Westward ho!

I think.  Is that the way you spell that?

I tried the western route today.  This leads me over into the really big city and onto the cross town MUT.  I visited a couple of lakes I had not previously been to this season.

First up was Lake of the Isles.  That's an island out there behind the water recreators.

I suppose presence of small islands is a good reason to call a body of water lake of the isles but I believe that historical research would reveal that pre-settlement that was a swamp.

There is a public water source at that spot (probably usually referred to by its more common name, water fountain).

I was close enough to doing something signficant that I went ahead and persevered out to the city limits and entered Saint Louis Park.  This means I bicycled all the way across the really big city.  This is my turn around point, an information kiosk on the Three Rivers Park District MUT.

On the way back I was looking for a photo opportunity featuring the recently controversially named Lake Calhoun.  Instead I settled for this fairly giant gaggle of recreation enthusiasts out enjoying a lake in the City of Lakes.

A canoe, I think three kayaks and seven paddle boards, all in the channel between Calhoun and Lake of the Isles.

It WAS a nice day for it.

The MUT over there was mostly downhill and with a tail wind on the way home and I may have over cooked it a tad.  I figured it was OK as I planned to edit the route as I neared home by cutting through the Fairgrounds.  Imagine my chagrin when I discovered, AFTER riding through the Fairgrounds that the far side gate was locked.  We have the National Senior Games going on in town right now and maybe I should have known but did not the venue for the cycling events is the Fairgrounds.  Road races yesterday and today, time trials Saturday and Sunday.

With the gates locked I had to backtrack and ended up riding too far, my longest ride of the year.  Over cooked and then a ride too far.

Oh, well, at least now I know.