Again with the biking in the rain - surprisingly fun

[dreamshark]

After nixing the idea of the Luce Line because it was too windy, I ended up riding to Bryn Mawr for the big neighborhood sale. Finding my way there on bike paths was tricky, but entirely enjoyable. The thoroughly foreboding weather patterns just added to the sense of drama. I took the Midtown Bike Path to the Kenilworth path, exiting onto Cedar Lake Parkway. I found a number of Bryn Mawr sales on the south side of I-394 and bought the kinds of things I always buy - scarves, tote bags, a hat, a pair of earrings, and two Grateful Dead CDs. I really enjoyed riding along Cedar Lake, which has always been my favorite Mpls lake.

When I had exhausted the scenic and yard sale possibilities on the northwest corner of Cedar Lake, I went back to trying to find a way across the freeway. Rode on up the west side of the lake until the bike trail dived under a bridge and intersected with all the commuter bike trails in a little patch of restored prairie. Pretty, but all the paths were clearly converging towards downtown. So I asked another biker at the crossroads how to get to Bryn Mawr. "You're there," he said, pointing off the paved and manicured bike path into a scary looking canyon under the nearby elevated highway. "Just cross the tracks down there under the highway, and across the park to lots of hot garage sale action." Sure enough, peeking out from the shadows was a glimpse of lush greenery, bordered by big houses with front porches and rose trellises and such. Valhalla!

I rode down the well-worn path of beaten dirt, hauled my bike over the rails, and rode out of the shadows into Bryn Mawr Meadows. What a magical moment! Sure enough, I could see all sorts of Hot Garage Sale Action going on across the park. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes after I joined the action, the rain began and I got to watch dozens of well-heeled garage sales proprietors scurrying around madly scooping things into boxes and up onto their covered porches. I had my real rain jacket along this time, so I wasn't too perturbed. I got a plastic bag from one of the sales to protect the purchases in my bike basket, and hung around for a while to see if the rain was going to blow over. It wasn't. I called home, but thorintatge had taken the van. I decided it was easier to ride home in the rain than to stand around in the rain trying to stuff my bike into the back of the Mazda. (It can be done, but requires taking the wheel off, folding up the basket, and so on). So I rode on home, which turned out to be 2 miles less when I left out the detour along Cedar Lake Parkway. Not bad at all, really. Fortunately, the wind died down when the rain started. I'd rather ride in rain than in a headwind, and I really don't want to ride in both.

Now I'm home, warm and dry and fed, trying to rip the remarkably beat-up Grateful Dead CDs into my computer. Total distance 12.8 miles.

Comments

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

That sounds like an adventure! Did you make any cool finds at the garage sales?

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I kinda wish I'd gone along. I just do not picture where you went, especially the crossing the tracks bit. Were there cricket players at the field?

K.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I had a really hard time finding any online bike maps that cover this area, since all the action takes place at the edges of each individual trail map. It's a nice ride - we can do it again when the weather is better. If you'd gone with me this time it just would have reinforced the idea that every time we go riding it starts to rain, and I don't think you would have enjoyed that part.

The Midtown Trail connects to the Kenilworth Trail, which cuts back NE towards downtown. If you follow Kenilworth it intersects with the Cedar Lake Trail in a pretty little prairie with a large elevated freeway running through it. There's a couple of beatup signposts with a crude trailmap on one, and a list of local politicians that are supposedly supporting funding for the trail on the other TWO. That's the magic spot where you duck under the freeway to get to North Bryn Mawr. Sound familiar? If you were on the Bassett Creek trail last week you must have been close to there, since teh BC trail branches off from one of the other trails in that same general area.

The friendly biker that gave me directions was one of those lean, Spandex-all-the-way-through types that looked like he'd know the trails, so I also asked him if it was true that the Bassett Creek trail actually connects to the Luce Line. He said yes. Honestly, I never even saw a sign for the Bassett Creek Trail when I went past it, but according to the signposts it was quite close by.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I think you must have found a surface crossing of the tracks very close to the spiral ramps and foot bridge/bike bridge crossing that I used. When people make a path "unofficially," like it sounds like your crossing is, that's called a "pathway of desire."

I agree that the trails sign postings are terrible, but I admit I like the exploring.

K.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Cricket players??? I suppose if anybody was going to play cricket in the Twin Cities it would be in Bryn Mawr. There were some very unhappy looking sports teams of some sort milling around in the rain trying to decide whether to play or not, but I didn't notice what sport they were representing. If it had been cricket I probably wouldn't have recognized the gear anyway. In any case, I was more concerned with sprinting across the field to shelter under the freeway bridge at that point, as the rain was really coming down.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Apparently they play every weekend.

K. [I want to make a day of it, sometime]