7.7 Miles Tandem Bike Ride Missouri River Trail

Missouri River Trail Frogs Galore

First Tandem Bike Ride of the Year (Missouri Riverfront Trail)

We made it! We have survived another dreadful and unbearably long Omaha winter. Last week I took a solo practice bike ride, and this weekend it was finally time for our first tandem bike ride of the year!

This morning at home we impatiently waited for the day to begin to approach it's promised near 70 and sunny forecast. We waited for the winds to calm down and the sun to burn away the clouds so it could warm up, and we finally decided to head for the Bellevue Loop Trail, even though it hadn't really reached bike riding weather for the day yet.

With our bicycle built for two secured to the back of the car we began our short ride to Bellevue (Nebraska), only to quickly discover the entrance to the road we needed to use was closed. We had several options at this point, and took the simplest one, go north instead of south and ride on the Missouri River Trail, which is also part of (or the same thing as) the Omaha Riverfront Trail.

N P Dodge Park is a good place to start the ride, and we pulled in to the park to be greeted by the sounds of hundreds of frogs... Okay, we didn't count them, there could have been thousands. Along the trail geese were gathered, though they flew off shortly after we arrived.

Missouri River Trail Long Steep Hill

Riding South From N P Dodge Park

Vicky had enough sense to wear a jacket, and my flannel shirt helped as we soon disovered 63 degrees, cloudy, and windy weather makes for a rather cool bike ride as we headed south down the Missouri Riverfront Trail. Vaguely we decided a 4-6 mile round trip would be enough for this first ride of the year together.

We hoped to ride a short ways south, turn around, then head to the north section of the trail.

There were several turn around points, first one was under the bridge seen in this picture. We stopped there for a few minutes and decided to keep going till we reached the Missouri River Overlook, but we reached that all too soon, decided not to stop, and we soon saw the sign warning of a long steep uphill grade.

We rode up this once before, last summer, but not on our first ride together of the year. Getting near the base of the hill, I asked Vicky if she wanted to do some work and go up the hill. Vicky agreed, and we built up as much speed as possible before beginning the climb and made it quite a bit of the way up the hill before the downshifting process began.

Soon we were in first gear, though still in the high range of the front sprocket. This was good enough to keep going, though we were traveling mighty slow and more than a little bit short of breath by the time we finally reached the top of the hill.

The above photo gives you a look at the hill we accomplished today.

Note: We reached our top speed for the day (16.9 mph) on this hill. No, it wasn't on the much easier descent of the hill, but on our way up the hill before we lost our burst of energy.

Missouri River Trail North End

Back to the Car, a Break, and a Ride North

After catching our breath at the bench at the top of the hill, we decided it was a bit too cold and windy up there, and began our uneventful return ride.

At the car, we took it easy for a while, shared a snack, and sat in the car for a bit to warm up before riding just a bit more, but using the north section of the trail, which leads to this point advising trail users that this is the end of the trail (for now).

The ride north from the park to this point was pretty tiring for both of us. It was slightly uphill a lot of the way with the wind in our face adding to the resistance we felt. Still, we managed to make it to the end of the trail.

While turning around here, another bike rider pulled up, we admired each other's bikes, and talked a bit about the trail. He was on his daily round trip ride from downtown (whew!), and we learned that about two miles up the road from this pont there was another section of the trail that went all the way to Boyer Chute, maybe ten miles or so.

Missouri River Trail Vicky Missouri River (N P Dodge Park)

Back South to N P Dodge Park and a Ride to the Missouri River

The ride from the bridge at the trail end back to the car was quite nice. Downhill and with the wind at our backs made for pleasant riding conditions.

Approaching the car, Vicky asked how far we had gone. Can't remember exactly what our trip distance was at that point, but it wasn't enough for Vicky, and she asked if we could ride a bit in the park. It was nice that Vicky still wanted to add a bit more distance to the day's ride.

We headed down to this spot along the river, realized that both of us were feeling a little bit worn out, then rode back to the car, loaded our tandem on the bike rack, and headed for home.

A Few Notes

The bathroom we planned on using at N P Dodge Park was locked up. Don't they think that people go to the bathroom year round?

Our backs are a bit sore after today's ride, but that is acceptable.

As we were loading our bike on the car, the sun came out, and it warmed up from 63 degrees to 72 degrees! Perfect bike riding weather a couple hours too late.

We are pleased with ourselves. 7.7 miles is a decent first tandem ride of the year for us great grandparents that consider ourselves casual bike riders.

Length of this bike ride: 7.7 Miles

Average speed of this bike ride: 8.7 mph

Top Speed of this bike ride: 16.9 mph

Total miles biked together in 2010: 7.7 Miles

Date of this ride: April 10, 2010

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