The long way around

We have ridden several dozen times to Lake Vadnais, almost always on the more or less the same route through Shoreview.  We see 10 lakes along the way and, in fact, I own a Twin Cities bicycle route map book that features pretty much exactly that ride the way we ride it.  The ride turns back at Highway 96 and eventually arrives at Lake Vadnais from the north.  I don't think it is at all strange that we have come to think of the "normal" route as the most direct route to see all of those lakes.  We generally arrive at Lake Vadnais having ridden nearly 15 miles with about 11 miles to go to reach home.

For those keeping score Shoreview is still officially off limits to me.  We live in extreme southwestern Roseville but Friday I scouted out a route that got me to Rice Street at the extreme northeastern extent of our home town.

Today I didn't have to scout it at all, I knew where I was going.  This meant we were able to avoid detours and back tracks and head straight out.  This photo was taken at the southern parking area on Lake Vadnais.

Surely our journey had been the long way around.  Well, actually at this point we had traveled about 8 and a half miles.

The stuff you learn is sometimes completely not what you expected.

From there we headed on up north through the rest of the park.  We didn't go out to the more northern lakes though.  I was pretty sure that if we did we would end up with no way to get home without going through *cough* Shoreview.  At the top of Lake Vadnais I was pleased to find that the suburb we were actually in is Vadnais Heights.  Shoreview was totally not necessary.

We made a loop through the neighborhood along Rice Street on the high ground above the seldom visited west shore of Vadnais.  We got to ride on something called Rustic Place.

I am also pleased to announce that after a pretty long haul I have now ridden as many miles this month in Minnesota as I have ridden this month in Michigan.  So that's a lot of miles with 6 days still to go.  I will certainly get some rides in but I am also determined to attend that whole wild exposition going on just to our south.  Wireless reports that the state's largest boar this year isn't really very large at all.  The state's largest boar is an important Minnesota cultural touch stone and this is something I must see myself.