a midway bikelog

I got out for a bike ride over lunch today, and it was fine. I used to ride home for lunch every day, but lunch and break policies changed at my job, and i haven’t been going out over lunch as much. I’m lucky enough to work close to the Mississippi River, so there are good dirt trails to ride nearby as well as beautiful views where i can watch hawks riding thermals or see if the fisherman are having any luck, or if the topless sunbather is out again. The lunchtime ride is a little like playing hooky in the middle of the day, so even a short 30-minute ride can be a mini adventure.

Speaking of adventures, the Lake Pepin 3-speed Tour is underway this weekend. It’s a tour in the English style, with a 5 mph average speed and plenty of stops for pictures and pastry. Our daughter’s birthday (6!) is the same weekend as the Tour, so we haven’t done it ourselves, but will eventually. Maybe we’ll find a nice 3-speed tandem, or build a 3-speed trail-a-bike or something.

If you’re having trouble imagining the charm of such a thing, i’ll offer these fine examples from a recently-uploaded video. If you don’t get it after seeing this, i’m afraid i can’t help you. There are similarly-minded people planning to contact Amtrak to see if this sort of thing is feasible around here. I’m in.

Part one:

Part two: