Biking @ Glen Cunningham Lake, NE

 Spoiled!  Friday evening's storm passed us by.  We woke to the coolest morning in ages!  A nice breeze & perfect day to take the bikes out.  I'd heard on the news Glen Cunningham lake had reopened early this month.  They mentioned a new trail, all the way around the lake.  This was my first visit since March of 2018 with Farah.  (The lake was drained later that same year to remove invasive species.)   

The Lighthouse~

I remembered there were several entrances to the lake.  Luckily - we ran into a ranger near the campground - who directed us to the Marina.  A big nice parking area, with camera's.  This park had been famous for car break-in's. 

Butch asked me which way I wanted to go?  We took the way over the first of the big new bridges, up the east side of the lake.  

Wonderful surface!

The signage was amazing.  Notifications when a curve was ahead, asking for slower speeds when passing, requesting riders go single file & announce their presence etc.  All trail rules standard on most multi-use trails.  (Of course, ignored by a younger man on an electric bike, who whizzed past everyone without a word.)  

Lake views~

New trees were planted everywhere!  Ginkgo's, pines & oaks, all will add so much to the landscape in future years.  Beautiful new benches about every half-mile too.  The only draw back, most didn't have a view, due to the tall weeds along some sections the lake shore.  I expect that will be remedied, as park personnel continue to work on the area.

Bridge at the north end of the lake~

Further away from the Marina, we were the only ones on the trail.  So nice & quiet, no traffic crossings, just beautiful scenery.  There were only a couple places where the last heavy rain had washed soil over the trail surface, but these were being mitigated.

Riding south down the west side of the lake~

There was one spot, where I knew the horse trail used to intersect the lake shore.  The soft surface trail was gone.  Only four-miles of the original horse trails are left...  Lost to the new development...   Not enough to be worth hauling a horse there...  Only nine-miles +/- or so originally, but you could, with some difficulty, ride around the lake. 

The dam~

No longer riding a horse, I'm now in a position to enjoy having such a nice place for bike riding.  

Breezy on the dam at the south end~

Such a perfect day & easy riding!  There were only a few hills, I experimented with all my gears.  They worked great on the shorter/steeper hills here.  It's the go-on-forever 2-3% grades of the Wabash, where my lower gears, are too low.

Our route~

We returned to the Explorer, with a distance of 6.5 miles total.  This park has become a place the city of Omaha can be proud of.  Covered picnic areas, a fishing dock, of course boating, something for everyone.  It was tempting to go around again, but we had shopping to do.  It's been a while since Butch has worn slacks & a sport jacket :-)