Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Saturday, September 10, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota
Early Thursday morning I saw something I hadn't seen in weeks.
Because I'm heading east, and because I've put in most of my miles in the morning,
the sun has never been low enough in the afternoon to throw a shadow out in front of
me. So when my route to the Twin Cities took me due west for a few miles not long after
the sun came up, there I was up ahead in silhouette, strolling down the avenue, er, I
mean, pedaling away on the shoulder of the road. Cool!
Of course, like the groundhog, I couldn't wait to run from it. Turning south, I left my
shadow to the side and slightly behind me, where it belongs. I don't care to see it again
until I get home. Eastward ho!
I picked my way through the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, following my GPS
through a peculiar mixture of neighborhood streets, park trails, and the sidewalks of
busy commercial strips, and spent two cushy nights here in Saint Louis Park, a plush
quarter on the southwestern edge of Minneapolis, with an old softball buddy, Rick Gib-
son. One day, he and I rode around the Twin Cities on their myriad bike paths. I got a
kick out of riding through downtown, past the ballpark and the Guthrie Theater, and I
