August 30, 2023
Elm Creek / Rush Creek Greenways
Although the 3 hour time difference is not extreme it’s enough to throw one’s system off a bit on day 1. Despite yesterday’s early morning wake-up, sleep came slowly and dawn’s early light seemed to be earlier than desired.
Today’s destination was the Elm Creek and Rush Creek bike trail system and after getting up and having a fairly standard hotel breakfast we started assembling the trikes at the Eastman Nature Center parking lot.
It took about 90 minutes to reassemble the trikes, move stuff around, tear down boxes, and finally get ready to ride. Fortunately nothing was damaged in transit and there were no leftover parts.
This nature preserve has an extensive network of trails, more then I was able to research completely. We started off on the track that I projected although I missed a junction and we cut through a part of the reserve. The Elm Creek Trail eventually turned onto the Rush Greenway trail which took us down the Mississippi river. I also incorporated using my Apple Watch as a navigational tool for the first. It was quite nice to simply look at my watch to see if we were on the right path.
It’s been a number of years since we crossed the Mississippi River on our trikes. I remember one time in Minnesota, northern Minnesota. I remember another time, cross country crossing into Illinois and another time which escapes me now. And last year at about this time we were cycling in the state of Mississippi down on the Mississippi Delta, next to the Mississippi River.
All of today’s riding was a nicely maintained paved paths, most with a centerline as well. As they were greenways, lots of little twists and turns within a mostly canopy of trees. Despite some of the online reviews, this was basically a flat ride with a very small amount of elevation gain
Overall, a nice first ride as we make our way towards North Dakota. But first we will spend the night in St. Joseph near the College of St. Benedict.
Today's ride: 25 miles (40 km)
Total: 25 miles (40 km)
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