Paddle & Pedal Winona, MN

Lake Winona Paddle and LaCanne Park to Prairie Island Pedal: 10.36 miles
TRIKE Pedal Time: 1 hour 8 minutes, average speed 9.1

Our trip to Winona was full of adventure. We started out with family visits in the morning and then kayaked Lake Winona in the afternoon before getting ready to meet up with good friends, Tim & Deneice, for supper.

Following an early supper, we all decided to continue our visit and get some exercise. Tim suggested a bike tour starting at LaCanne Park and continuing on towards Prairie Island. We passed over a wooden bridge with lots of character, then toured through Prairie Island Park and finally finished our ride with a spin though the area’s manufacturing neighborhood—a very enjoyable route.

Yellowstone Paddle & Tetons Pedal

5 miles Paddle/42 miles Pedal
TANDEM Pedal Time: 3 hours 19 minutes, average speed 12.6

Our adventure started early this morning with a 3-hour drive back to Yellowstone National Park for our O.A.R.S. Kayak tour on the West Thumb of the Yellowstone Lake and around the West Thumb Geyser Basin. We were at the Grant Village boat ramp by 9:00 a.m. for our 9:30 tour. April, Megan and Leah were there to welcome us and get us psyched for the trip. The ticket price for the two of us for this trip was $180 and it was worth it. Nowhere in the park could you get as close to the geysers as we did in our kayak. Yellowstone lake boasts being North America’s largest lake above 7000 feet and lies at the center of an immense caldera left behind by the collapse of the Yellowstone super-volcano during its last eruption 600,000 years ago. The volcanic activity continues to this day and there are many examples of the region’s characteristic geothermal activity along the shores of the Yellowstone Lake’s West Thumb, including geysers, hot springs and mud pots. We paddled a pine-fringed shoreline to view these geothermal features from the seat of an O.A.R.S. touring kayak.

We experienced beautiful views along with historic commentaries. The Fishing Hole Geyser was an interesting story. An explorer found he could cook a fish in a geyser and he began selling the idea to visitors who would come to cook fish and eat it as a novelty until it became too dangerous—standing over an active geyser was recognized as unsafe and the discovery of arsenic in the sediment put this sport to an end.

This geyser basin used to be the center of attention but now visitors flock to Old Faithful because of its predictability. The geysers here are now covered by the lake and our guides ensured we stayed a safe distance away by creating a barrier between us and these geological formations.

The kayak trip ended too soon but biking was planned for the afternoon and our kayak guide, April lead us south towards the Grand Tetons and Jackson, WY for a recommended route. We had a wonderful lunch in Yellowstone and then pointed the van towards the Grand Teton National Park for some more Wyoming biking.

We were elated to find a newly paved bicycle trail and got on it just south of Jenny Lake. The trail allowed us to view the Tetons from the seat of our tandem—what a treat! We biked 42 of the most beautiful miles at the base of the Tetons on a moisture-free day and even experienced a moose sighting. The temperature was in the upper 80’s with no wind making for a spectacular ride. We biked through the Teton Village and then on to Jackson for a light supper.

Jackson was a touristy town with many restaurants willing to quickly reduce a vacationer’s savings by asking $20-30 for one meal. We found a nice little Bread Company willing to serve us a sandwich for under $10 each.

It was now getting late so we began pedaling back on the trail to where our van was awaiting us. We still had a 4-hour drive to get us back to Big Sky and the sun was beginning to set. We decided to drive through the Teton Pass into Idaho so we wouldn’t have to follow the slow traffic through Yellowstone. This was sure a full day. We reached the Summit Hotel in Big Sky at 11:30 p.m. Mountain Time. We have now toured 4 National Parks on this western trip: The Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and the Grand Teton National Park and were able to bike in 2 of them—life is good.

Paddle and Pedal

RRT Paddle & Pedal: 14 miles Paddle/30 miles Pedal
TANDEM Pedal Time: 2 hours 19 minutes, average speed 12.9

The van was ready to go with the kayak on top and the tandem tucked inside. We were joining the River Rambler Kayak Club for an organized trip on the North Branch of the Root River.

We met up with 11 other boaters at the Eagle Cliff Campground near Whalan at 10:00 and all boats were in the water by 11:00. Joe Reischel was responsible for bringing this group together for this event.

The north branch of the Root was surrounded by towering rock formations which is a side of the Root we rarely get a chance to see. Other than the water level being low and the boat scraping on many rocks, the trip went well. It wasn’t until the last two miles when we met up with many tubers that caution and concentration was a must. One of our boaters capsized while trying to maneuver around a group of tubers, canoes and rocks—she escaped without a scratch and had quite a story to tell at day’s end.

We all made it back to the campground by 3:30 p.m. which allowed Dennis and I to unload the tandem and get some pedal time in. Our first mission was to pedal to the Barn Resort for food. We were quite hungry after paddling for 4 hours.

We then biked on to Preston and beyond. Our plan was to get 30 miles on this last day of June to boost our total monthly miles above 300. We reached and exceeded our goal and sailed back into Lanesboro before the sun set. We packed the bike and discussed how wonderful a clean shower will feel after this day of labor on the Root.

June 2012 — Total Biking Miles 315.71
Accumulative Miles 1354.28

Pedal & Paddle

Pedal & Paddle: 38.11 miles
TANDEM: Ride Time was 2 hours 54 minutes, average speed: 13.1

The weather forecast looked good for biking today so we called our biking buddies, Alan & Michelle, to see if they wanted to join us on the Root River Trail. We met up in Lanesboro at 10:30 a.m. and biked towards Rushford. Lunch at The Creamery was a good choice. Alan & Michelle were on a tight schedule and needed to be off the bike by 3:00 so following lunch we all biked back to Lanesboro. The temperature reached into the 90s by ride’s end which led us to agree that a 38-mile day on the bike was just fine.

Following our bike ride on the Root, we decided to add a paddle adventure to the day—our first duathlon. We carted the kayak to Chester Woods for a trip around Chester Lake. We noticed a big improvement from our first attempts at synchronized paddling and the boat just glided along the water. When the legs can no longer spin for the day, the kayak will allows us to continue to play.