2024 MONDAY BIKE RIDES
Led by Peggy Kvam for the Hopkins Activity Center
We had a lovely summer day for this year's Country Roads ride. I changed it a bit to take in more shady lanes and historic neighborhoods, forgoing hot sunny views of cornfields. Long Lake was our first relaxing break. Then we biked past Wayzata to the other side of Wayzata Bay to view two historic arches, with an ice-cream break at the 1895 General Store in Cottagewood.
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The theme for today's bike ride was the LRT Train, particularly the Green Line Extension Project which is bringing stations to Hopkins. We followed the new route pretty closely, biking along every newly paved section of the South Cedar Trail that we could. Then we diverged from the project with a beeline along the Midtown Greenway to the Mississipppi River. The river trail was really nice! We made it to Union Depot Station at the appointed time, meeting our two transit escorts to learn about the project and using the LRT system. We boarded onto all three train cars because each car only has two bike racks. Ask our bikers for their stories on board. Every car had a different experience. The safety committee has much work to do yet, unfortunately. Anyway, we all safely arrived at Target Field Station and had an uneventful bike ride back along the North Cedar Trail, seeing a bit more of the LRT construction along the way. It will sure be nice when our trails are reopened! I was getting kinda bored with the Minnesota River Bluffs trail, so I chose a hilly route for our journey to Lake Ann. The hills and the headwinds made it feel like a long ride to our woodsy lakeside destination where we took a welcome break (see photos below). Our second destination of Lake Susan was also a nice opportunity to rest for the hilly ride back to Hopkins. We enjoyed our route past many lakes along the way: Duck Lake, Lake Ann, Lake Susan, Rice Marsh Lake, Round Lake and Shady Oak Lake, in addition to the Bluff Creek Trail. Today we followed trails and roads around Lake Minnnetonka to our break at Noerenberg Gardens. The shady gazebo on the shore was so comfortable, I didn't want to leave! But we continued our journey and made it back to Hopkins before the intense heat of the day. Enjoy the pictures! Peggy We overcame rain (light), a downed tree on our trail, and confusion about the route (Komoot vs. RWGPS - use the RWGPS version), for a great bike ride today. We took a new route to bike out of Hopkins, eventually joining the Luce Line Trail to Wirth Park. Then the rain ended, the sun emerged, and we made a loop taking in Sochacki Park, Crystal Lake and Victory Memorial, returning to Wirth Park for lunch at the Trailhead. Their food and facility are perfect! Thanks for joining the ride today. Next week there will not be a ride due to the Fourth of July holiday. Peggy Twelve Hopkins Bikers enjoyed a pleasant ride on a pleasant day to Swan Lake, otherwise known as Lake Como. We also stopped for some cookies at the State Fair, but must have arrived too early as they were closed. We enjoyed the Tour of Homes at the Milwaukee Ave. Historic District in Minneapolis on the way back, making a cameo appearance in a video commemorating the 50th anniversary of MS Magazine. If anyone comes across the video, let me know! Enjoy our photos! It's early in the season but we are deep into our summer biking mode. Today we got through heat, humidity and hills to find the Minnesota River Overlook, hidden under Flying Cloud Drive. Somebody below us in the valley was having a bad day... I hope the ambulance made it through the woods to the problem. After our break we enjoyed the smooth cruise downhill into the river valley, with a welcome photo stop when we climbed back out to the Co. 101 bridge. Enjoy the photos! See you next week on our much flatter but scenic bike ride to Lake Como! We had a big group of 17 for our bike ride along Minnehaha Creek to the falls, and back along Nine Mile Creek. Enroute we enjoyed the soft reopening of a stretch of the South Cedar Lake Trail. I sure do miss that trail! Next we meandered through picturesque Edina with a photo stop at the old mill pond on Minnehaha Creek. Eventually we found our way to the Minnehaha Creek Trail and cruised along to the falls. Our return trip took us from end to end of the Nine Mile Creek Trail. The west part is more scenic, but the east section does provide a clear route back. I previewed several alternate routes and was foiled by road construction. Maybe next year we'll see some different scenery. We hit the weather jackpot today, and had a super bike ride to Hyland Park. The trees have leafed out and there was absolutely no snow to be seen! We biked scenic trails around Bush Lake, in Hyland Park, around Lake Normandale, and through Bryant Lake Park. We also had some lovely downhill cruises along Gleason Road and Normandale Blvd. The uphills were hardly noticeable! We welcomed a break on the plaza at the Hyland Visitor Center. Enjoy the pictures below. Once again we had 14 people (but two were not on the registration list). Please, please sign in for each ride! When we hit our max of 18, I will drop those who didn't register. The limit of 18 bikers is firm. Once all the snowbirds and world travelers return, we are going to be bumping up to it regularly, I predict. The weather was fabulous, and 14 bikers joined my ride to beaches at Wirth Park and Medicine Lake. The biggest surprise of the day was snow beside the Luce Line Trail in Wirth Park! Some of us took a side trip for a short tour led by Gary of the Carlson Island trails. (Now we know where Gayle and Bob will live.) Thank you to Martha for leading the rest of the group back to Hopkins, along a route new to her, no less. I hope you all enjoyed the route, and the pictures below. Watch this website on the weekend for a teaser about next Monday's ride! Peggy |
Monday BikingWelcome! I hope you enjoy my website! Watch for upcoming ride information, and maps and pictures of our adventures. I'm looking forward to another fun season of biking! Archives
May 2024
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