In Which We Ride Half the Trail

June 23--Nice Saturday on the High Trestle Trail. Heading towards Madrid from Slater, on return journey late Saturday afternoon.

Plans for a Team Joe pre-RAGBRAI summit-ride are on the works. We’ve done it before, but I wouldn’t mind a tour of the High Trestle Trail. I went there Saturday with my wife and son—we parked at the west end of the trail and rode about half of it to Slater, where we rested in a park for a few minutes and headed back.

My son and I considered pressing on to the end, while my wife rode back to the start and read a book while she waited for us. But, we decided to stick with her and head west instead.

It may be a good thing we didn’t insist on going those extra 24 miles (12 out and 12 back) or so. I noticed on the ride back that Ben’s back tyre was pretty soft. We paused for ice cream in Madrid, and the tyre was noticeably mushy. And a big bald spot popped out on my worn rear tyre—before I get more miles on the RAGBRAI bike, I will have to swap out that tyre.

Rear tyre on Argent. No more shoe clip practice until this gets fixed.

The day had been cloudy, but before our ride had turned to a warmer mix of clouds and sun. We didn’t ride late enough to see the lights on the bridge, but the high water in the river and the mixed sun and clouds made for a pretty day.

We rode about 26 miles in all, 13 miles to Slater and back. It was my longest ride with the new pedals on Argent, and I am happy to report that none of the stops caused me trouble. Starting can still be a bit rough at times, but I’m gaining experience. Images of the ride:

Slater park, bikes parked during rest.

Sun and clouds.

Filling Station in Madrid. My Sundae is the Jack and Jill.

Approaching bridge.

Pretty sky on bridge.

My wife on the bridge.

Biking group.

View of bridge from lookout deck.

The 26 miles Saturday were fun. On Sunday, I rode twice, about 14 miles each time. The first ride was a park-supper ride with my wife, daughter and grandson. The second ride was a solo ride, starting about 8, with lights on. I rode the hybrid bike, which has decent tyres.

I’ll have to do some serious miles this week, weather willing, so I hope to get the new tyre Monday. I hate putting a tyre on a road bike, so I’m hoping it won’t take too long. With new tyres, brake shoes and the already new pedals, the road bike should at least be in RAGBRAI shape, this week, I hope.

All in all, I would have liked to get more miles this weekend, but the rides I went on were quite nice. It was a good weekend. May the new week bring more biking miles!

Flowers beside the Cedar River Trail, followed by two evening views of Cedar Lake from Sunday ride.