The Hiawatha Trail

Long, long ago ... well, before the kids came along anyway ... we used to ride our bikes.  Since then, they've been hanging in the shop gathering dust.  Until a few weeks ago.  Our little town has quite a few bike trails and several more under construction.  A few weeks ago, they cleared another hurdle in getting one built along the lake.  That clinched it.  We were ready to figure out how to bike as a family.  A bit of research, an end of season sale, a Craig's list find and we were set.

One trail we've heard a lot about and wanted to try for ourselves is the Hiawatha Trail.  It was an old train grade that they've converted into a 14 mile long bike trail that goes through 10 tunnels (including one that is 1.7 miles long) and over 7 trestles.  Most people park at the top and catch the shuttle bus at the bottom.  That's what we did.  I don't think I'll be near as lucky next time.  I see some uphill pedaling in my future. 

All buckled in and ready to ride.  That flashlight came in handy in the middle of the 1.7 mile long tunnel.  It kept them from freaking out.  It was amazing how dark it was in that tunnel - it takes a while before you can see the light at the end! 

Getting a glimpse of where we're headed. 

Heading into another tunnel.  That trail-a-bike was our Craig's list find.  It worked like a dream and Lane was very excited to help pedal.  He really was a help!

 More trestles.

Everything okay in there?

It was a fun ride.  The company that owned this track went bankrupt back in the 70's and there are several stretches of the route that have been turned into bike trail.  Apparently, there are groups of people working to turn it all into bike trail.  That would be quite a thing!