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Beginner’s Ride
May 29, 2018 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
There will be two rides. A 22-mile route will start at Smith’s Bike Shop at 6:00 (please plan on a speeds of 14-19 mph). A 15-mile route will start at Kwik Trip (319 S 3rd St, La Crescent, MN 55947) at 6:00. Since this ride is a little longer than our previous rides, it might be better for the people on hybrids to stick to the 15-mile route. Most of this ride will be on a trail alongside the Mississippi River. There is a large shoulder on the highway to and from the trail. See the pictures in the discussion for tips/warnings about a couple intersections.
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27601765
**Highly recommend sunglasses or eye wear. There are a lot of gnats on the trail.
***Make sure you have water with you. Wear sunscreen if you are sensitive to the sun because there is minimal shade.
On the way out, this is the end of the trail, which will put us on a frontage road by Dresbach. If you can see the end of the road in this picture, that is where we will merge onto the frontage road and traffic coming off of the interstate also merges at the same point. We will make sure to stay on the far right of the road. There isn’t much traffic that takes that exit, but when it comes through, it is coming pretty fast.
On the way out, this is the end of the trail, which will put us on a frontage road by Dresbach. If you can see the end of the road in this picture, that is where we will merge onto the frontage road and traffic coming off of the interstate also merges at the same point. We will make sure to stay on the far right of the road. There isn’t much traffic that takes that exit, but when it comes through, it is coming pretty fast.
The park is on the corner of River St and Center St.
On the way back, this is the view getting back on the trail. See where Tim is under the sign, if you go straight through there, you will meet up with the trail. See the road that goes uphill a little? That is an off ramp from the interstate where traffic will be coming quickly at us. Before we get to this point, we will safely cross the road to the left to get onto the trail. We should try to cross before we get to the sign Tim is waiting under.
At the end of the trail on the way back, we will see this sign. It is pointing us to a trail that goes under the interstate, then takes us over a pedestrian bridge to cross over to the other side of the interstate to hit the highway again.
This is a view right after the pedestrian bridge. At the end of this trail, we will be back on the highway where cars will be traveling around 70 mph. We will have a wide shoulder. I just want you all aware that we will be merging with traffic.