During the month we stayed in Lawrence while helping family recuperate from a hospitalization, we had the opportunity to ride all of the wonderful bike trails Lawrence has to offer, including the Lawrence Levee Trail along the Kansas River. We rode this in two parts spanning two weekends.
The first weekend we rode the south part of the trail, a round trip of 12.5 miles. We didn't have our camera with us so we only took one picture of this ride with the timer on our phone. It was Valentine's Day and we wanted to capture the memory of our Valentine's present to each other -- an afternoon spent together on our bikes. Knowing my love for the New England coast, my sweetie took me where I could at least see seagulls in Kansas!
The following weekend, we rode the north half of the trail. She rode 14.25 miles round trip and struggled from about mile 10 on. Some rides are just like that. At about mile 12, she lost feeling in her ass. At mile 13, her legs followed suit. At mile 14, she was very, very happy to see their vehicles up ahead. 
That last quarter mile felt like pedaling with concrete blocks. That's where the "Just Keep Pedaling" name of this blog originated. When we first started riding our bicycles back in 2013, there were many rides when we both felt like that!
Upon reaching the cars, he said "You want to go for 15 miles?" She said, "You feel free and go right ahead. I'm done for today." So, he did. Proud of him!!
It was an amazing 70-degree day at the end of February. This was actually the perfect weather conditions for this trail, as it is wide open with no tree cover. In the height of summer or an excessively windy day, you would not want to be on this trail.
It's a bit rough in several spots. Many times we found ourselves riding over to the edge to avoid the ruts in the center, and others times we found ourselves riding in the center to avoid the ruts on the edge. LOL 
The north end of the trail dead ends at active railroad tracks that parallel Highway 24.
I thought this picture of this lone tree just said "Kansas."
Not really sure what all the mumbo-jumbo means on the many of Corp of Engineers signs like this that we encountered, but the proofreader/editor part of me is at least 76% sure that "gage" is spelled incorrectly for this context.
The smokestack of the Lawrence Energy Center coal-burning plant looming in the distance........
and closer up.
The trail goes by Riverfront Park and as the picture shows, there is a
Johnny on the Job available.
We did joke about the possibility of there being a van down by the river.
Chris Farley/SNL fans will nod.
Not far from Riverfront Park the trail travels under the I-70 bridge.
With some pie in the sky graffiti. This is Kansas, after all, and we have bigger battles to fight right now, like keeping public education legal. Maybe someday, though, there will be a Trove store in Lawrence.
The trail paralleled the placid-on-this-day Kansas River as we approached downtown. 
The view of downtown Lawrence. I won't go so far as to call it an actual skyline.
Not to be confused with an open face sandwich.
We crossed over the river bridge ......
... to ride the short paved trail in Burcham Park on the south bank of the river.
This appears to be a very new trail.
All in all, it was a beautiful day for a ride with my guy. 
