Since Monday is my night to work, I often have the afternoon off. Assuming the weather cooperates and I’ve done all my chores, I have about 2.5 hours to do something fun.  Rainy days, I play video games.  On this sunny afternoon, I went for a bike ride.

The World Voyageur overlooks Dow Lake

Students practice their strokes in Dow Lake

The temperature was around 62 degrees.  I was fairly comfortable in shorts and my fluorescent long-sleeved Performance Century jersey.  I did have to unzip it a bit once I got to Second Street.  The route was as follows:

Grover parking lot to Bike Path to Currier Street, up Second Avenue (big hill) , across Columbia and out to Strouds Run State Park.  Ride around the parking lot loop, back to Columbia, down Madison, left on East State Street, Right on Hope, Bike Path back to Grover.  Total mileage was 16.8 miles, with 70 minutes of actual ride time.  Add 10 minutes or so for pictures, stop-lights, etc. The route map and details are below:

An absolutely gorgeous day to be on the bike. This is a great ride for folks who want to work some hills in, without getting too far away from town. I’ll definitely do the ride again soon.