Bicycling – Valerie's Voice

Houston, Minnesota

Southeastern Minnesota is a beautiful part of our state. Recently we drove through green forested, rolling hills, along winding roads, dotted with small farms and small towns, to a cute, little camping cabin in a state park for a camping weekend.

One of the small towns we passed through was Houston, population 979. It is the trailhead for the Root River State Trail. The recreational trail (bicycles, walkers, runners) begins in Houston and has 42 miles of paved trail that leads through Lanesboro and on in to Fountain, MN. It connects with the Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail, which adds an additional 18 miles of paved trails, and makes for a great trail system.

One day we drove to Houston to begin a biking adventure, and during our brief time in Houston we discovered a few interesting things.

First, outside the trail center was a wooden bench carved in the shape of a mother owl spreading her wings over her owlets. It is a beautiful piece of art…and functional art for all to enjoy.

A beautiful carved bench outside the Houston Trail Center building.

Then, right in the back yard of the center as we started down the trail we passed two sandhill cranes in the park. On our way back the cranes were in the same area so we stopped to take photos. Sandhill cranes are big, beautiful, sleek birds and are always a delight to see.

While looking at the cranes we noticed something else in the grass…a sundial of some sort. We quickly found the sign that explained it: an Analemmatic Sundial. We had never seen a “clock” quite like this…

On the ground is a cement square plaque with roman numerals indicating different hours. There is a rectangle plaque within the square with the twelve months etched in certain places. You step on the month and notice where your shadow falls and it indicates the hour of the day….and it was accurate! How does that work?

I had never heard of this word analemmatic. I looked it up and it means: a plot or graph of the position of the sun in the sky at a certain time of day at one locale measured throughout the year.

We enjoyed seeing these different sightings in Houston and we had a great bike ride on this end of the Root River trail.

A Nine Mile Loop

We have been blessed with some idyllic spring mornings lately: plenty of sunshine and blue skies, coolish temperatures and no wind. One morning I hopped on my bike and pedaled my way to a familiar nine mile loop outside Northfield. We call it “going around the block” (a large block!) There is a short trek on city streets and then long stretches of country roads with several hills to climb (and coast back down again thankfully).

The beautiful blue sky and country road, grass greening and trees budding.

In town, as I rode along, I saw a mother with her child out for an early morning walk already. I heard dogs barking and passed golfer’s golfing. Once out in the country it was quiet and still except for the birds singing and a rooster crowing. I biked past peaceful farms, ponies in a pen, open fields ready to be plowed and planted, and wind turbines – to remind me we’re in the 21st century.

These two wind turbines are owned by Carleton College and provide energy for it’s campus.
St. Olaf has it’s own wind turbine on the other side of town.

On the first six miles of this ride only one car passed me. The last three miles traffic picked up on the country road heading back into town. One truck came up behind me on the crest of a hill and passed me – in a no passing zone. I couldn’t believe he’d pass when he couldn’t see over the hill. I’m thankful another car was not approaching in the opposite lane.

I rode past this tractor in the field but waited for a rest stop to get a photo…it’s hard to get on and off the bike just to take pictures, both physically and mentally, because I really want to stop and take them. I guess I need one of those cameras attached to my helmet.

Mostly it’s a tranquil ride – even when I’m out of breath climbing those hills. I’m grateful to have this route close to where I live. I can hop on my bike and be out enjoying the countryside in just a few minutes.

A New Sculpture in Town

bicycle schulpture

There is a new sculpture near the bike trail in our town. I really like it…it’s colorful, it uses flowers and bicycles and it’s along the Cannon River in front of the Peggy Prowe Pedestrian Bridge that crosses over the river. The bridge was named for a town advocate for the Mill Towns Trail, which will run from Faribault to Cannon Falls, and continues on to Red Wing. My husband and I like to bike…he’s an eager biker in the Faribault Flyer’s Bike Club and I’m a casual rider.

I wrote this poem earlier this spring.

The First Ride of the Season

The tires pumped up

Hop onto the seat

The helmet on snug

“Start pedaling, feet!”

It feels good to be back

In the saddle once more

Though the going is slow

we will work up to soar.