A Family Bikes Through It
We're unbelievably lucky to live in a place with so much natural beauty right outside our front door. Getting around in it just became so much easier.
Our city opened up a beautiful new biking/walking trail that runs for five miles along abandoned rail lines. It allows us to safely ride from our house all the way to our favorite beach at the lake in about twenty minutes.
I am so much more relaxed when I don't have to worry about the kids battling traffic.
Permalink posted by Idaho Dad at 11:05 AM
13 Comments:
Sweet.
That looks fantastic. And flat. Flat is good.
Flat is good.
The trail has a slight decline all the way to the lake. So I don't have to push too hard on the pedal. And I can coast a fair bit, which is always good at my age.
Of course, coming back it's a slight incline. Enough that I actually have to use some muscle to get home. But not so much that I have to get off my bike and walk it.
Phil - I was there at the opening this weekend and walked it before that last week. It's really going to fast become one of the best parts of the city's parks network - I'm convinced of it.
Mike Gridley, the city attorney who used to work for the UP railroad and who knows his way around those big federally entwined organizations is pretty much singlehandedly the reason it is there today. There were a TON of people who were involved financially, volunteer, etc, and they are all huge heroes. But if it weren't for Mike's creativity and knowledge of how to get through the bureaucracy the chance to have it wouldn't have happened. So give him a shout out when you see him (if you do).
I'm glad to live nearby, and I totally agree with you that it's way easier to be comfortable when you're not worrying about the kids being next to traffic. I also met a gentleman on the trail the other day who is in a motorized wheelchair and lives in the Kathleen Corners apartments right behind Holy Family School. He told me he was literally contemplating trying to find a place closer to the Centennial Trail but now he goes out his back door and he can go for miles uninterrupted (and has).
See you on the trail!
Our new home has trails all around that lead into the local mountains. No water, though.
:::ahem:: caches ::ahem:: and think of the gas $$ you are saving, and of course PE is taken care of too :)
Ah, this is right behind my mom's house! I used to stay up at night and listen to the trains go by.
It looks very pretty! I should take the kids out there.
That's very cool. We have a dirt trail to the nearest meth lab, it ain't much, but it's home.
I'm jealous.
Will they plow it in the winter?
That's awesome. out area has 2 different bike paths in two different areas of the county and neither one of them leads to a lake, but we love them all the same because they are so much more safe to ride/walk on!!!
Will they plow it in the winter?
Hmmm... Good question. Or they might just leave it covered for a cross-country ski trail.
Oh wow. My boys would love that. How awesome!
Rails-to-trails programs are huge here in my neck of the woods. Yours looks absolutely amazing: makes me want to move there Right Now. I live on my bike, so a good trail network is an absolute must.
Before we moved here, we researched the town's bike-friendliness. Thankfully, it passed muster!
Post a Comment
<< Home