Friday Lunch Ride

I rode the familiar Minnesota River Bottoms trail today although I started at a different trailhead and went the opposite direction from my usual. This small change made it seem like a new trail.

While riding, I noticed something that's been brewing in my mind for a while. When I start a ride, I feel distracted by thoughts of work and other responsibilities. After about 20 minutes, I allow my mind to settle and I forget about my responsibilities other than the trail in front of me. My mind still wanders to subjects other than just the trail, but it seems more relaxed and able to make sense of things. This is one of the many great things about riding.

Here's a photo of the barge used to cross 9 Mile Creek. You have to pull yourself across with a rope.
It's pretty adventurous. But be careful not to lay your bike on the coil of rope. As you pull yourself across, the rope uncoils and will pull your bike with it if you've set the bike on the rope coil. This happened to me, but out of the corner of my eye I saw the bike moving across the barge.