May 9, 2009 Peddle & Paddle

It was only 36 degrees when Kay and I got on our bikes at Sertoma Park and head off to the south. The sky was bright blue, there was not any wind and I believed for a little bit that the cool morning had kept most others home. It was a great morning for riding and things were going well. We we clipping right along around the south end of the bike trail. We were riding along at about 18 miles and hour just enjoying the morning. Until that is we reached the Cherry Rock Paisley Park area. As we came around the corner we were met by hundreds of runners. What was going on? Who were these people who had invaded the bike trail? Well they were all runners participating in either the 5k or 10k Breast Cancer Run for The Cure. Well this added a very interesting twist to the ride. It was slow and hard going trying to make my way through the crowd of runners going both directions on the bike path. I was not sure it was ever going to end, but it did, just south of the the train bridge by Fawic Park. Once I passed the runners and rode another short distance I realized Kay was not behind me, so I turned around and head back to see where she might be. I waited and waited by the turn around point for the runners and she never came. Then my phone rang. It was Kay she was already at Falls Park, she had jumped off the trail and took side streets instead of fighting the runners. So I headed back south to meet up with her. By the time we joined up at the park we had lost alot of time and decided to head straight back to the car. So we headed down Phillips south until we reached sixth street where we turned west. As we approached Minnesota Ave. I realized the sixth street hill was straight ahead of u. Now this hill is a true test for most riders. I am not sure of the grade, but it is like 45 degrees up a street that is all cobblestones at the top. Well we did it although I will say I think I almost lost one lung on the way. The rest of the ride was not bad. We jumped back on the bile trail at 12th Street and before we knew it we were back at the car. The problem now was that we had lost lots of time and we were to meet up with some members of the South Dakota Canoe Association at Lake Marindal at noon.

Kay I had never been to this lake before and were looking forward to our first time out with our kayaks this year. After having to rush to put the racks on the pickup we loaded the boats and headed south. We were only a half hour late leaving, but I figured I could make up some of the time if you know what I mean. Now like I said we had never been to this lake before, but I thought I knew right where it was. Wrong! There were no signs anywhere and it is one of those lakes that you can not see from the road. We could have driven around for days, but we got lucky and saw one of fellow cruisers headed down a road so we followed him. Soon we were there. It was a nice day although it could have been a bit warmer. We got the boats unloaded and Kay and I headed out on the lake. We paddled north passing several fishing boats and a couple other paddlers. The water was a pretty nice with only a few small waves. It was a beautiful cruise and I really enjoyed the scenery. The only wild like I saw were a few Mallards, a couple Teal and one Grey Crane. We finally reached the far north end of the lake where I had hoped to fine an inlet we could paddle up, but I did not. I later discovered that if we had worked our way across the sand bar we could have paddled up the inlet for some distance. Once back at the dock area we watched a few brave, or maybe stupid kids swim int he 45 degree water. Ah to be young and impulsive again. By this time the wind was starting to come up and random clouds were drifting by blocking the sun from time to time. After loading up we headed home. It had been a full day. Nothing better that both peddling and paddling in one day. It was a good start to the summer.