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| route map |
The Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization, AARP, and other co-sponsors had a glorious day for the annual MPO Ride, a 14-mile loop from Bever Park to the Prairie Park Fishery and back. It was my first MPO Ride since 2017. That year we had nearly 50 riders exploring trail improvements from here to Robins; this year we more than doubled that number (120, according to Roman Kiefer). We were a mighty group.
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| Gathering at Bever Park |
Our route took us downtown, then down 3rd Street to New Bohemia and out on Otis Road. We "took a lane" in town, even when there was a bike lane, since there were so many of us. I imagine drivers were surprised to find that many bikers crossing their route to work or Saturday morning errands. These rides tend to be well-publicized within the cycling community, but not so much to the general public. Were I riding solo, my experience would be different, as would the drivers', but it shows that getting to the trail can be a significant effort.
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| Approaching 10th Street on 3rd Avenue |
We were briefly on a trail at the Prairie Park Fishery, then at Indian Creek Nature Center we got on the Sac and Fox Trail. That got us almost all the way back to Bever Park. From Trailridge and Indiandale to Bever and 34th it's a long painful hill, but we made it. Here the challenge to connect to the trail is not traffic--though once you're back on Bever Avenue it can be aggressive--but landforms. They, too, can be deterrents to riding.
In all we were on streets with sharrows, streets with bike lanes, Otis Road which has no markings, hard surface trail, and packed gravel trail. The packed gravel trails had suffered a little with the recent rains.
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| riders on Otis Road near Indian Creek Nature Center |
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| On the Sac and Fox Trail, approaching Rosedale Road |
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| View of Indian Creek from the Sac and Fox Trail |
One bit of infrastructure that was at least new to me was a wide sidewalk along East Post Road from the Sac and Fox trailhead to Trailridge Road.
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| Along East Post Road approaching Indian Creek |
Back at Bever Park, we heard about Connect CR plans for Cedar Lake and the Sleeping Giant Bridge. Part of the rebuilding of Czech Village will be a reimagined B Street that will be part of a Lightline Loop connecting to the main north-south trail.
What was formerly B Street will be a pedestrian "promenade" from 16th to 18th Avenues, and then a woonerf from 18th to 21st. There will be more development, including residences, a "destination park," and a new roundhouse. It's nice to see some creative thinking here, though I have my doubts about woonerfs, particularly with all the motor vehicle traffic at the destination park.
So, it was a little exercise and a little information, on a beautiful day, clearly oriented to recreational cycling rather than commuting. But our recreational trail opportunities have come a long way, and to have this ride practically at my fingertips (I live blocks from Bever Park) says something significant. So does the huge number of participants!
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