Catching Up

04/12/2010

in the neighborhood

along the mighty miss.

Well, it's been about a year now since Bikelogue sank ... for predictable reasons: travel, work, wanting to just ride as opposed to document the ride, and most of all, the time-consuming ritual of writing up an entry, working up a set of photos, and finally posting to a blog that no one reads. Well, almost no one. With encouragement from a single reader, this bikester/blogster is ready to make another go of it.


Thinking back on last year's rides, without thinking too hard, the best memories are of really breaking in the "Wildlife Area" ride: that loop on the gravel through the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, over the Cedar bridge, and then back on the dirt/mud "mountain bike" trail along the banks of the Minnesota River back into Mendota.


Sometimes I would take the full ride from my house, through Minnehaha Park; down below Fort Snelling and through the State Park; then up and across highway on Post Road between the airport terminals; past the Fort Snelling national military cemetery and alongside the light rail tracks down into Bloomington and finally over to the wildlife area. If I wanted a shorter ride or simply wanted to spare myself the sections of the ride that necessitated sharing the road with crazed suburban commuter cars, I would hop on the light rail with my bike and ride to Bloomington Central station, hop out there and ride the short jaunt over to the wildlife area. Either way, it was always a fun ride (this forty-something man saw his first wigeon and first baby snapping turtles on this route), and sometimes I was able to take a fun side trip down Old Cedar Road, complete with side-streams and downed tree obstacles and adjacent wetlands, up to the old (closed) bridge and back.

Old Cedar Road

Old Cedar Bridge

Early in the year both sides of the loop could be soft and soggy, and there was lots of fresh gravel on the wildlife road, so it was a tougher ride. Later in the summer the dirt was dry and hard, and the gravel was well packed, so it became a super workout ride if one wanted; I could really fly along on my cross bike, just scream along on the sparsely populated trail.

Cedar Ave Bridge -- Bikers' Accommodation

Heading back downriver on the Mendota side

Another thing that came out of these rides was the strange idea I got of paddling a stretch of the river. And it came to fruition: come October, a group of six of us put in under the Cedar bridge, fresh snow still on the boat ramp and dusting the logs along the river bank, and paddled down to Harriet Island in Saint Paul, guided for at least part of the way by a wounded Pelican.