We did the Red Cedar trail this weekend! Starting early on Sunday, we drove to Eau Claire to check out the Chippewa River trail. It was very nice in town, but the trail markings were confusing to an out of towner, so we got lost a bunch of times and became frustrated. We'll go again, but with a better map, probably starting outside of the city itself. We then drove to Menomonee, checked into the hotel, and went in search of food. The local tourist rag didn't have many suggestions, the one place that appealed to us was 20 miles away in Durand at the Riverside Grill. We sat outside on the deck and had a tasty homecooked meal. I sassed the waitress some, and asked if the pies on the menu were as good as the rest of the meal. She was non-commital, but we ordered some anyway, which seemed fair since I'd put her on the spot about such a small thing. So while the broasted chicken with mashed potatoes and stuffing was homeade and great, the pie was store bought, and less than fabulous. The next morning we carbed up at the continental, and geared up for the trail. The weather was cool enough to be refreshing, with a bit of damp that promised to linger into the afternoon. We had an excellent ride, the trail was not crowded, and the road surface was in great condition. This is one of the more scenic trails in the state, as it follows the red cedar river, and we crossed it in a number of places by means of converted railway bridges. We both felt fairly strong, and covered the 28 or so miles in about 4 hours, which is average of about 10mph if you take out the breaks. It was during one of those breaks where we had a chat with a couple of nice local folks, they had moved back to the area, and were getting back into the bicycling thing. Actually, they were having ice cream cones, which looked much tastier than the power bar I was chewing (and chewing.) Anyway, it was a beautiful day, and we had a great ride. There were no Eagles flying about, as we've see before, but nothing is ever perfect. Sometimes you just have to settle for wonderful.
