The official opening of the Hank Aaron State Trail western extension is scheduled to take place November 8. The new section of trail follows former railroad tracks between 37th St and 94th Place. The route can be clearly seen on the Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin map because it is marked as a railroad line.

There are a limited number of access points to the new trail. On the whole section, there are only two grade crossings. Here are the access points (going from east to west):

• A connecting trail that starts at Pierce St and 37th, goes south down a switchback, goes under the existing railroad track, crossing the Menominee River, and connects to the existing trail at Canal St.
• General Mitchell Blvd in the Wood VA Center, one of the two grade crossings.
• 56th St, a connector from the south.
• The west side of Hawley Rd.
• 68th St, a connector from the north.
• 76th St, the other grade crossing.
• 89th St, an informal connector from the south.
• 94th Place, the present western end of the trail. The continuation of the trail to the west awaits the reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange.

The trail crosses several bike routes shown on the map without connecting with them, instead crossing over or under them:

• The bike trail on the east side of Miller Parkway that connects National Avenue to Canal St (trail crosses over).
• 70th St (crosses under).
• 84th St (crosses over). At this time there is no direct connection to the Wisconsin State Fair.
• 92nd St (crosses over).

Perhaps it is also worth noting the three streets, all with marked bike lanes, that cross over the Menominee Valley on viaducts, thus crossing but not intersecting the older section of trail:

• 16th St
• 27th St
• 35th St

(This post has been cross-posted at Wisconsin Bike Routes)

This from the City of Minneapolis Bicycle Program:

Bicycling Update Subscribers,

Next Monday, October 25^th, a closure of the Hiawatha Trail between 24^th and 26^th Streets will begin.  The closure will continue for up to three weeks, and will facilitate water main work being done as part of Metro Transit’s new maintenance facility on the east side of the trail.

The suggested detour route follows Minnehaha Avenue (which has recently been striped with bicycle lanes) and 24^th Street.

Several years ago a route was cleared and a rough gravel trail was laid from a point just west of highway 31 to Willow Rd in Sturtevant. But then construction mysteriously stopped. Finally the trail has been paved.

Finding bicycle-friendly routes between Racine and the western parts of Racine county is a challenge. The need to cross two railroads and interstate 94 tends to funnel traffic onto the relatively few through roads. With the improvement of this trail, bicyclists now have the option of an off-road route between Racine and Sturtevant.  They can then use mostly low-traffic roads to continue further west. (The exception is caused by the need to use the route 20 shoulder to get under the railroad tracks. Fortunately the shoulders are wide.)

Riding buddy Dave Olson and I had talked about it on and off through the summer: We’d take the North Star Commuter Rail from Minneapolis to the end of the line, then ride our bikes back, but life got in the way and summer slipped by, so when the email said that North Star was offering a free ride to the end for bikes and riders, we jumped on it.

The train: We rode to Target Field, wandered around a bit in confusion, then figured out that getting to the train platform required using an elevator, escalator or stairs. Not easy in road riding shoes. That problem will be solved when the Cedar Lake Trail extension is finished late this fall. Bicyclists will be able to go directly from the trail onto the platform. Quite nice, except that North Star doesn’t sell tickets on the platform. They’re sold one flight up- via elevator, escalator or stairs.

Each car has storage for two bike, at one door of the car, but securing the bike is clumsy. It requires holding the bike upright while kneeling to floor level to strap the rear wheel to the stand. LRT has a much better system. The cars themselves are quite nice with commuter enhancements like 110v electrical outlets for plugging in a laptop to get some work done during the commute. They also have second floor seating for a nice view of the city and countryside during the ride.

Train platforms lack bathroom facilities. Plan ahead, especially if you are over 50.

The bike ride: We received maps for the ride back. The suggested route more or less followed the Mississippi River and the rail line back to town, but the map itself was remarkably free of useful information. At one point, for example, the route turned off Hwy 14 onto Hwy 30, then weaved through a number of streets until it arrived in Elk River. We saw Hwy 30, but it wasn’t on the map, anywhere, so we rode on and spent the next hour negotiating our way to Elk River through a combination of aiming in the right direction (the sun was out, that helped), asking directions (novel for male travelers), and trusting our gut instincts. It worked, and we managed to hook up with the main group at a park in the center of town. The route we found was actually quite a nice alternative and could easily be incorporated into a loop ride or alternate route back to town.

Although it was novel to ride back to the city from the end of the line, I think the real benefit of  commuter rail for bicyclists will be the opportunity to get off the train at one of the remote stations to spend a few hours riding country roads before hopping back on the train for the return trip. Train fare is under $8 each way, so for the price of a couple of movie tickets you could spend a pleasant afternoon riding the train and bicycling through farm fields and woodlots.

The northern section of the Beer Line Trail between Gordon Park and Wright Street is open and paved. This trail follows the former train track that service the Schlitz and Pabst breweries. The new trail is at the edge of the bluff above the Milwaukee River. South of this section the trail that climbs up the bluff (or climbs down, depending on your direction) from Commerce Street to the new trail is still under construction.

Update (October 16, 2010): the entire trail is now open.

The missing 6-mile section of the Badger State Trail through Fitchburg was recently opened. The new sections of the trail is paved, as is the existing trail into downtown Madison). The trail continues south to the Illinois state line, continuing as the Jane Addams trail in Illinois. South of the new section the trail is unpaved but in generally good condition.

This Labor Day, I decided to ride Waukesha County’s Lake Country Trail to view the progress of its repaving project. Both the eastern and western sections have been paved. However the project is not finished even in these sections, despite the original target completion date of July 23. The barricades announcing the trail is closed are still up, if pushed out of the way. Landscaping along the shoulders, guard rails, painting, and signage are still missing from these sections. The trail is officially closed to allow crews to finish these jobs.

The middle section, mostly in Naga-Waukee county park, is another matter. Except for a section of rerouted trail at the intersection of highway 83, this section has been left unchanged. Although there are several paved sections where the trail is steep, several spots are sandy and difficult going for road bikes. According to the county’s web site, work on this section is slated to start in early September.

The visitor center near the eastern end of the trail is a good place to start for bicyclists arriving by car from the east. For those arriving by bike, a better option is to take the bike trail along county G from Waukesha. Other places to park along the trail are the park and ride lot at highway 83, Cushing Park west of Delafield, and along city streets in Delafield and Oconomowoc.

A new trail along Cushing Park Road is planned to connect the Lake Country and Glacial Drumlin trails. Currently it stops where the Ice Age Trail enters Lapham Peak State Park. Bicycles are prohibited on this section of the Ice Age Trail.

A nice loop trip is to start at Cushing Park, ride the trail to Oconomowoc and then return via road, skirting Oconomowoc Lake and having views of several other lakes and a former mill pond (see the map for details). In fact, the roads are considerably more scenic than the trail. Despite the difference in scenary, I encountered far more bikes on the trail section of the route.

This route can be extended with a ride around Lake LaBelle. The ride around the lake includes several dead-end roads that are connected by short bike paths. (In a case of apparent overkill, speed bumps were added when a section of road was converted to bike path.) For me, part of the appeal of both lakes is that one rides along the water.

Update (October 16, 2010). Construction has been finished on both the eastern and western sections of the trail. Despite the dates given on the Waukesha county website, there is no sign of impending improvements on the middle section. Much of this section is already paved because of steep hills. But other parts are difficult because of loose sand.

It’s a little unnerving to stand on the Sustainability Stage in the Eco Experience building, dripping wet with sweat, to explain that I ran into a bike detour and the power is out so I can’t show the Power Point.  Some of it is my fault. I left too late and rode too hard through 68 percent humidity. No way to show up fresh for a talk under those conditions. I also should have anticipated that the bike lane on Como Ave would be closed during the Fair. Como is the busiest street anywhere near the Fairgrounds during the fair.

I didn’t anticipate the power outage. Apparently a truck ran into a power pole and took out the electricity to the fairgrounds.

We made it through, though. One gentle woman handed me a tissue to wipe my brow, a staffer brought over a water bottle and the folks in the audience adjusted to the lack of visual stimulation by asking lots of questions, providing personal insights and generally tolerating the unexpected circumstances.

The presentation was about the rail trails and back roads of Minnesota and Western Wisconsin and was based on Bicycle Vacation Guide. I enjoy giving this talk. When the power is on, I use the Power Point to introduce general information about the trails of Minnesota and Wisconsin, then open up the talk by asking the audience to suggest a trail or area of the state to talk about. I can then jump directly to that trail and talk about it. Even without the power, we were able to carry on the discussion.

I’ll be back at the Eco Experience Building on Labor Day for a 4:30 discussion. This time I’ll leave early so I can arrive and cool down before the presentation. I assume that we won’t have another power outage, so I’ll bring the Power Point again. Stop by to say Hi.

Oh yes,  despite the detour and the overheated intro, I still think riding to the fair is a blast, and the calories burned reduce the guilt about eating calorie packed Fair Food. If you want to bike to the State Fair, check out this map, created by Bikeverywhere.

The Eco Experience Building is on the north side of the Fairgrounds so the nearest bike parking is in Lot 2.  If you are coming from the west, however, I suggest going to Lot 3 and walking across the Fairgrounds. Lot 1, the busiest of the three, requires negotiating traffic or walking to access.

See you at the fair on Labor Day.

Rosemount is at the outskirts of the developed metro area. It’s a developing city with some amenities for bicyclists and a nearby oasis at Umore Park, the agricultural and research grounds of the University of Minnesota. Plans for Umore include a sustainable community of 20,000 to 30,000 people, but for now it’s a quiet throwback with unusual structures from its short life as the Gopher Ordnance Works and buildings dating from post World War II.

Paved roads at Umore are the smaller part of the network of routes through the grounds. Those are the routes highlighted for bicycling in the Twin Cities Bike Map, but a rider with wide road tires or a mountain bike has many more options for exploring this flat expanse of agricultural land.

Rosemount has put some effort into building a network of bike trails and roads with wide shoulders. The primary route loops through some smallish parks and around housing developments. There are no major destination spots along the trail, and signage is non-existent, but the trails are pleasant and young enough to still be in good condition.