Jay Cooke Fall Ride

After work today I stopped out in Carlton and did a favorite ride of mine through Jay Cooke.  Starting at the Munger Trail parking lot in Carlton, I head east on the Munger trail towards Jay Cooke State Park and then take a right turn onto Hwy 210 and ride through Jay Cooke.  On weeknights the traffic is very light and due to the curves and hills the cars are usually moving a lot slower.  The trees are just starting to change colors and the ride was nice albeit a little cool. 

Hills, hills, and more hills...

Google Earth Trace of the Route

I really enjoy this ride for the hills.  Riding the loop through the park and taking a right turn onto 23 over the St. Louis River, and then up to Cty Rd 18 into Wrenshall.  From Wrenshall I take Cty Rd 1 and the Alex Leveau trail back to Carlton.  In this setup, there is about 1000 feet of elevation change.  With a wonderful climb of over 1 mile on Hwy 23 after leaving Jay Cooke.

Green Line is Altitude, Purple is Power

Today I was rolling my road bike and was just enjoying the ride.  I did not really try to push hard at any point nor was I really trying to do any sort of workout.  I was just out enjoying a ride.  Now that the tri season is over this is how my bike rides go and I really enjoy that.  Soon enough I will be looking to put together specific workouts as I look forward to next year...