Today I had a meeting in Omaha I had to drive to, so when it was over, I headed over to Council Bluffs to check out the Taco Ride. I'd read about the Taco Ride on their site and other blogs, and knew Lincoln's Nacho Ride was fashioned after it and wanted to see if it lived up to all the hype.
I wasn't disappointed! There were hundreds and hundreds of riders. A trail pass is $1 for a day or $10 for a annual pass, you can pay at the trail head just south of Hwy 275 & Hwy 92 or there was someone on the trail taking money too.
County Sheriffs were on bikes and a utility vehicle, the only contact I had with them were big smiles and friendly waves.
Here is the infamous "Margaritaville". A place to stop and visit and have a drink a little over 1/2 way to Mineola.
The trail has a canopy of trees over most of it keeping the trail cool and shady and stopping the wind, when there is a break in the trees your often greeted with scenic valleys and agland.
Signs, reminding riders of upcoming events on the trail.
There was single track beside the trail, in case anyone on a MTB wanted to get off the beaten path and tear it up a bit.
Some bikes had music for everyone to enjoy, but this one took the cake!
Some scenes from downtown Mineola Ia.
Bikes are EVERYWHERE! I love it!
The Mineola Steakhouse is 10 miles down the trail from the trailhead. The tacos were great, I was happy to see they had both hard & soft shell. Everyone was so friendly. I sat with a couple of guys who ride every week. They said today's crowd was typical, and told about a Thursday night around the 4th of July when the crowd was estimated to be near 2,000 riders!
We sat out in the beer garden and enjoyed the great weather, by the time I was ready to leave the seats in the beer garden were all taken and it was standing room only, here you see one of the Mineola Steakhouse staff announcing over the speakers that all seating inside is taken and they were taking names on a list for those who wanted to wait for inside (air-conditioned) seats. This was about 7 pm.
I took some time to ride on a paved trail on the outskirts of C.B. toward Lake Manawa before Taco Riding.
I started the Taco Ride at 5:00, rode an hour there, ate and visited for an hour, then an hour back. The trail had a lot of bikes, but was by no means crowded, intimidating or dangerous.
The trailhead parking was full when I got back at 8:00. It was a fun, easy ride. And it really is all that and a bag of chips! I encourage you to try the Taco Ride some Thursday evening. I know I'll be back.
With riding around a little before starting, and the Taco Ride, I racked up 24.81 miles today.
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