracy Park. This trail followed a creek through Omaha. There were some very nice things about this trail. It went north to south so we didn't have to worry about taking a wrong turn. We went 10 miles south and then turned around and came back 10 miles north. We didn't have to worry about traffic at all. The trail had underpasses under all the roads. About half of the underpasses had graffiti artwork so we  got some culture today while riding.

When we got to the trail parking lot and were unloading the bike an older woman was walking in the park. She came up to us and said "I love that shirt, God bless America". Clay was wearing a red, white and blue biking jersey that has stars and stripes on it. She said she was going to a pre- nuptial reception tonight and she would like to wear a shirt like Clay's to it. Too bad he didn't have an extra one to give to her!

Some of the things I didn't like about today's trail. It wasn't very scenic and the creek smelled. Every time we went under a road we got closer to the creek and got a good whiff of it. We also passed a shooting range and there was lots of gun fire and they were facing us. It was eerie and I was just praying we were out of their firing range.

Today's weather: Fabulous! Sunny and 75F

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Thursday, September 13, 2012
25 miles

Had breakfast this morning with Clay's uncle and aunt before we left Fargo. I should have taken a picture of the waffles they made, absolutely delicious!

We started our bike ride a little later today than normal. We checked into the hotel and then went out to ride.  Our hotel is just a few blocks from the trail so it was very convenient to get on the trail. This trail follows the Big Sioux River and loops around the city. What amazed me was there were 16 parks that we passed on this loop. If you can't find a park you liked in this city something is not right.

We ran into 3 different sections of the trail that had construction. One wasn't marked and a vehicle was blocking the trail so we had to dismount and walk around the truck. The second section was marked very clearly and had easy detour signs to follow. The last section had a trail closed barrier blocking the path but bikers and runners were on it so we followed everyone else and went around the barrier. It did look like there had been work along the sides of the trail but nothing today was being done.

We made 1 wrong turn today. We came to a fork in the trail and it wasn't marked which way to go and............we picked the wrong way! The trail ended a little less than a mile later so we turned around and went back and chose the correct way.

The Falls of the Big Sioux River is really beautiful! We were told that because of the drought the water level is down this year. It was still breath taking.

Well, it finally happened. After 11+ years of riding the tandem we had an incident today. We had stopped to look at the Falls and I was still clipped onto the pedals. We decided to go a little further down the trail to get a better look. Clay had to back the bike up and turn it a little so we could go where  we wanted to. When he turned the bike we hit an uneven part of the trail and the bike went down. Clay had 1 foot still clipped in but as the bike was going down he was able to unclip. He has a leg that is now hurting. I ended up on the ground still clipped onto the bike. I got a few scratches but was otherwise unhurt. I figure tomorrow I will have some bruises and will be sore in some unusual places!

Today's weather: Sunny and breezy. Temperature of 75.

Red River Trail, Fargo, North Dakota

Wednesday, September 12, 2012
14 miles

We left Minneapolis early this morning so we could arrive in Fargo before lunch. A cold front came in sometime in the night and it is much cooler now. We had to cover the bike seats for the trip because it started sprinkling and it looked like we would get into rain.

We crossed the Red River just before 11:30 and had a delicious lunch with Clay's Uncle and Aunt, Chandice and Thema Johnson, at a nice place in downtown Fargo. Thema had gathered all kinds of maps and information for us about riding our bike in Fargo. She would make an excellent travel agent. They actually own a tandem but couldn't ride with us today because they had a prior appointment that they couldn't cancel. It would have been fun to have them along today. 

We rode along the Red River on both the North Dakota and Minnesota side. It was very beautiful! There weren't too many people out on the trail today but the ones we came across were very friendly. Another bike friendly town!

 Red River of the North

 Crossing over the river to Moorhead, Minnesota

 Hopperstad Stave Church Replica

 Another view of the river

 Bike Jail (notice the blue tandem)

Old Fargo Depot, now a bike store

Today's Weather: Cool (low 70's) and Windy

Grand Rounds Trail, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Tuesday, September 11, 2012
37 miles

 Lake Calhhoun with the Minneapolis skyline

Yesterday the trail we rode was country, today we were in the city. We rode the Grand Rounds trail through 7 different districts in the Minneapolis area. They were all very unique and beautiful. Minneapolis is a very bike friendly city. I do have to say that riding in a unfamiliar city is sometimes difficult. It is very easy to miss bike trail signs. Several times today we missed a turn so we actually got to see more of Minneapolis than we had planned. 

We are staying with my college roommate here in Minneapolis. It has been 16 years since I have seen her and we had a lot of catching up to do, stayed up way too late last night!

Today's weather: Hot and Windy! We just thought coming north would be cooler!

Me and Mary

Elroy-Sparta Trail, Wisconsin

Monday, September 10, 2012

Spent Sunday night at the Franklin Victorian B&B in Sparta, Wisconsin. They offer a bike shuttle service and we took advantage of that. They transported us this morning to Elroy where we started riding on the trail. This trail has been converted from an abandoned railroad and has the distinction of being Wisconsin's first bicycle trail and America's first rails to trails path. It is 35 miles long and is known for it's trestles and tunnels. The longest tunnel is three-quarters of a mile long. You are suppose to walk your bike through the tunnels but since no one was around we actually rode through two of the three tunnels. We just went very slow.

 Walking through tunnel two

Tunnel one

The towns along the trail are Elroy, Kendall (love that name), Wilton, Norwalk, and Sparta. They are small farm and Amish communities. Ate lunch in Norwalk at The Main Street Cafe. Sparta is known as the "Bicycling Capital of America" and has the "World's Largest Bike".

Ben Biking. The world's largest bike in Sparta, Wisconsin

As we came out of tunnel three we saw Tunnel Tom. He is well known in the area. Back in the 50s, as a little boy he would wait in his backyard every day at 3 pm for the train headed for Chicago. It would come barreling out of the tunnel and pass right by his house. The train conductor would toss him a candy bar, and a newspaper for Tom's dad. Tom is now in his 60s and the trains are forever gone but Tom still spends plenty of time waiting in that same backyard. He now waits for bicyclist to come along. He has candy bars, Gatorade, and flashlights for sell but is more interested in conversation than in turning a profit. I think he should also sell towels because you get wet going through tunnel three!

Amish horse and buggy in the background

Today's Weather: Perfect! Started out in the 60's and ended up in the 80's.