10 Out - 10 Back

Made my first bike path ride on Friday. I took the Douglas State Trail which is mostly flat (more in a moment) with my new Trek 7000. Neat bike that rides and fits well. Both pictures are after I have returned back home.

The trail itself is quite pleasant. Most of it travels through the rural area north of Rochester passing corn fields and grazing cows. The cows were along a little stream under the shade. Much of the trail is shaded and filled with the sounds of birds. It was actually quite remarkable to be riding along listening to the sounds of the birds. The only bird I saw that was a little less common for me was a Baltimore Oriole which I saw in the same area going both directions.

I didn't quite make the whole trail. I got to about 10 miles of the 12.5 mile trip and decided it was about time to turn around. I had been on the trail for just about an hour at that point. Not bad for a first time out.

One thing is amazing, though. It looks like you're going uphill in both directions. As I was heading north I kept saying to myself that going south should be okay. It's downhill.

Wrong.

It was ever so slightly uphill. Not enough to notice if you are walking, but on tired legs it begins to show. Then between mileposts 3 and 1 (going south, of course) there are three overpasses that you have to climb. No they are not steep, unless you think again about those tired legs. But I made it learning to use the gearing and barely moving. But then there was at least a short downhill to coast.

So I did my first 20 mile ride. Neat. I know now that what I was planning for the Pine Creek trip is actually more than just possible. It really is do-able. Now I just have to work some on my strength training overall which is where the stamina will begin to come from.

In short, I'm glad I did it. Now there are more in-city bike trails that I will try as we roll toward 60.

Link to Douglas State Trail map. (.pdf)