The kids are signed up for enrichment programming through the school district and this week I ended up with 3 hours each morning without the kids. So of course I went out for a 3 hour bike ride! It was a little stressful to have a specific time to be back as I wanted to go a little bit further, but I made a smart decision and ended up getting back with a few minutes to cool down before going in to get the kids!

Because of where the kids were it made a lot of sense to head into St. Paul. I’ve done some of the route before, but had never been on the southeast part of the city where I know a lot of people like to ride. I probably should have done some more research to plan a good route, but it was also a little fun to just be out there and explore!

I went up the back side of the hill from Mendota to St Paul and Cherokee park and then down Ohio St. I was going to go back up it, but missed the turn and rode on city streets for a bit and eventually popped out on a bike trail.

I found a really cool trail that was tucked between the Mississippi River and a railroad. I was hoping to cross the river and ride back into St. Paul but the closest bridge was several miles away and I was at the mid point in my time. It probably would have worked out better than what I ended up doing. Sometimes though that comes back to get you later!

Randomly in South St. Paul I ran into this older gentleman who was riding an old steel road bike and he was doing good speed. He told me to tuck in and we rode together for a little bit and then chit chatted. He was heading to Target!

Once I got back onto Shepherd Road it was a headwind the entire ride back to Minneapolis.  Not really ideal, but I guess that meant I enjoyed a tailwind on the way over, right?

It was a perfect day to be out riding. It was also the first time on my Trek in a couple of years and it felt good to go fast on it!

The totals were 36.29 miles in 2:41.  Not bad for a Tuesday morning!