On our cycle ride, we stopped for a cooked-to-order breakfast sandwich from Bread and Pickle beside Lake Harriet. The park buildings look spiffy with a fresh coat of paint.
Category: Cycle
Cycling Hastings and beyond
After an overnight stay at The Confluence Hotel, a friend who used to live in Hastings joined our bicycle adventure. We watched the water rush past a mill in Hastings before crossing the Mississippi and cycling down to Prescott, Wisconsin, to the confluence of the St. Croix and the Mississippi. Back in Hastings, we loaded our bikes into our friend’s truck and drove back to Minneapolis.
Cycling the Mississippi: St. Paul to Hastings, MN
We took the LRT to St. Paul then cycled to Hastings, enjoying lovely glimpses of the Mississippi along the way. A friend joined us for the last 10 miles before we checked into The Confluence Hotel in a repurposed industrial building beside the river.
My atomic bike tour
The word “Atomic” inspired a less-traveled cycle route via Atomic Tattoo, Atomic Data, and Atomic Recycling. For now, I have to stay a bike’s-length from people while excess radioactivity works its way out of my system.
Beyond the forecast: pedaling the Mississippi
Despite an iffy weather forecast, a friend and I set out on a bike ride from near where the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers meet. Our route took us downriver, past St. Paul and three miles beyond to our turnaround. The journey included fanciful Mexican animal sculptures at Raspberry Island, a pleasant coffee shop (despite being out of pastries), and a paddlewheeler with a functioning sternwheel. And, it didn’t rain.
Standing on a bridge to nowhere
Near the start of a cycle ride with a friend, we stood 680 feet out over the Mississippi on this bridge. Behind me, the bridge abruptly ends mid-river. The Rock Island Swing Bridge had two decks when it opened in 1894: a railroad above and a road below. We capped off our morning at a friendly coffee shop where we indulged in way too much cake.
Time to hit the trails
With a high in the 80s, it was time to pump up the tires, lube the chain, and get out on the trails with a friend.
Cycling around a caldera lake
Rode a mini-shinkansen bullet train (slower until it hits the much faster Tohoku line to Tokyo) for an hour from Akita, then a local bus. Cycled 20K around Lake Tazawa. With minimal wind and a properly tuned hybrid bike, the ride was easy and offered lovely views of this deep (1,400 feet), clear caldera lake–the deepest in Japan.
A windy ride around Niigata
Rented a clunky bicycle (but it was cheap, less than US$4) from this underground bicycle garage across the road from my hotel in Niigata. Cycled a 20km course, mainly on off-road trails beside waterways and the Sea of Japan, around the core city while being buffeted by wind gusts that nearly brought me to a standstill. After returning the bike and a late lunch, had a deep nap back in my hotel room.
Cycling the shores of Toyama Bay
Toyama is bicycle-friendly: city policies push for more bicycles and fewer cars. While bikeshare stations dot the city, I rented a cross-bike (USD$8) more suitable for exploring. I cycled a scenic trail (look at those mountains!) for a few hours that mostly follows the shoreline of Toyama Bay. Along the way, stopped for a picnic at a table clearly intended for that purpose in the grounds of a shrine.