In Which the New Trail Quest Ends in Success

I'm riding Argent, that's Ben in front of me on Clarence as we head south on Cedar River Trail. We're on the west side, encountering some bike traffic.

Black Friday, 2017—with the temperature rising to the 60s in the afternoon, it was a rare, nice warm fall day in Iowa. I spent the late morning and early afternoon playing at a park in Robins with two grandsons and other family members.

I wish I had biked there, but I had not. Still, the fun play date was followed by lunch at a Mexican place I like, and there was no shopping at all, so it was a win for Black Friday.

By mid-afternoon, we were back at home. The under-2 grandson was fading fast—so tired he was willing to nap with his mom (sometimes he insists on your biking correspondent as his nap buddy). So I asked my son Ben if he was interested in a bike ride. He was.

It was past 2:30 p.m. by the time we started. I had a vague notion of finding a new trail. I thought I had seen a photo of it in The Gazette, but maybe it was on Twitter or Facebook, because I could not find it on the newspaper’s web site. Still, I recalled that it was on a levee, and that said “Cedar River” to me, so we supposed we would encounter it going south on the Cedar River Trail.

There were a number of bikers out on this warm afternoon, more down by the river than north in our neighborhood. It was a pleasant ride to the Bridge of Lions despite the little zigs and zags downtown where they are redoing rail crossings. We crossed to the west side of the Cedar River and continued on the trail. We got past Mount Trashmore (which has a new shelter built on the top of it although there is no access yet), but the light was fading and we had not seen the new trail.

However, we did notice a new levee on the east side of the river before we crossed the Bridge of Lions. I suggested to Ben that we check out the neighborhood near the levee on our way back. But by the time we got to the river again, it was getting late, and I suggested we instead just head home.

“Sure,” he said. “But maybe it’s just on the other side of the levee.” He said it in a joking way, not serious or thinking he was right. But we rode a few feet past the flood wall at the street, and there it was! The Sinclair Levee has a short trail on top of it, only about a half mile or so, a little stub of trail that leads to the ruined railroad bridge.

The new bike trail on the Sinclair Levee. This is the far end--you can see the approach to the ruined rail bridge of the left.

They hope, via the Connect CR project, to build a swanky “Sleeping Giant” bridge using the supports for that broken bridge. And there is now a trail that leads there. I was a little surprised that the trail interface was on the north side of the levee—if it were on the south side, you would see it from the Cedar River Trail. At the least, I hope they plan some signs to along the Cedar River Trail to signal that the new trail is there.

It was getting very late, the sun very low, as we rode the new trail there and back. It was very breezy on top of it, but it provided a nice view of the river. I hope some trees can be planted there—wouldn’t some strengthen the levee?

Low sun on Cedar River and son who photo bombed me as I was shooting the sun. This is on the Cedar River Trail, not the new trail.

This photo and one below are at Cedar Lake on the way home. Starting to get a bit chilly, but still it was a very nice warm ride for this time of year.

Anyway, it was a fine afternoon for a ride. On the way home, we paused at Cedar Lake to take a photo of the sunset, and to also take an ussie, because Ben thought I needed photo proof I had been on the ride.

It was about 5 when we returned home. The whole ride was about 23 miles. With my morning ride to the gym, I did not quite get 30 miles in today, but I came close—not bad for November!

In Which Pelicans Appear to Praise Fall Rides

Morning commute Nov. 13, 2017. Frosty, foggy Monday, and I'm just about to put the Fancy Beast (damp day bike) into granny gear for the grind up the hill. The image below is from October's fall break, when my wife and I met our son late on Friday for a quick ride at the west end of the High Trestle Trail and then went out to supper in Ames.

Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017—I’m on my way to work at Mount Mercy University. Twice a month, when the student newspaper is being produced, I have to spend Sunday afternoons touching base with students and checking photos, stories and pages. This was one of those Sundays.

In the odd time shifting spirit of this blog post--saw this buck in the Dry Creek valley from the C Avenue bridge as I headed to campus Sunday afternoon. The next few images are from the morning of Nov. 8, just some pretty frosty views seen on my morning ride to campus.

But I could not bring myself to just head directly to campus. Instead, after I crossed Collins Road on F Avenue, I veered west to Noelridge Park and passed through it on my way to the Cedar River Trail. And before I arrived at campus, I did a quick loop around Cedar Lake.

Pelicans! Among the white gulls that usually are there, some bigger, awkward looking, majestic birds.

These views of Cedar Lake are all from the Nov. 12 Sunday ride to campus. Above--yes, I miss the green, but there is a stark beauty to fall, too. Below--big birds hanging with the gulls.

Fall biking is turning cool. Mornings are usually below freezing, we’ve moved from pretty early fall, to wetter, colder, darker pre-winter fall. But biking still has its charms and beaty.

I present a few views of my bike rides over the past fortnight. I will be ready for the green and flowers and sunshine and butterflies when the planet works its way to the appropriate juxtaposition with the nearest star, but in the meantime, even in this cool and sometimes dreary weather, biking still has its rewards!

Friday Nov. 10--late in the afternoon, ready to head home. Before I unlock Clarence (not all rides this fortnight have been on the winter beater bike), made this image just to show I'm not the only autumn biker at MMU.