Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

 

 

In October, Hubby and I went to a small town north of where we live to ride the Hennepin Canal. We've ridden the I&M Canal at times and wanted to check out another section further west. Hubby took total control of putting this ride together, wanting us to have a day of riding, enjoying the fall colors and lunch at a diner along the route. The morning of the ride dawned chilly but sunny, and we set off, my only request being that we take the back roads to get to our destination. Hubby obliged. Gears from a lock That day, that ride, turned out to be one of those times I think back to often and smile. It was that good. Our planned 15ish miles of riding turned into 33 miles due to arriving at what we had hoped would be our lunch spot only to find the diner was no longer in operation. We were able to get a pop at the antiques store that was open, giving us at least a little bit of a boost to keep us going long enough to reach the small town of Sheffield about five miles south....

Today I headed southwest again, more south than west actually, zig-zagging my way out into the countryside and hoping I was taking all the right turns to get me to Route 66. Initially, I had planned to get up early and make my way to Lincoln, which is almost 33 miles exactly from my doorstep. I fell back to my old ways, though, and succumbed to sleep when I should have gotten up. I slept an hour past when I wanted to start out, so instead of doing the roundtrip ride which would have given me 66 miles on Route 66, I did 33 miles which included the new bike path running alongside Route 66 to the teeny-tiny town of Shirley. From there, I actually had to ride on the road, but traffic was light, and motorists were very considerate, moving over to make space between us. I've now lived in this area for 12 years, but until today, I've never been to a local attraction located just off Route 66. This place is known for its nature preserve, its chapel where lots of summer weddings take ...