October 1st, 2022 was a wonderful day for a ride. Overcast skies, a few moments of sun, temps ranging from the mid 50's to the upper 60's, maybe reaching the 70's but not for long, and most importantly no rain! Four riders (Keith Morical, Duane Franklund, Daniel Klausner and Keith Larson), showed up for this beautiful 150k ride through the south metro area. We started in Bloomington in the scenic parking lot of Festival Foods. Everyone was on time, early really, and ready to roll. We kept a steady pace weaving our way through some of the urban areas of Burnsville, Apple Valley, and Rosemount. We had a nice stop at a quant C-store in Vermillion. Food options weren't great, but I did pick up some homemade Snickerdoodles that were delicious. Then we cruised East, then North on some straight sections to Hastings were we stopped a Dunn Brother and were surprised with a nice lunch. I chose the pizza while everyone else took the healthier option of a turkey sandwich. I was happy with my choice. After a nice lunch stop we picked up the bike trail and headed north along the Mississippi river. A beautiful trail that took us all the way up to Inver Grove Heights. Then we were back on the road again, heading south, then west. After another quick C-store stop we were on the home stretch. The Highline trail was the highlight of this section. This trail is winding and has a lot of short steep hills. Dan lead us on, kept a good pace and made this section feel like a roller coaster ride...rising, and dipping, and twisting, and turning, and rising again. He turned what can be an arduous trip into a lot of fun. Overall, it was a very lovely day to ride a bike, a very lovely route, and some very lovely company.
