30 Days of Biking: Day 8

Theme of the Day: Lost on an Easter Morning*

A glorious Easter morning in Bunker Hills Regional Park.

I rode 12.00 miles today. Which is great, but I only planned to ride 6 miles today. I set off from my house with the intention of just riding up to Bunker Hills and back. It all started off well. The sky was blue and birds where calling from all directions. I rode up to Bunker Hills and my first issue was that I wanted to go in from a side trail that I thought was up the road from where I was, but it wasn't there. I ended up a bit lost in a residential area, but it did not take me too long to find the trail.

View April 8, 2012 in a larger map
Then I set off into the park. I did not want to take the big hills that I had the last time I went up there, so I took a different trail. That is when things went wrong. I should have turned around when I was no longer sure where I was, but I thought I could just circle round to my usual trail.

Hmmm...I should have saw this as  a sign to turn back!

It was not a long tunnel, but the hill leading up to it was steep

Have you ever heard the old saying, “There are two seasons in Minnesota: Winter and Road Construction?” Well my path was thwarted by road construction today. Main Street has been under construction for what feels like years now. I knew it was there, but I did not think I would not be able to take a bike across it. I was quite wrong about that. I needed to turn around and retrace much of my route to get home. Now that I can look at a bigger map I can see how I could have gotten home easier. I should have just gone down Hanson when I was by it, but I thought I could take a trail back to 121^st. (Well, I could have, but I turned on the wrong road.) 

I would not have seen this Egret if I had gone the right way. 

Nor would I have seen this turkey. Actually I saw him twice, because
I had to turn back around  about 200 yards after seeing him. 

I was so frustrated at one point I almost called Rodney to come and get me. I even had to stop a nice Hmong couple and ask directions. They were very nice and pointed the way back to Bunker Hills. I was not amused by having to go all the way back, but what could I do? I just started pedaling. You can imagine how relieved I was to finally see my house. And just as I pulled up to the garage my My Tracks app announced that I had gone 12.00 miles. 12 miles! A new record! 

After I had showered Rodney and I put together an “Easter Brunch” of sweet rolls (from The BakersWife), deviled eggs, shrimp cocktails and caffè breves. It was a great end to long morning!

Easter Brunch

*I think that theme sounds like a title for a poem. So here is a bad poem about my ride:

Lost on an Easter Morning

Easter morning dawned glorious and blue

As I set out on the trails I thought I knew

Twists and hills and streams passed as I

Followed wind and bird and sky

Blue winged angels swooped and twittered

While brown rabbits twitched and skittered

Calling the way if only I could see

That I was not where I should be

Happy Easter Everyone!

30 Days of Biking