Million Dollar Ride

Douglas Trail + Rochester Extension: 33.13 miles
Tandem Pedal Time: 2 hours 43 minutes, average speed 12.1

Being the day before Thanksgiving, we slipped out of work early to begin biking the Douglas Trail northwest of Rochester, MN. The weather was gorgeous—reaching 74 degrees which is rare for mid-November in Minnesota. We were able to bike in our usual summer clothing without the layering of our winter bike gear.

We continued on the Douglas Trail to Pine Island and turned back towards Rochester. We still had time before the sun set so decided to check out the newly paved bike route connecting the Douglas Trail to Rochester’s inner city. We heard of the “million dollar” bridge built for pedestrians and cyclists and came upon it just a few miles from the Trail exit. The bridge was awesome! It took us over busy Hwy 14 and continued to wind towards the ponds at Cascade Park—all was very beautiful and we were very impressed with what Rochester has done here.

We truly enjoy exploring the unknown on the bike. We get excited about the unusual discoveries we find along our path to nowhere. We pedaled back to the van waiting at the Douglas Trailhead, packed the bike up and were heading for home just as the sun was beginning to set. Because of this bike outing, we are now only 7 miles from breaking our 2007 season total of 3251 and the weather looks like it will hold for at least one more day.