My plan, was to ride the last section of trail, from Shenandoah to the end of the Wabash Trace, Blanchard, IA. The weather was less than cooperative with winds gusting 20-30 mph. We left home around noon for the hour drive down. Last weekend we'd ridden to Ike's, but I wanted to leave again from Shenandoah.
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| Leaving Waubonsie Park, Shenandoah~ |
Butch took the above photo, before leaving for Blanchard. There, he'd unload his bike & ride the trail toward Coin. Our plan was to meet on the trail. I had 5-miles to Ike's, 7.5 to Coin & 5.4 to Blanchard.
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| Trail signage~ |
There are only a few of the
Wildlife Refuge signs that aren't totally rusted now. I have to laugh - I guess the animals are aware there
Refuge is very linear! I did spook a nice big white tail doe!
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| Along both sides of the trail - beautiful blooms of pink! |
All the blooming flowers were the highlight of the trip. The wind though - was awful. Most of way hitting from the side, but occasionally I'd get some forward thrust when a blast would hit from behind.
The trail was really beautiful, more lush greens. The gray skies added a foreboding mood to otherwise beautiful scenes of the countryside.
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| Welcome sign in the tree! 5-miles to Coin! |
The trail outside Shenandoah had been just fine, with a nice, just slightly softer surface. But from about this point on, it became just a bit sticky. Not enough so to mark the trail surface, nor attach to my tires, but enough to add to the effort.
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| Phlox billowing in the wind - outside Coin! |
I was excited to see we were entering the edge of
Coin!
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| Nice picnic area~ |
The camping & picnic area for trail users was really nice. I was expecting to see Butch at any time from here on out & disappointed he wasn't here.
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| Butch found a handy bench! |
It wasn't a mile further - when up ahead I could just see a silver bike! Sure enough - my husband! He had navigated the five-miles of trail out from Blanchard -
into the wind! Not only was he fighting the wind, but the trail was
stickier than before. Obviously, they'd had more rain here.
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| Last leg to Blanchard~ |
We shared a small bag of chips, before continuing on. After a couple miles I was even more impressed with Butch's ride, it was straight & somewhat monotonous.
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| The END! |
Butch put me back in the lead, well before we arrived at the end, so I'd have the
full effect :-) It did seem a little strange, after having ridden all the continuing sections of the trail, to have it suddenly stop!
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| Connie & Speedy! |
We rode the couple blocks to where the State Line signage is. After all, I
for sure wanted a photo to mark the occasion! The trail is really beautiful all the way to Coin, but the long, flat stretch to the end is really not that fun.
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| Butch & Silver~ |
It had taken me just over 2.5 hours to cover the 18.07 miles, with my average moving speed 7.5. Better than I'd expected with the wind.
The Blanchard Trailhead hadn't seen any mowing, or probably
any activity in a while. Butch had the truck parked just up from where I took this photo. We waded through the knee high weeds & loaded the bikes for the trip home.
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| Google view of the trails end~ |
We were both starved! Tobey Jack's was our destination for dinner. We're still enjoying the novelty of sitting inside a restaurant. My
quest to ride the entire trail - in sections - is now accomplished. Since I started bike riding again - April first, I've ridden just over 165-miles. It looks a little funny on my Garmin stats to see the switch from horses to a bike - but I'll take it - it's a ride!
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