No longer the stunted stepchild

Finally, the Minneapolis Park Board has taken steps toward bringing  Lake Nokomis' concessions in line with the rest of the city's lakes. Today's Star Tribune reports that the dilapidated former popcorn stand will be raised, rebuilt and leased to Doug Flicker, chef and co-owner of Piccolo restaurant. Flicker says he plans to open a 25-seat restaurant on the site called Sandcastle (cute name).

This is the second summer for Lake Harriet's stellar Bread and Pickle, and the third or fourth year since Sea Salt and the Tin Fish brought real food to Minnehaha Falls and the shores of Lake Calhoun. While I was originally skeptical of privatizing the lakes' concessions, the local, artisan and organic-leaning venues have exceeded everybody's expectations. (Actually, the lines are so long at Sea Salt and Tin Fish some days, it seems their popularity has vastly exceeded their capacity, as well.) But, those of us who call  Nokomis our neighborhood lake have been feeling left out of the foodie movement and a tad invisible to the city's decision-makers. The North Beach at Nokomis is often jam packed in the evening with picnicking families, many of them Latino, but has long lacked the amenities of the city's tonier lakes across the freeway. This new development will help to make this a neighborhood gathering spot, even for those who don't swim.
Now, if we could just address the bathroom issue...more on that later.

Happy trails.

Too darn hot

Route: Home - Lake Harriet, with a stop at Bread and Pickle for a delicious egg and cheese muffin and coffee, and home.

As it has  for many folks around the country, this summer's been brutal. Hot. Hot. And more hot. Meteorological minds suggest we're on track for 35 days over 90 degree this summer (average 14). So I have been swimming more than biking and neglecting my blog. This morning, I finally got back out on two wheels. It was a stellar morning, with a cool breeze and a cloudless sky. Finally.

Riding around Lake Harriet I got hit in the face with that lake-y smell that says "Summer in Minnesota." Too soon, the invasive Eurasian milfoil will likely begin to bloom, however, and the dog days pf summer will settle in. Instead of the smell of fresh water and summer, the breeze will begin to carry the first malodorous whiff of fall decay.
Usually, I'd be a little nostalgic about this, but after weeks of heat and tropical humidity, I say, bring it on!
Happy trails to ya, and hope for a cooling trend.

April Fools

You were a fool if you weren’t biking here today. A stubborn bank of clouds released its icy grip on the weekend around midday and the May sun came bursting forth, in April. Early spring continues. Riding around Nokomis Lake the late afternoon sun felt powered by summer’s heat, yet the wind had the waft and weft still of winter. Its breathy wwhoouuuszz, wwhooouuusz sound weaving through the branches aloft, branches still bare but for the first peeks of leaf sprouting from their bud caps.

Day one of 30 days of biking today. About 7 miles. Hoping to work up to a 30-mile ride on day 30.

Happy Trails

An April Biking Fool!

Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day, but instead of a gag, I’m going to become a fool for biking and take the pledge “30 Days of Biking.”

Started two years ago by a couple of Twin Citians, participants pledge to ride every day in April. Now that might sound like no big deal to those folks who live in warmer climes, but here in Minnesota, there are many years that would mean riding in snow, slush, sleet and even the odd blizzard. Not this year though, knock on wood. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 80. With luck, I won't have to peddle through any snow at all.

This pledge thing seems to be catching on. According to the Star Tribune this morning, last year’s informal organizing netted pledges from about 2,000 bicyclists, some from as far away as England. This year, things are ramping up. I just became the 2555 person to register. There’s still time to join, and the best part is you don’t have to be in the Twin Cities to sign up. Pledge online and ride where you are. Ride around the block, ride around the lake, ride across the country. Just ride every day in April and share your experience and the joy of biking with others.

Happy trails to ya.

Ice out: March 18.

Ice out on Lake Nokomis March 18, 2012

Yep. Today the ice went out on Lake Nokomis, and probably the other lakes in the Minneapolis chain. For those who don’t live in the northern clime, this is a BIG DAY. It’s sort of the unofficial first day of spring. And this year it’s early. Very, very early.

Just yesterday, there was a sheet of ice over part of the lake. On the windward side, the ice had been pushed up against the shore, forming a 3-4 foot wide crust of crinkled shards glinting like broken  auto glass under the brilliant sun.

Today, no ice at all. And the weeping willow tendrils have turned that shocking dayglow green of early spring.

The average high temperature for Minneapolis on March 18 is 41 degrees. Today it will be 76 or so. Yesterday I think it got to 80. Crazy. Last winter at this time, we were still up to our butts in snowbanks. This winter, we have never had more than four inches on the ground at one time, at least at my house. And in the past seven days, we've broken multiple records: earliest 80 degree day, most days above 70 in March, and nearly every single day temperature record in the last week. Historical records. Global warming?

Everybody is out: cyclist, joggers, walkers, stroller moms, families barbecuing.

Another in the category of things that make you go huh, this morning, while riding along the Minnehaha Parkway, I passed a couple jogging with their dog. Nothing unusual there--except that the man was jogging on one of those high-tech carbon fiber legs (a cheetah) shaped like an upside down question mark.
Given his apparent age, close-cropped hair and muscular physic, I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d lost that leg in Iraq or Afghanistan. Stepping on one of those IEDs, maybe. It would have been rude to ask, so I just peddled by them at the green light. But it got me to thinking: this one man had so much to say about the world we live in. Not the war, although there’s plenty there to ruminate about, but the fact that human ingenuity was perhaps responsible for both the loss of his limb and his return to mobility. This is NOT a comment on the relative morality of either invention, the bomb or the limb. It's just food for the fishes.

Hoping to get in more rides in this week before the weather returns to some sense of normal.

Happy trails to ya.

Glorious October

October is my favorite month in Minnesota, and this month is turning out to be spectacular. It's hard to believe today's high temperature will be around 85 degrees! Warmer than most days in June or September this year. And that means an extended bicycling season. I love the crunching sound of dried leaves under wheel, but the partially gnawed black walnuts left behind by squirrels can be a real hazard.

I tooled around Lake Nokomis yesterday and, in addition to the usual compliment of dog walkers, cyclist and rollerbladers, I saw sail boats (including one with a dog in the bow--bow wow, indeed), a kayak, several people swimming, a child building a sand castle and some guys jamming on some tight blue grass/mountain music licks on the fishing dock. Really, this is not normal Minnesota behavior for October.

But we'll take it. The snows of winter can't be that far behind, and all of this will then be just a lovely memory.

Happy trails to ya.

Sunset Moonrise

Tonight I took a leisurely peddle east on Minnehaha Parkway and around Lake Nokomis just in time to watch the sun set on one side of the lake and the moon rise on the other.
Passed by the baseball fields just as the lights came on, the silence punctuated by the tink of a softball on aluminum bat. Can you beat a fall evening for biking?
After a days of 9-11 coverage I could only think how fortunate I am to live here, to have been born here in the land of plenty, with clean water, fresh food and a beautiful city out my front door. Fortunate indeed. And grateful.

This has been a spectacular weekend here in the Twin Cities, and finally, I had some time to hit the trails.
Yesterday's route: Down to the Midtown Greenway and west to the Cedar Lake Trail. (I think Cedar is my favorite of the Chain of Lakes, but because it is the furthest from my house, I don't get there on my bike often.) We circled the lake and then headed back toward Uptown, picking up parts of Lake of the Isles trail and then Calhoun where we stopped for a Mini Tin fish sandwich at the Tin Fish, just in time to beat the lunch crowd. (Best lunch deal around, says my pal Tom, and I agree with him. Stop by before they close up shop on Oct. 10.) We had sunshine, blue skies and we left early enough in the day to beat the afternoon's 90 degree heat.
When I started this blog earlier in the summer, I was hoping to have enough time and good enough weather to build up to biking the Grand Rounds in a day. The Grand Rounds is a National Scenic Bikeway made up of all the bike trails that circle the city and it's lakes,  about 26 miles in total, I think. Not far for the seasoned cyclist, but a far bike for the likes of my mid-century knees. But June was wet and cold, July ferociously hot, and August...well August was a challenging month for other reasons that don't belong in here. But September. Now September is a glorious month, and I began to think this eveing that the Grand Rounds is not out of the question yet.
I'll keep you posted on my efforts.
Happy trails to ya.