We had a busy and very productive weekend. I am currently pursuing an associate degree in graphic design from an online school, which I may or may not actually see to completion, but I do need to at least finish this semester since I paid for it and all. So, I spent literally all day Saturday finishing and submitting 3 Adobe Illustrator projects, encompassing my last chapter project, as well as my final graded project for the entire course. (Which by the way, this chick got 100% on all around ......... applause!!! Thank you).
So, for all that hard and successful work, today I got to play. We drove the 40 miles to Topeka to ride the 7 mile trail around Lake Shawnee, with the plan to get at least 20 miles of riding in. We ended up spending the morning circling the lake twice. The east side, which we tackled first, has some pretty good sized hills. This trail is definitely a workout. It was being heavily utilized on this 80 degree Sunday morning at about 11:00.
After making our second loop, and completing just shy of 15 miles, it was 12:25 and we were hungry. So we decided to hit our favorite post-ride spot (Spangles) for our favorite post-ride meal (All American Meal Deal -- hamburger, fries, drink AND ice cream for $5). Seriously, you can't beat a deal like that.
After that "healthy" lunch we parked at the Crestview Community Center to ride the Shunga Trail from Fairlawn Road to Kansas Avenue and back, a total of 10 miles . This trail was also being utilized on this day, though not as heavily as the lake. This was a completely shaded ride, unlike the lake trail, and since by the afternoon the temperature had climbed to 94 degrees, this was a perfect easy and comfortable ride, much flatter than the lake trail, so a perfect "cool down" ride.
By the end of the day, we had ridden a total of 25.75 miles. That is our personal best!
~~H
I think she pretty much summed up our day! Had a great time riding both trails. Look forward to riding them again!
S~~
Notice the grade sign. Notice how the trail seems to drop off into oblivion. This is not a coincidence. :)
It would be terrible to have a paved 7-mile trail around a lake right in your backyard. It would also be terrible to have a sidewalk from your neighborhood to get to that trail. She says jealously.
Nice station to fill up our water bottles!
Lake Shawnee behind us.
They be expecting food, it would seem.
Duck, duck, goose
Back to the car!
Lunch break at Spangles between rides!
I's Hungry!
Undoing all the work we just did on that 15 mile ride! LOL
So, now to work off those Mudslides..................... :)
A very heavily utilized skateboard park. Beware of small children darting without concern in front of you.
A cool mural in one of the trail underpasses. Can't remember which street.
Shunga Creek, which the trail follows.
The old Santa Fe locomotive on the Expocentre grounds that has sat there as long as either of us can remember.
A happy sunflower in a fenced garden right next to the locomotive.
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