This ride was broken into several parts, almost completely on bike boulevards or trails. I stopped a few times to snap pictures but took most of them while I was moving because I am a badass. Seriously though, can a biker please tell me is there like a special camera for biking or something? Using a phone to snap pictures while riding is impossible. I need a button to hit, not some icon on a touch screen. Personally, I use my Canon PowerShot which is at least six years old but I'm happy it still has a use. (At least it has a higher resolution than my iPod.)
Part 1 - River-Lake Greenway to Lake Hiawatha to the creek trail. The RiverLake Greenway is such a good idea in theory but a bit of a clusterfuck in its delivery. So much so that the city eventually just painted a bike lane on the immensly more rideable 42nd street only two blocks away. It makes me a little sad that they didn't put more effort into the Greenway when a couple small changes would've made a big difference. (Get rid of all the stop signs for the bikes.) Sigh.
Part 2 - West River Parkway. I hadn't really been on the parkway since Marathon Sunday. The bike trails have been paved over in the last couple of years so the ride is really smooth. There were other people out today but not so many that the trail was crowded. A few serious bikers rode by me and a few people were out walking their dogs. Below: see how the biker (me) has a shadow? That requires sunshine.
Part 3 - Midtown Greenway. The Midtown Greenway (the one everyone has heard of) is like the jewel in the Minneapolis bike system. For very good reason. It's 5.5 miles of bike and pedestrian only trail. It does cross roads in a few places but it's largely protected from traffic. A seemingly small thing that makes this trail so much better is the paint job clearly shows where east and west bound bike traffic should be and the space reserved for pedestrians. Some of our other shared trails lack this feature and it makes a big difference.
They're doing construction on the Greenway in a couple places. The Sabo bridge is closed which seems to be an eternal state of affairs. I think this time it's related to construction on an electric plant near the bridge and not the bridge itself that's broken right now but that's happened too. Also, there's some craziness around Lake Calhoun, but I'm told that will ultimately lead to a much better situation for land and trail use at that lake, a situation that could use some addressing.
Lake Cedar, Luce Line Trail and Kennelworth Trail - some of my favorite places ever. I think I like this part so much becuase I found it on one of my first bike rides. That first ride gave me a lot of confidence and for some reason I associate that feeling with Lake Cedar. I've also had some really good summer long runs around the lake and on those trails. The view into downtown is spectacular. I also love that the trails separate into three paved paths, one for inbound bikes, one for outbound bikes and one for inbound and outbound pedestrians.
Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet and back to the RiverLake Greenway - my camera was starting to die by this point. I only charged the battery for about five minutes before I left. Also, I think there's still sand in the mechanism that retracts the lens. Sand would be from this day. Lake Calhoun's bike path is in dire need of repaving. Maybe once they get the chaos between Calhoun and Isles over with, they'll come repave this thing. Harriet was short and sweet on this trip; I've spent some time there recently so that's okay. And the RiverLake Greenway. Sigh. This portion of the greenway the road is such a mess. It's a such an experience of potholes and manhole covers and chewed up pavement. Youch.
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