Posts Tagged ‘bike trail’
People Connecting
Our social calendar is humming lately at an uncharacteristic pace. On Friday, we went out to dinner with Cyndie’s brother, Ben, and his wife, Sara, and then they took us to see The Garcia Project at the Granada Theater in Uptown.
Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s passing and marking their 15th anniversary as a band, The Garcia Project is featuring full classic Jerry Garcia Band setlist recreations from 1976-1995 on this tour.
It was definitely a trip back in time. Staying out late to enjoy entertainment at the expense of a full night’s sleep is also something that reminds me of my younger days.
There was no opportunity to sleep in on Saturday morning because I was heading out to meet up with my biking friends in Oakdale, MN, to ride the Gateway and Brown’s Creek Trails to Stillwater.
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It was a good chance to log time on the saddle and catch up with friends who share a history of riding the annual June Tour of Minnesota together. I felt pretty good with the 28-mile effort, but my butt is telling me I need to get more time on the bike to toughen up before the week in the middle of June. Luckily, I have a four-day ride on state trails planned in the Sparta and La Crosse area of Wisconsin with Rich Gordon to solve the time-on-saddle issue.
When I got home from biking, I had time to shower before our friends, George and Anneliese arrived with their trailer and three dogs for a three-day stay.
We kicked off their visit with the first of our ongoing CrossCribb competitions after dinner to pick up where we left off when they used to live with us for a time. The guys defended our honor against the women. A rematch is guaranteed.
I’m loving the interaction with friends, and giving up on my usual routine for a while, although the grass doesn’t stop growing while I’m off having fun. I may need to pull away for an hour or so to save the labyrinth from being swallowed by tall grass at some point today.
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Full Advantage
Taking full advantage of the summer-like weather on a Sunday in October, nine cycling comrades and I rode bike trails to Stillwater and dined for lunch outside on the patio of the Freight House Restaurant. It was absolutely beautiful under the blue sky of the great outdoors.
I took very few pictures while on the bike due to very heavy traffic in both directions on the trail.
Rich captured a good shot of me sporting my pumpkin-orange, perfectly Octoberish cycling jersey.
My choice for lunch was a crispy shrimp po-boy sandwich.
A passerby kindly took a picture of us all posing with the St. Croix River behind us and the edge of Wisconsin beyond.
It was good to see so many people out and about on this gorgeous afternoon. There were oodles of people walking their dogs. I saw a skateboarder who looked a lot older than you’d expect, a young woman on roller skis racing toward us on the trail, hordes of people lined up waiting to board the paddleboat. Walkers, runners, and a significant number of e-bikes.
We rolled along at a comfortable pace for all and chatted the miles away.
Can you say, “Pleasant?”
Yeah, it was.
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