In Which We Top 75 Miles

The morning sun shines over Argent, locked to the bike rack at Brewhemia.

Well, that was a nice ride.

My first significant bicycle ride in the U.S. after my UK adventures was very pleasant. The weather was perfect—sunny skies, high in the 80s, not too humid.

The ride was Sunday. On Saturday, My wife, daughter, grandson and I went to the CR Pride Fest, and walked to lunch at Lucky’s in Czech Village.

We had briefly seen my sister Cate at the event, and as we were walking back to the car from Czech Village, she met us again. She was cycling south on the Cedar River Trail.

“I’m thinking about a long ride tomorrow. You want to join me?” she asked.

We didn’t have plans, so I said “yes,” so on Sunday, I got my bicycle out and rode to Brewhemia, a coffee shop in the New Bo neighborhood. We set 8 a.m. as a meet time there, and I arrived just a few minutes before my sister.

I had not done breakfast at that coffee shop before, and it was nice. I had the Aesop Bowl, which is scrambled eggs mixed with feta cheese, hummus and some sprouts. And, of course, I drank coffee.

We didn’t really have a specific route in mind for the ride, it was just that we wanted to ride enough to accumulate miles, so we headed to the south end of the trail, which is beyond Ely, just short of Solon.

On the Hoover Trail south of Ely. Sunshine--the kind of open, mostly blue sky seen in Iowa in the summer. Unless the sky is all dark with storm clouds.

We turned around and took a break at the city park in Ely. There were some geese at the pond there, and we heard an odd, low rumbling sound. At first, we thought it might be the geese, but I noticed none seemed to be vocalizing during the sound, and, in fact, a group of them turned towards the sound. Geese don’t have expressive faces, but to me they seemed to be thinking, like Cate and I: “What was that?”

I didn’t see it, but I think it was a frog, croaking its heart out very loudly.

Heading back towards Ely, bikers passing by Cate on trike.

When we got back to town, we took the stub of a trail to the future site of the Sleeping Giant bridge, and then went up the street to got to Otis Road and head for the Prairie Park Fishery. Cate noted that she doesn’t often do that because she avoids street riding as much as possible on her trike. It’s mostly a matter of her being seen—she says bikers and drivers don’t seem to look down much and often overlook her even with the tall flag on the trike. But on Sunday, I rode behind her, and I think I’m pretty easy for drivers to notice.

Riding along Otis Road, being passed by a car.

After that side trip, we returned to the Cedar River Trail and continued north. The city paving project at the bathrooms along Cedar Lake has been completed, and it was nice to be able to water up in mid Cedar Rapids again.

Cate said I could pick the lunch spot, and I decided I was hungry when we got past the railroad overpass, so we stopped at a spaghetti eatery and carbed up. We both ordered dinner, and I think we both felt a bit over stuffed. The ride after that was a bit hazy for me—I had not slept all that well the night before and am still adjusting to Iowa time.

When we got to Center Point, Cate went into the little museum there, while I dozed on a picnic table for 15 minutes or so. I think that accounts for her nickname for me on the ride. She posted this note on Facebook: “I asked Joe if he wanted to go for a long ride today. He said sure. One of my devices says we rode 75 miles, the other says 79.5. I'd say we had a good long ride. Thanks, jet lag Joe!”

Map My Ride map.

My mileage would vary from hers a little, since I started and ended at my house, not hers, and rode streets down to the breakfast meet rather than taking the trail. Map My Ride recorded 79.24 miles for me.

The total miles aren’t even what impressed me most. There was 2,185 feet of climb, which was way more than I would have estimated—rail grades on the trail are deceptive, I guess. Mostly what surprised me was our speed. We averaged 11.4 mph and had one mile where we averaged 15.6 mph. Those are probably not very impressive numbers to fast bikers, but I’m a slow, old biker. It was much faster than the rides I took in the UK, although the main difference was the bicycle. My road bike is clearly meant for a faster pace, and that I’m sure wearing the bike shoes have power throughout the whole leg movement helps, too.

Even if the ride include any Iowa river valley for a hill climb, it was a good RAGBRAI training ride. It seems proof of concept that we can both handle the distance for a RAGBRAI day. Of course, RAGBRAI is a week.

I did have a bit of trike envy on the ride—I’m sure my sister finished the ride without the pains in the back or bottom that I suffered. An almost 80-mile ride translates into a long time to sit on a bicycle seat.

Still, I’m quite pleased. RAGBRAI, we’ll see what the weather brings, but I’m feeling ready for you.