The Bike Trail

 was not glamourous today. In fact, the lack of snow, the lack of any wind, and the smoke from people's woodstoves combined with the smoke/steam from the corn dryers gave the valley a look that was unreal.

When Charlie and I got to the 2 mile mark we decided to turn around. One of the mega dairy farms had a guy out with machinery clearing land and piling up trees in a pile that was burning. The shot below is smoke, acrid, nasty smelling smoke.

I imagine they were clearing the edges of the fields for more area for their hay crops. I had planned to go just a bit further but Charlie was dragging his feet and I decided that the smoke was very unhealthy.

The things that did surprise me was the abundance of food for the birds along the trail. The edges of the bike trail were covered in grape vines, multiflora rose buds, dried wild grapes, old man's beard, and highbush cranberries.

When we got back to the long bridge over the Pine River, we took a break as the smoke was clearing. It was time for us to have a snack and water.

As we finished up, I looked to the southwest.

The sky was turning ominous. Charlie was still dragging his feet so we made our way slowly back towards the parking area.

Walking slowly was actually a bonus. The skies were turning ugly, the land looked dreary, but birds were everywhere.

I noticed something I hadn't seen before while bicycling. The busted up farms, dilapidated buildings, and a variety of old machinery hiding in the weeds.

Another thing I'd never noticed was the sewage treatment plant hiding behind trees and small hills. But that explained the strange looking sewer lids that one would normally see in cities. They resided in a pasture.

I could hear water running through them. 

Oddly enough when I stopped to look closer------

I found a mystery.

Shoes.

And more shoes. The Converse shoes looked actually pretty decent. But what on earth???

 

I had a sudden onset of the creepy shivers. You know, the kind of thing you feel when something awful is nearby.

I imagined a creepy clown climbing out of the sewer cover.

 

Sometimes my imagination tends to run away. Is this where Stephen King's clown, IT lives?

I needed to get out of the house and do some walking. Movement outdoors seems to help my attitude and brain and it seemed to be a good way to enjoy the January Thaw.

A good and quiet day

 The bike rack that attaches to the hitch came in very handy when Mr. Charlie wanted to run about and sniff for good marking places. 

This trail has a sign: Dogs Must Be Leashed.

He was attached to the car as I assembled his cruiser and got everything together for our ride.

Yesterday was an adventure day. 

I'd spent Wednesday doing errands and taking care of 'stuff'.  

I'd had lunch with my MIL's cousin and was introduced as The Widow of Richard. I almost corrected her and said 'wife' but realized Widow was correct.

It gave me a pause for a moment.

My good neighbor Justin [a bike expert! He likes to build bikes!] came over and helped me assemble and learn how to use my bike rack. 

Thursday  seemed perfect to go try everything out. 

The temperature was 40 degrees F when we hit the trail. Coldish weather bicycling is new to me, so I layered just enough to feel a bit cool while putting our gear together. There was a 5 mph wind and the sun was shining. 

We took off and saw one runner and one other bicyclist. This is not a super popular trail in cooler weather. However, it is maintained by the county and is FREE to use. It is an old railroad bed so it is flatish and not hard to cycle.

My copilot seemed quite happy in his trailer. We did stop a few times to have a dog treat and a small walk so he could sniff and pee on things.

Parked:

Thing is, we enjoyed it so much we went further than I'd been before.

My eventual goal is to reach the WI River Slough and petal into the State Natural Area to observe birds and wildlife. The round trip would be around 20 miles, but very doable. I think going by bicycle is an extremely cool way to get around and visit areas along the Pine River and the Wisconsin River.

The little blue-green line is some of what my GPS recorded. The trail ends at Lone Rock. One of these times I will ride all the way there and buy lunch. It just seems to be a fun thing for me to do.

IF we don't have a lot of snow this winter, I will be able to cycle this trail often.

The State Bike Trails cost $25 per year from January 1st to January 1st. I may purchase a pass to go on the State Trails this coming Spring, but not at the end of October. 

I have the mode, the means, and the time to explore by bike. I can go further than a hike and see more wildlife and land.

Today I saw a flock of bluebirds flitting about and flying in front of me. In one of the pastures I passed, several Sandhill Cranes were strutting about. The Tamarack Trees were turning yellow. 

It was cool yet refreshing. Pictured are stops along the Pine River. The colors are still pretty even though most trees are barren.

When I got home, I found that the new and smaller table had been delivered. It is an Ikea sort of table, a put together thing. It is going to replace the huge round table that Rich inherited from his great grandmother. 

That old table was partially broken. Parts of it were falling apart. It was also huge and cumbersome to get around. 

While in place, there was very little room for anyone to sit around the table. The top was no longer in good shape.

I dismantled it and was surprised to find dry rot under the top. I guess it was time for it to go.

Below were the parts for putting the new table together. 

I've always wanted a 'gate leg' table. 

Or a table that had fold down sides to open up the little eating area.

The top and the fold downs

are photo'd below.

It wasn't hard to assemble and I like the extra room it gives me in the small eating area we have.

I was very surprised at how easy it was to assemble and how sturdy it feels.

The table has two leaves that fold down or up depending on your guests. Since it is mostly just myself and Charlie, I decided to go with things this way. 

I'll be putting a slightly larger rug under the table. The floor under the chairs is a concrete slab which can feel cold in the winter.

I'm pleased.

The old table was too large for the area and too hard to move around. Now it feels more open and agreeable.

Charlie's chair is on the lower right side. He does have his own chair that he likes to sit on when I am at the table.

I figured it was a good day. We traveled and explored, we constructed, and we modified our living space.

All is good.

Halloween is today. No plans for anything as we are so remote. I will be working in the pastures if it doesn't rain and if it does...well, there is always organizing and more purging to be done inside.

These shots below were photos I worked on for Halloween Themes for this year.

Have a great day! These will be my trick or treaters!

Bikes make friends

I had to make another run to the funeral home to deal with a spelling error in the death certificate and drop off the thumb drive that Rich's daughter and I put together.

I didn't want to waste the 26+ mile trip on just dropping off paperwork again. So I'd put my bike in the back of the 'Ru and thought I'd tried a bike trail that Rich told me about. The Richland Center Bike Trail. It runs from Richland Center town all the way to a place called Lone Rock. It's an old train bed that was converted into a trail. 

I'd picked a parking spot to the trail head in a place called Twin Bluffs. My thought was to ride towards a town called Gotham [Batman!] and then see what the trail looked like headed then back towards Richland Center.

The trail was fairly well maintained and obviously had some damage to the wooden bridges from the snowmobile traffic in the winter. 

Basically it was an out and back ride. It felt nice. What was even stranger was when my inner clock that told me I'd been gone too long it made me feel odd. I had to resist lookin at my watch.

Then I ignored it. I had all the time I wanted. Yes, it felt pretty strange.

When I got back to where I'd parked, there was a guy sitting on a picnic table that had a roof over it. The shade looked inviting, so I asked if I could share the shade with him. He waved me over.

Actually we'd just passed by each other when I walked out of the funeral home. His 3 wheeler E-bike was parked on the sidewalk by my car. I admired it because I figured one day, I'd be using one.

I said, "Geeze, we walked right by each other at Pratt's!"

"Yup," he replied.

"Wow, you have an awesome bike or trike. It looks great!" I nodded at his 3 wheeler when I sat down at the picnic table we were sharing.

"I may get one in the future, how do you like it?"

His name was Tony. He'd recently had a stroke and he liked to get out in nature so after wearing out a homemade E-trike, he'd gotten this one. 

He shrugged and smiled. "At least you didn't say I was cheating by using an E-trike."

I blew raspberries and said, "Dude! I am jealous!"

We discussed that a bit and I told him that what he was doing was awesome. His balance was poor as well as issues with his knees.

"What a perfect way to get out and see nature," I told him.

We talked a good long while and he told me about the wildlife I could see while riding this trail and where the best places were. 

We were different athletes with common goals. Ride bikes onto a bike trail to enjoy nature and the peace it brings us.

We then talked about the other trails that the dude at the funeral home had suggested. There is one near Preston MN that was paved and beautiful along the Root River. We both discussed how we'd love to ride that.

I commented that his trike was an excellent choice for him to get out and find the peace and joy he could find in the outdoors. I told him that I was considering a pet trailer for my little dog. 

He then said he didn't ride on weekends because there were too many people zipping by and telling him he shouldn't be 'cheating'.

[There was a look of hurt in his eyes when he made that comment.]

I told him that his physical injuries were invisible. I said, "I wonder if you wrapped yourself up with bloody ace bandages and painted on a black eye, if people would be more understanding."

Tony suddenly went motionless. "You get it." He chuckled.

I said, "I do. My husband was a Veteran with invisible injuries. People didn't understand. But I did."

I ate my snacks and we talked some more. Trails, maintenance, the bridges, the river, the weather, and nothing important.

I stood up and shook his hand. 

"Tony, I sure hope to run into you again on this trail. It has been a pleasure to meet you and your awesome bike."

Tony shook my hand and smiled. The Grizzly ol' Tony seemed to have found something other than just nature to smile about.

"Yeah. I hope we run into each other again."

Some cell phone shots from today.

Heading east on the trail.

 Oh what wonders! I stood here for a long time watching 

the Monarch butterflies who danced around my head!

Some of the areas of the trail were covered with shade

from a thick canopy above.

It also seemed to be a perfect day to use my Infrared camera and enjoy some colors of another light spectrum.

These are photos of the Pine River that runs through Richland Center and along the bike/multi use trail. I have another 10 or so miles to explore of this trail. 

My new acquaintance told me where the best views of the river were. 

I was so relaxed and chilled out when I got home that I was able to finish up some weed whacking and hand mowing. I agree with Mr. Tony. Nature brings a bit of peace to our lives.

A little bit of kindness and consideration go such a long way. Don't judge a book by its cover.

I like my bike. I liked his bike/trike. We enjoyed conversation. 

It was a good day.