Wednesday, July 14, 2021

In Which a Bridge is Enjoyed by Me and Grandchildren

ribbon cutting on trail
July 12--Ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open new bridge over Indian Creek on Lindale Trail.
Grandchild on bridge
July 11--Granddaughter on new bridge.
Mountain bike at end of trail
July 7--Late ride, Fancy Beast mountain bike at end of Lindale Trail beyond new bridge--near where second bridge will be added.
Sign on trail
July 14--Boyson Trail is now open! Closed sign placed to the side.
Cedar Lake
July 8--Clouds on Cedar Lake.

While the end by Menards is still closed, and the side trail at the north end that leads across the creek is still blocked, the Boyson Trail is now open. On Monday, July 12, they officially opened the new bridge over Indian Creek—and I’ve been spending a lot of short rides enjoying this new bridge.

The paved portion of the Boyson Trail, leading south has been open for some time, and today the limestone portion leading north to Boyson Road was open. A thunderstorm struck midday, but it was expected, and a I got a quick ride on the trail in before the storm hit.

Monday, my wife and a 5-year-old grandson rode up with me to watch the bridge opening ceremony. We even ended up in B-roll video on one of the local TV station’s coverage of the ceremony (blue bike and Tag-A-Long riding away from you, seen twice as B Roll in video).

It was a nice ceremony, although the bridge has been open for a couple of weeks—as I noted on a previous blog post, I rode on the bridge the Fourth of July weekend. The weekend before the ceremony, I rode up to the bridge with a teenage granddaughter (using a tandem bike) and with two other grandchildren.

The 5-year-old who attended the ceremony has been on the bridge a few times—partly because he’s well aware that there is a city park nearby if you ride down the hill beside the bridge and go under it. I expect we’ll all be visiting Thomas Park a bit more often, now that the trail is open.

This fall, they’ll start building a second bridge. Perhaps next summer, I’ll be able to roll to downtown Marion via trails, and continue on the Grant Wood Trail east of town. Happy trails!

And here are many images from recent bike rides to the new bridge, plus another ride to Cedar Lake and another ride north to Center Point:

July 14--Morning ride before rain, checking out newly opened Boyson Trail:

Under street bridge images
Like cave paintings, on unpaved part of Lindale Trail--images under street bridge.

Images under bridge
More images under bridge. alien juggling jelly fish?

Boyson Trail
Boyson Trail, north of new Indian Creek Bridge it is unpaved, If you know the trail from the past, it used to be more woodsy. Many damaged trees removed after last year's derecho storm.

Trail closed sign on bridge
Side trail still closed. I like how "Trail Closed Ahead" sign blocks bridge--I think the trail is closed right here.

July 12--Official opening ceremony for new bridge over Indian Creek. It's a fairly high bridge, designed to recall the rail history of this route. Images without captions, mostly I think you can tell it's the ceremony, crowd or speakers:













July 11--Used tandem bike and Tag-A-Long to take grandchildren to new bridge:

Skipper
Skipper on flower on Lindale Trail.

Tandem bike
Tandem bike on bridge.

Granddaughter on bridge
13-year-old granddaughter who rode tandem with me to bridge.

Tandem bike on bridge
Bike on bridge.

Tag-A-Long and bike on bridge
Bike with Tag-A-Long seat with rail decorations on new bridge.

Grandson on bridge
5-year-old grandson with bike.

Granddaughter on bridge
Another granddaughter with bike.

July 8--Cloudy-day ride down to Cedar Lake, images of flowers, mostly that I saw there:

Swamp milkweed
Swamp milkweed.

Bee
Bee on flower.

Bee
Bee on milkweed.


Bee balm
Flower

Bee flying
Bee flying

Dragonfly
Dragonfly by lake.

Swamp milkweed
Swamp milkweed.

Flower
Flower

Flower
Small blue flowers

Goose
Loch Ness monster. Or goose.

Egret
This and following images: Great blue heron on lake.

Egret

Egret

Ducks on lake
Ducks.

Queen Anne's Lace with bug
Queen Anne's lace with bug.

Clouds on C Avenue
Clouds on C Avenue on the way home.

July 7--Solo late ride to bridge, in which I see some deer:

Street in Marion
At the end of Lindale Trail, gap where a new bridge will be built this fall.

Another street view
Marion Boulevard, busy 4-latne street, that will be bridged by trail.

Deer
On trail on the way home, deer, above, and 2 fawns, below.

Two fawns

July 5--Ride north to Center Point just because I can--warm, sunny summer day.

Uncle Sam
Inflated Uncle Sam seen on July 5 ride.

Butterfly
Swallowtail butterfly seen on milkweed in garden along street.

Fly swatter
North on trail in Lafayette-county conservation department provides fly swatter.

At depot in Center Point
Resting point, 13 miles north of trail head in Hiawatha--depot in Center Point. As I eat some nuts, I rest my feet by removing bike shoes.

Sunny trail
Warm. pretty summer day on trail.