Gorgous Day at Lake Cunningham~

 Another outstanding day of fall!  I decided to make the drive up to Lake Cunningham & enjoy riding on the ultra smooth concrete trail surface.  I remembered how to get there the easy way!  Up the Lincoln Highway & west over the Mormon Bridge.

Going over the bridge~

Traffic was light & it didn't take long at all to arrive at the park.  This trip, I drove in the first entrance & parked in the large parking area at the top of the hill on the southeast corner of the lake. 

Looking back at the bridge - across from the Marina~

It didn't seem to take long at all to ride up the west side of the lake!  At times though, there were some stiff wind gusts.  It had been about 68 degrees & partly overcast when I left home, but at the lake the sun was out & the afternoon warmed to 80.  I needn't have worried about bringing a jacket!

Smokey on the northernmost bridge~

There were a few other people out on bikes, many families walking & a few people with dogs.  Everyone was very friendly with the exception of the bicyclists...  I have no idea why it's so hard to respond to a friendly "Hi".

Starting north on the east side of the lake~

I'd already decided I'd make two circuits of the lake before I reached the short, steep hills on the east side.  I was shifting all the way down to second to get up them!  Then wondering why I'd committed myself to two loops :-)

My break spot~

The childrens covered area was totally vacant & it was a perfect spot to take a short break on my second trip around.  I called Butch, who was eastbound in Oregon at the time.

Beautiful trails~

Along with those steep little uphill grades, are of course, a couple great downhills!  There's also signage asking that you slow down.  Well, by the time I'd crested the hill I was ready for the cool breeze of some speed.  At least in the places I could see far enough ahead.

On the dam at the south end, looking the length of the lake, north~

It took me the first loop to warm up & the second I enjoyed even more.  It was the kind of day you wish there were trails going much further - but I settled for 12.5 miles.

On the way home, I decided I'd burned enough calories to stop at Cristy Cream!  I was so glad I did when the sherbert flavor of the day was Huckleberry!  It was incredibly yummy!  I will be very sad when my two favorite ice cream places close for the season :-(