Though a morning outing with the girls on their bikes went quite badly, with innumerable stops and even more fussing about the act of physical exertion, I decided to risk the pay obeisance to the cycling gods by venturing to the locally-famous hills on Valley Grove Road, southeast of town. I found a nice little route that was about two-thirds gravel roads (my favorite surface) and one-third paved roads. The the toughest climbs (none longer than a mile) were on pavement, and just before I reached them, I had good look at the Valley Grove churches, two century-old Norwegian churches that overlook a swath of beautiful prairie). It was a fun hour’s ride, and wonderfully scenic, too.
(The road in the right background is the road from which I took the second photo.)
The red barn is visible from at least a couple miles away.
Lovely!