Today I rode a route called Aluminum Man from the Minnesota Bike Atlas, 7th Ed. I don’t know why they named it that, but the route is 52 miles long. I missed Heather Avenue going north and ended up adding an additional 5 miles to the ride. The ride started at White Bear Lake County Park on the northwest end of WBL. It heads north through Hugo and then around Big Marine Lake. One of my favorite roads is Mayberry Trail on the north side of the lake. After a quick rest stop and snack at the Scandia City Hall Park, I headed toward the intersection of 199th Street and the St Croix Trail (MN Hwy 95) where the Crabtree Garden Center is located. I went south from there to Marine on St. Croix. There is a steep climb out of Marine on St. Croix on Nason Hill Road. For the second time now that I’ve climbed it I saw deer. Unable to video record this one as he went bounding across the road in a flash. Good thing I wasn’t flying down that hill at 35 to 40 mph! There was a lot of woods, hills and farmland. I was able to refresh one of my water bottles at Pine Point Regional Park, the northern most end of the Gateway State Trail. I was only on the Gateway trail for 2 miles, then headed northwest through the small township of Withrow, and then back to the starting point at WBL County Park. It was quite an enjoyable ride, even considering the distance. I think I’ll do it again sometime. This ride is from page 51 of Minnesota Bike Atlas, 7th Edition, copyright 2007.