Rivers, rivers galore

I promised to try to make the rest of my rides this month something to write home about. Although it makes no sense to write home, since I am at home, but whatever.

Anyhow, yesterday was all about the Minnesota River. Today was all about the Mississippi.

Yesterday I rode to Blackdog for the first time by myself. I forgot how nice and wide the shoulders are on Highway 13. As I posted on Facebook, I was listening to Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights song on the radio when I passed a street sign for Wuthering Heights. I'm confused about how an area that looks like a trailer park got such a literary name. Once I got to Blackdog, my brain was consumed with the beauty of my surroundings. It was a super muggy (e.g., heat index of over 100 degrees) ride home, but I swung by Jane's and Mary's to say hi and they gave me lunch out on their patio! Win-win! 

I didn't see a moor.

If you live in the area
and haven't been on the
Cedar Ave pedestrian
bridge over the MN
River, you're missing out.

The Minnesota River 

Check out the thick layer of mud on the boat landing. 

The Minnesota, from the boat landing.

Today, I wanted to go a longer distance and without mapping it out figured Anoka would be a good distance. I figured my ride would be anywhere from 60-80 miles. Turns out, it isn't really that far from the Coon Rapids Dam. On the bright side, it was lovely riding to and from Anoka - - who knew! Also, if I want to go there again, it turns out it is not that far. So, it didn't totally fit with the plan for today, so I tacked on some extra miles in Minneapolis to make up for it, but that's okay.

Also, my friends insist that we went to the Mad Hatter tea shop in Anoka once. I don't believe them. Today I rode by it, and I still don't believe them. It looks cool, though, and I will go there should it survive COVID-19.

I saw a lot of cool, not-too-fancy
houses along both sides of the river.

The Mississippi from the Hwy 169 pedestrian bridge.

The Halloween Capital?!?! What?

I found these in a field and thought for sure
they were remnants from some historic event.
They were clean and had TP and hand sanitizer.
I'm going back to Anoka!

After my last blog post, my sister Molly was
reminiscing about the old Soo Line trains of our
youth. Each one of those letters is on an angled
piece of metal. This is from the Grand Rounds
route through NE Mpls, which I haven't ridden for years.

Noteworthy items from today: Just like in the olden days, I picked up my bike to walk across some tracks to take a short cut. Also the new bridge that goes over the train tracks in NE Mpls on this route is fantastically huge and smooth - it previously had a big bump and was narrow and unsafe. I also learned that the Diagonal Trail through NE just ends by Roseville Mall. That seems like a situation that ought to be remedied.

Thankfully, I planned the route well and had a minor headwind for the first half of the ride and a decent tailwind for most of the second half! 

I still have a lot of riding to get to my July riding goals, it seems. I guess I should have looked at the calendar when I set those goals! 

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo