June 17, 2008 Relaxing Ride

It is not often that we take what I call a relaxing ride. One where we are not pushing ourselves to achieve new goals, fast speeds, better speed averages etc. Tonight we decided to take a nice comfortable pace and enjoy the great night. Nancy joined us at Sertoma Park and we road to the north doing a clockwise ride of the bike trail. Smooth, relaxing and a wonderful way to end the day. I was happy to see that the city has begun filling cracks in the trail with tar. They have done from the bridge at the north end of Elmwood Golf Course to the water control station alone Highway 38. When we got to Falls Park we got off the bike trail and rode up through the park so we could get out on Main and head for Brick House BBQ. We made a pit stop there and then head out. We arrived back at Sertoma Park without incident. We were however met by a group of Knights with swords, axes and full armor. No we had not peddle our way back in time. We had run across a group who obviously enjoy the medieval time period. To each their own. Never know what you might encounter on a nice relaxing ride.

June 16, 2008 Beaver Lake, SD

well another Monday of work behind us Kay and I decided to try out Beaver Lake. Beaver Lake for those of you who are not familiar with it is just south of Humbolt,SD. Its a fairly good sized lake and there was just enough breeze to bring a few waves lapping over our bows as we took off from the dock and headed east. It was quiet and we were the only ones on the lake or anywhere to be seen for that matter. The water was really murky and there was a fair amount of algae. We paddle east for a fair distance before turning north across the lake. There was not sign of any wildlife to speak of. A couple ducks and one lone pelican was about it. It was a nice relaxing paddle. The warm sun was great. Once on the north side we followed the shoreline to the west . It was interesting how the smallest of land mass in the right place would turn the lake into a very smooth and tranquil place. Small oasis of calm. I wanted to head over and explore the island, but we decided to save that for another time. As we approached the dock I could see we were no longer the only ones enjoying the evening. Two young men were fishing of the dock. As I slide my boat up to the dock one nice young man asked if he could be of any assistance. I assured him I was fine, but thanked him for asking. Hard to find strangers that willing to help anymore. Well we loaded up the boats and head home. It is so nice to have time to relax and there is no better way than paddling through the water. Oh by the way didn't post Saturday , but we did get our normal 20 miles in on our bikes. Thanks to Daryl for joining us.