On Sunday, we went to the north side of Milwaukee to continue on our quest to bike the entire Oak Leaf trail. A problem ensued though--we last biked to about 91st and Bradley Road in the summer of 2011. We soon discovered that the part of the trail along Bradley Road that connects to Brown Deer park wasn't necessarily scenic or safe (no trail, just the road to bike on). We spontaneously decided to skip that part and pick it up in a more scenic area. Alas, we won't necessarily be able to say we biked the entire trail when we finish, but only the scenic/safe bits. :)
We went over to Dean Road, then down to River Road and parked there, among the gorgeous and huge mansions in River Hills. Neither of us had seen that area of Milwaukee and were shocked every time we biked past another mansion.
We ended up covering about 9 miles and went from River Road to the northern tip of Lincoln Park. The ride was partially on streets and the trail. Part of this trail wasn't so great through Kletzch park though--it was on some really bumpy pavement, so we opted to ride on the street.
We were right near Bayshore Mall so I convinced Craig to let me run in Trader Joe's for a few things while he waited in the car. I didn't even care that I had no makeup on, was sweaty and dressed in workout clothes and a hat...that's how desperate for a Trader Joe's trip I was. I cannot wait until one is about 10 minutes from our house. October can't come soon enough.
Our next bike ride on the trail will cover Lincoln Park to Kern. I will be most excited to bike through Estabrook Park to check out the biergarten and have a pretzel! The ride through that area should be really nice and mostly on trails.
The other thing I want to document with this post is that we finally got my bike mounted on the rack without it hanging down dangerously close to the cement below! Phew! I had to buy a Saris bar to get my bike to mount like a man's bike and let's just say the design of it has been a challenge to figure out until now. It didn't want to connect to my bike without problems until Craig spent a lot of time experimenting on Sunday.
By the way, I have a Trek hybrid women's 7100 bike and love it. Craig has the same bike model, just for men and a few years older than mine.
I never thought about how women's bikes aren't designed for car racks. I could see how that would be annoying. When I bought my bike a few years ago, the shop in Madison didn't sell women frames, so I have a man's bike. Your post is a good reminder for me to get my bike out before the snow starts falling!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a good time on the trail. I live farther away, so I don't get to bike the Oak Leaf much, but I wish I could more.
ReplyDeleteAnd the biergarten at Estabrook is gorgeous.