The Greenway Will NOT be Closed for a While

Good news, it looks like Mayor Brown has rescinded his order to keep the Greenway closed.

“Although the Greenway is now open to the public, many trails remain under water and high water exists in many areas. Users are cautioned to use discretion when near the high water.” --Kim Greendahl, Greenway Specialist for the City of Grand Forks.

I'm not sure what caused the sudden change of heart, but I'm definitely not complaining. This is great news for all Grand Forks residents, it's just unfortunate that we won't be seeing many temps higher than 40s or 50s for the next week.

The Greenway Will be Closed for a While

According to this Herald article at least. What I took from it is that we won't see the Greenway completely open until the second half of summer, which is unfortunate since the summer lasts about 2 months here. This really is sad news because the Greenway was definitely the staple of my trips, and I'm sure many other residents feel the same way.

Time to start looking for some alternatives. There's always the Grand Forks Fitness Trail, it's not quite as long or scenic as the Greenway, but it's still pretty nice. There's also a bike path that runs way south of town that I've been through many times. If there are other alternatives that I'm missing (and I'm sure there are), please feel free to post a comment.

Trip 20 -- Thawing Out; Flood Update

I was hesitant to call this my first trip of the year since I didn't go very far and I pretty much just wanted to get a look at the Red River from the Greenway. It just feels nice to get back out there. I didn't even use my bike, it's about time for it to be retired, so I'll be purchasing a new one very soon (any suggestions?)


The National Weather Service in Grand Forks is forecasting a significant storm in our area starting tomorrow and lasting into next week. This storm could bring with it around 2 inches of rain as well as a wide variety of other possibilities such as thunderstorms, freezing rain, and yes...snow. This is extremely unfortunate for our area as it will only worsen our flood situation. It's strange how all of these things seem to be falling into place to make this flood more intense.

Yesterday, I snapped a few pictures from my cell phone on the East Grand Forks side of the Red River by DeMers. I apologize for the quality, but you can see where the river stands now and it will be a good point of reference for when it starts rising. Like I said before, I plan to keep you updated with pictures of the river as it rises to various levels so check back often.




So today I took a brief stroll on the Greenway near the 47th Ave. S. access point.. or maybe it was 49th? Well, you get the idea. South.


It's kind of depressing to look at everything and see how brown and dead it is...on a cloudy day no less. This is a far cry from how great the Greenway looked in the summer. Soon enough we'll see green again.







The Mighty Red will rise again soon unfortunately...



Ah, my favorite piece of random playground equipment:



Not sure if this is flood preparation or if they just don't want anyone using this access point.



Just thought this was cool looking, whatever kind of plant it is. Are those clovers? Sorry, I'm definitely not a botanist.


That's all I have for today, check back often for more flood updates!

Trip 19 -- Fall!

Firstly, I'll spare you all any excuses for not updating in a long time...school, work, blah blah blah. I know you don't want to hear it. Updates will be more scarce as I said, but I'm going to really try to step it up before we start seeing that four-letter-word start falling from the sky. I really wanted to get out there today because the forecast for the weekend doesn't look too forgiving:

Today was a really nice day outside, except a little too windy and chilly maybe. Fall is great, the turning leaves and lack of bugs...but then you just know winter is coming real soon. Too soon.



I hate mushrooms, they're disgusting and I really don't understand how people can eat them. I'd rather put cardboard on my pizza than any kind of fungus.



No, this isn't my helmet and no I didn't steal it...but some poor girl named Amelia is probably missing her Bratz helmet. Hopefully it finds its way back to her. It looks like it has some battle scars too.




Thanks for reading, and try to not get too depressed during the upcoming monsoon. I've been meaning to get pictures of my bike up here, so I'll do that soon. I'll also need some suggestions for a new mountain bike for next year if anyone wants to throw me some.

Temp: 55

Trip 15 -- Shadyridge Estates

Did you miss me? Finally got the computer working again and I'm ready to get back into the routine. This "lost" trip is from last Friday, and I don't remember much of the details like temperature and time, and most of it isn't even on Google Maps so I'm not going to bother with that. I do remember that it was very windy...hmm, not much had changed.

The first thing I noticed was this entire yard painted to be what I'm assuming is a football field. I thought that was pretty awesome, as I'm also a backyard sports enthusiast. Wiffle ball, football, frisbee, love 'em all.



Another lovely day in the Grand Cities.



I did my usual trek down the Greenway to the end of the trail and I never really think about this long road that seemingly goes to nowhere...but what would be the point of this blog if I didn't explore it?


WINDY!

Much to my surprise, I stumbled upon another mysterious part of Grand Forks.

Shadyridge Estates...shady indeed.

Is that an island? Where the hell am I?


I found this sketchy area where they're growing a lot of trees...probably some kind of black market tree distribution. I'm thinking mafia.



Oh don't worry, they do pine trees too. Does every tree in Grand Forks come from this place?

Looks like this guy's trying to compete with the others. By the way, all the houses back here look like that, they're all huge and very nice..




Thanks for bearing with me people.

Trip 13 -- Morning Ride

I'm going to have to start getting used to these morning rides with fall semester on the horizon. It's been nice staying up until 2 am and waking up at noon...but it's time to adjust my sleep schedule back to college mode. One huge perk about riding in the morning is the temperature...it was still in the high 60s when I left, so that was really nice on a day where the high looks to be in the high 80s.
Some less aggressive birds...but the falcons were still cooler.


This is a very purple house, pretty cool though. Bravo to the owner for standing out a little bit from the crowd.


I was glad to see that the path had easy access to the downtown area, I haven't been down there yet on my bike so I thought I'd check it out.


This playground looks a little more fun than the lonely pull-up bars further south on the trail.

I've never actually been in the little ampitheater right by the bridge until now. That's what I love about doing this blog, I've seen a lot of things up close that I've always wondered about from afar.






That's all I got for today. You may notice that posts will (or already have) decreased in length and substance. That is the challenge of writing a daily blog...not every post is going to be a home run, but I'm trying. When school starts, these posts may become even smaller, but I will continue to put as much effort into it as I can. Thanks for reading!


Start: 8:17
End: 9:24
Temp: 69 degrees
Trip: 8.3



View Larger Map

Trip 12 -- When Falcons Attack

I didn't expect much to be going on tonight when I took a short ride to the Greenway, and not much really did happen until I got about half mile south on the path. I heard a unique bird call while riding, and it sounded close so I wanted to investigate. It took off and started flying around rather aggressively, like it was protecting its nest. I got a good look at it and it looked too small to be a hawk, but it definitely was something similar to a hawk, like a falcon. Anyways, while I was standing there trying to take pictures, someone rode past and another bird showed up and dove at him, I thought the guy was gonna lose control, but he didn't. I breathed a pretty big sigh of relief...but then i realized I was the only person there, so I didn't want to be the next target...I took a couple pictures real quick and got the hell out of there.

So I leave it up to you bird experts, is it a falcon?






This basketball hoop's seen better days. Pretty lame of someone to break it like that...I also saw what looked like graffiti on the Greenway today...let's hope that trend stops ASAP.


First time I've rode at dusk...looks great until you ride on the streets and can't see anything.


Rydell looks really cool at night, I figured I'd snap a quick pic of it.




The Twins series was great, we saw them sweep the Mariners...unfortunately I just watched them lose on TV tonight, so that's no good.

Anyways, I guess today's lesson is to respect wildlife. They were here first, and some falcons just reminded me and a few cyclists of that today.

Thanks for reading!

Start: 8:15
End: 9:12
Temp: 70 degrees
Trip: 7.75 mi



View Larger Map

Trip 8 -- Heading East

Today I decided to explore that mysterious land known as East Grand Forks. This was not without hardships, however. I definitely got lost on the path a few times. At one point, the path just ended and I'm pretty sure I was on some kind of construction site. I really should print out a map of the Greenway path. I think the city should do a better job of keeping travelers of the path informed though. Some more informative signs wouldn't hurt.


Traveling some of the paths in East Grand was pretty lonely. I only saw 2 other people the whole time I was lost...I saw more when I finally made my way north. There was a point when I was in a pretty heavily wooded area and it was dead quiet. I was pretty sure a wolf was gonna jump out at me. Don't worry, there were no wolves, just TONS of grasshoppers.


I went off the path a few times onto some pretty rough terrain, but hey that's what a mountain bike's for right? Speaking of which, I hope mine holds up. Sometimes, the chain sticks and clicks...kinda makes me nervous. But so far, so good.


On to the trip:


I took the usual route to the Greenway, and didn't snap any pictures until I crossed the river. As you can see in the first picture, it was another cloudy day. There were a few sprinkles, but nothing nearly as bad as it was the last time I rode in 'cloudy' weather. Right when I got into EGF I was already presented with a choice, there were numerous forks in these paths..and it just became frustrating after a while.




I guess I'm on a frisbee golf course now. I just keep following the path, assuming it's taking me north.




Where's the river? Where am I? It was around this point where I was thinking about the wolves.




This looks strikingly similar to the path on the other side of the river...I'm almost positive I've taken this same picture earlier this week in Grand Forks.





For all you bench connoisseurs, this one has a great view of the Red Lake River, and of the large tree planted right in front of it.



Yikes, I don't think it's necessary to keep the black tube around this tree. Looks pretty dead to me.


Uhh... I can only assume this is a city vehicle. I heard an engine behind me and was pretty surprised to see a pickup behind me going the other direction. I have no idea where it came from.




Oh you've got to be kidding me. I've already been up and down paths trying to find the right direction, and just when I think I've made progress I see this thing.




90% of Hummer owners will probably never take theirs off road, although that's what they're built for. Well, I don't know what the made-up statistic is for mountain bike owners, but I'm definitely taking it off the path at this point.




WHERE AM I?!



I rode through the empty construction area and popped up on James Ave. SE. I was just relieved to see any kind of road. I followed back to the path and eventually navigated my way north...finally on the right path!




So I go under that sketchy railroad bridge and see this. Why it's there, I have no idea.




A view of the flood marker from Minnesota. Imagine that water at the top of the monument....yeah.




Hey look at that, I get into Minnesota and immediately see trees. Who woulda thunk?




A Minnesota view of the dam I never knew existed.




Good ol' pedestrian bridge...I finally found you.




I was done taking pictures at this point and just wanted to get home...definitely felt the burn during this trip, and that's a good thing. I was pretty exhausted when I got back.

Well, I will definitely be back to explore more of East Grand Forks' winding paths, and even venture into the actual city to take some pictures. I might need a light day tomorrow after today's trip.

Thanks for reading!

Start: 12:30
End: 3:00
Temp: 72
Trip: 18.1 mi




View Larger Map