9.7 Mile Tandem Bike Ride Big Papio Trail

Big Papio Trail in Omaha

A Bike Ride from Towl Park to Crosskey Villages Park and Back

Our first ride of the year on the Big Papio Trail was quite enjoyable today. Though it is July 1st, the weather was quite nice, perhaps in the mid to upper 80s (with blue skies) for most of our 9.7 total miles tandem bike ride from Towl Park north to Crosskey Villages Park and back.

If you are looking for a nice not too long bike ride in Omaha, this is a nice one, and the parks are actually only 4.4 miles apart, and both parks are a nice place to sit and talk over the bike ride. Bring your own drinks, though, and control your bladder. Towl Park had a port a potty, but none was seen at Crosskey Villages Park.

The above photo was taken at Crosskey Villages Park (looking south), about halfways done with our ride. No, the whole trail does not look like this, but the portions in the parks are really nice.

Big Papio Trail Hills

Big Papio Trail Hills

By the way, there are a few places where the trail goes under roads, so there are a few places where we got a short workout on these uphill spots, though overall it is a fairly level bike ride, with the Big Papio Creek off to the side of the trail and visible most of the ride.

Don't worry too much about those hills, though. Vicky and I, the great-grandparents, were able to pedal up them.

Rabbit at Crosskey Villages Park

A Day for Rabbits

We did see a couple rabbits on today's bike ride, and this one was calm enough to allow me to take its picture at Big Crosskey Villages Park, our turnaround point for today's tandem bike ride..

Big Papio Trail Flooding

Big Papio Trail Flooding

Things have dried up since the recent heavy rains in Omaha, but this photo, taken somewhere between Pacific and Center Streets, shows how high the water from the Big Papio Creek had been.

A few places had remnants of those yellow caution tapes where the trail had been closed, more than likely due to the flooding.

Big Papio Trail Footprints

Big Papio Trail Footprints

It's always interesting, for us at least, to discover footprints such as these in the almost dry mud along the trail.

This picture was taken under the same bridge pictured earlier.

Big Papio Trail at Towl Park

Towl Park and the End of Today's Tandem Bicycle Ride

As location permits, we always enjoy a break at the end of our rides. This gives us a chance to talk over our ride, have a snack or a drink, and spend a few more minutes outdoors before we load the bike back on the car's bike rack and head for home.

Length of this bike ride: 9.7 Miles

Weather on this bike ride: Mostly sunny, in the mid to upper 80s, wind from the south was especially obvious on the return portion of our ride, heading south.

Average speed of this bike ride: 9.3 mph

Top Speed of this bike ride: 17.4 mph

Total miles biked together in 2010: 39.9 Miles

Total miles we've ridden on our tandem: 176 Miles

Date of this ride: July 1, 2010

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