44º58’10”N, 93º31’15”W
Trail head, Wayzata, Minnesota
Our well-above-normal spring weather has enabled an early start for my bike-riding season this year. Yesterday was another gorgeous day in the mid-50s, and my bike was calling for me to hit the road. The Twin Cities rank among the top for bicycling with literally hundreds of miles of trails. I’ve ridden many of the trails in town so exploring one a bit further out seemed appealing. With the bike in the back of the car I headed for downtown Wayzata on the shores of Lake Minnetonka.
The northeastern head for the Dakota Rail Regional Trail is situated at the Wayzata (pronounced why-zet-a) marina and beach, and from this starting point the route runs 13.5 miles south and west along the shore of Lake Minnetonka and the communities of Orono, Minnetonka Beach, Spring Park, Mound, and Minnetrista, before it terminates in St. Bonifacius. Sections of the trail pass some of the most beautiful (and most pricey!) homes in the area, which are situated in bucolic settings mixing lake, marsh, woods, and perfectly landscaped acreages.
Just five days past Lake Minnetonka’s 2010 official ice-out date of April 2nd, I found the water such a dark navy blue that it nearly seemed black, allowing for a striking contrast with the dry and brown reeds and cattails along the shore and in the surrounding marshes. The strong oily smell of railroad ties greeted me as I passed over a bridge at Crystal Bay, which struck me as comforting for some reason. As I pressed on through Minnetonka Beach I had the sense I had been transported back to my former life in Massachusetts: the architecture and setting of the homes in this village truly reminded me of New England.
I rode most of the afternoon in blissful solitude, stopping now and then to watch Canadian snow geese or mallard ducks gliding in for a water landing. Eventually I retraced my path back to Wayzata where I sat by water’s edge and observed the first sailboats of the season skimming over Wayzata Bay. It’s hard to believe just a few weeks ago I watched Chevy Suburbans driving over that same surface. Ah, the glory of four seasons!
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