Story and photos by Eric Johnson

photodesk@austindailyherald.com

At just about 11 a.m. on a pleasantly mild Saturday morning, Steve Kime and I pull our bikes to a stop after just crossing over a bridge spanning a small creek between Taopi and LeRoy.

Here, we talk with a couple from Northfield who are visiting the area for LeRoy Summer Fest and taking advantage of the Shooting Star Trail.

We make small talk about the trail itself, the area and LeRoy before wishing them a good day and continuing our trek east toward LeRoy.

It’s just one of the pleasant aspects of the trail that’s been in the works for the past 25 years.

This particular morning, after the sun worked its way out from behind earlier cloud cover, found Steve and I starting at the trailhead in Taopi alongside Highway 56 and biking toward LeRoy.

There’s nothing particularly arduous about this route — or the trail itself — unless you are greeted by the unimpeded wind crossing over the prairie grasses.

This leg of the trail stretches from Highway 56 east of Austin to Lake Louise State Park. It’s mostly flat with minor changes in elevation here and there.

Starting from Taopi, the path is enclosed in a tunnel of trees and then alternates from tree cover to open prairie, a change from the western half of the trail.

“It’s varied,” Steve said. “(The west end) you get more the prairie look. On the east end it’s more the prairie, state park look.”

25 years

The completed trail will link LeRoy with Austin and, in between, the towns of Taopi, Adams and Rose Creek.

The only part of the trail still to be completed is a 3.4 mile stretch from Highway 56 to Austin, along County Road 58. Steve is optimistic it can be done by winter of this year, depending on whether or not the proper permits are taken care of on the state level.

The only thing yet to be decided is what side of the road the trail will border.

Once work is completed, it will mark the end of a 25-year journey that began back in the 1990s with the formation of the Prairie Visions group.

Gerald Meier was a founder of that group and, according to Steve, he had a pretty lofty plan to have the trail completed in four years.

“They really thought that they could get from LeRoy to Austin in four years,” he said. “Here we are 25 years later.”

The complications of stretching the 30-mile trail between the two points included finding the proper route and land acquisitions — both simplified by using an existing railroad bed to anchor the trail and cutting down on the land acquisitions.

Destination and promotion

The goal of those people working to make the trail’s completion a reality is straightforward: “Our vision was to be a destination for cyclists,” Steve said.

And largely that has worked, especially with help from the annual Shooting Star Trail Ride that brings cyclists from all over  to experience a ride across southeastern Minnesota.

This year’s ride brought in 175 riders from as far away as Minneapolis. Those cyclists have the opportunity to ride different routes of varying lengths, including many who will take the trail.

The second half of this equation are the towns along the route.

“One of the objectives of the communities is to promote themselves to the people using (the trail),” Steve said. “Some people like to ride to LeRoy and eat at Sweets and then head back.”

It’s that promotion and teamwork that will help the trail continue to be a popular place for bikers, but the end result of the trail could make the difference.

Making the final connection to Austin.

“It would be a boost not just for Austin but the surrounding communities as more people discover the trail,” Steve said. “Anchoring to a population center like Austin, I think you will see more and more people use the trail.”

Once more people begin hitting the trail, it will be easier for more business opportunities to surface along the way.

Work to be done

Work will go on, even after the trail is completed.

There are several ideas floating about to improve the trail once it’s done, including kiosks in each town with QRS codes. Once cyclists interact with the code through their cell phone, then the small towns around them will open up with ideas on places to go and eat.

There is also talk of adding more trailheads as well as restroom opportunities.

And there is room for expansion in opposite directions. Even though these plans are far from set or even started, there have been ideas of extending south to Lyle along Highway 218 and north to Owatonna, again along Highway 218.

There has also been talk of eventually linking with the Blazing Star Trail coming out of Albert Lea and there is potential for linking across the border in Iowa, to the Wapsi-Great Western Line Trail.

But those are just ideas and a long way from fruition. Right now, it’s just pedaling toward completion of the Shooting Star Trail.

“The goal now is to really benefit the cyclists passing through,” Steve said.

Saturday Ride

Our own short ride eventually took us to the western side of Lake Louise State Park. Prairie gave over to thicker stands of trees, indicating our turnaround point. The round trip was 15 miles both ways and took us a little under two hours to complete.

From the road, anybody traveling Highway 56 could mistake Shooting Star for a fairly mundane ride past corn and bean fields.

In the full interest of disclosure, I can say those have often been my own thoughts, but what I never took into consideration were the maintained prairie grasses and flowers, wildlife and short separations from the road that you don’t notice during a drive.

Rides through the trees, especially those closer to LeRoy, can make you forget about the busy road not far away.

From a bike, the ride is easy and relaxing, giving the rider the opportunity to see those things you don’t see at 65 miles per hour. Even the more treeless stretches open up before the rider to expose them to the joys of the prairie.

It highlights those things many take for granted.

“It brings out an experience of rolling along through the country side, with places to stop in each town,” Steve said.