Commuting "European Style"

I typically ride my 8.5 miles, 40 minute commute in shorts and a t-shirt and then take a shower and change into my work clothes at my office. Today, the last day of fall, with the coolness in the air and the fact that I was about to miss the last bus, I decided to bike commute "European style". I have always envied those who could just hop on their bike in their work clothes and walk right into the office. Today was my trial day. It worked great. For reference, here were the conditions at the time I reached my office: sunny, 66 degrees F, SE wind 9 mph (this was a refreshing, cooling headwind), 65% humidity. I am hoping for many more commutes like this this fall!

"Rooing" into a Picnic at Minnehaha Falls State Park

One of our favorite summer evening dinner trips is biking 4.5 miles along the Mississippi River to Minnehaha Falls State Park. Often we eat at Sea Salt, an awesome, casual seafood restaurant next to the falls. Wanting to save some money, yet catch what might be the last warm summer weekend evening at the park, we packed a picnic with Henry and Theo in the Roo. The beauty of biking to a picnic with the Roo is that you can roll the kids and gear right to where you want to be, unroll your blanket and food, and pull out the baseball mitts and balls to feed Theo's insatiable desire to hit the ball. You can also roll within earshot of the live music at Sea Salt and within "sipshot" of their fine Surly beer :).

Batting the ball to live music at Sea Salt. Baseball has been a major highlight for Theo this summer. He is quite a good hitter and took pointers from the Twins game we saw in July.

Ice cream is also a big attraction at Sea Salt. While Theo has worked on his batting, Henry has developed quite a swipe, especially for Sebastian Joe's chocolate-peanut butter ice cream.
Oh how fast the late summer days end. Where just weeks ago we could ride home in the light, night falls as we leave the Park and head home to another summer-late bedtime. Thanks Sea Salt and Minnehaha Falls for all the great visits this summer. Until next year...