Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Ticket to Ride

On Sunday afternoon we found ourselves with some extra time due to schedule changes at church. We had planned a trip to Duluth for Saturday and Sunday, but upon discovering that we could not spend the night on Saturday, we decided we couldn’t face six hours of car time on Sunday! Not enough recovery time from the last trip! So we had lunch on the sunny patio of Smash Burger (calorie loading) and headed over to Wayzata for a bike ride on the Dakota Rail Trail.


The Dakota Rail Trail starts in Wayzata near Lake Minnetonka and ends in St. Bonifacius. It is mostly level, crosses very few roads, and has several really scenic bridges over the lake. (If you are from the south, you’ll appreciate knowing that the new bridges smell exactly like Six Flags! Good memories!) There are shady portions that felt like heaven on that sunny but probably not much warmer than 70 day. There are also a couple of good eating spots right on the trail, including the Minnetonka Drive-In.

We tried out the trail last year, but turned around about 9-10 miles into it due to threatening rain. This year we rode all the way to St. Boni, 13.5 miles. After a stop for Gatorade and candy bars (more calorie loading) and a short stop at the playground (which has a real see-saw and a real merry-go-round) we headed back. Anna’s bike had a problem a few miles in (and not being “real” bikers we had no tools), so David, Anna, and James took turns with the hard bike, which was some extra work. John and Daniel still have small bikes with no gears, so they pedaled their hearts (and legs) out. And Edwin and I are kind of old, which became more noticeable after mile 20! But everyone made it. A 27 mile bike marathon for the Stephenson family. We slept well Sunday night, and moved slowly on Monday, but we are no worse for the wear. Let the summer adventures begin!


He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds like a lot of fun. Robert gave me a mountain bike for Christmas that I ride mainly around here, but it would be great to have a place like that here.

Tonya

P.S. Mom and I have enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Randall Teed said...

I know that smell well- I believe it is creosote treated lumber - The same chemical apparently is utilized in that semi-soft black tar paving that they utilized back when the original 6 lands of Six Flags were built. At least that is what I am guessing as that smell is not nearly prevelant in the newer add-on areas to the park where different paving materials were used.

Gail said...

I am really impressed...27 miles. I'm doing really good to walk 4.