In Which I Look Back at Biking in 2020

How was you biking year? It is strange to think of how different 2020 was back in January before we wore masks and stayed apart. How each biking year in Iowa is punctuated by RAGBRAI, and how worried I was that the new Iowa Ride and RAGBRAI might hurt each other.

And then came March.

Well, biking has long been an important stress reliever for me, and there was a lot of stress to relieve in 2020.

It was a year in which I tried some new routes—finding out how to get to the Grant Wood Trail from my house, and then on a later ride going on the grassy second leg of the trail. I rode to Solon for the first time on the Hoover Trail south of town. Although we had done it before, it was still an adventure when my sister and I rode 100 miles one day, going north on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

I also “met” people from many diverse places when Fred Zelt created the “Social Distance Cycling Club” group on Facebook. At some 7,000 members, it’s smaller than a RAGBRAI, but still a pleasant crowd of people who share a range of biking experiences and locations. Thanks, Fred.

I am not sure what to expect from 2021. Will there be a RAGBRAI? To what extent will I participate if there is one? If 2020 taught us anything, it is that nothing is for certain.

Mural on city parking garage at Greene Square, downtown Cedar Rapids. It's along the Cedar River Trail, which is part of the planned national trail route.

So, the past biking year is not what I expected. As I look ahead, I am glad that Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is near the center of a gradually linking national trail, and I hope some day to take it to new places. Maybe I’ll see “Lost in the Pond” man on the trail.

Here is a look back at highlights from my year on my bicycles:

• Jan. 9: It’s not my first ride of the year, but this winter ride included some of the prettiest sunset images at Cedar Lake that I’ve ever made.

• April 2: One of my early posts to share with the Social Distance Cycling Club—I ride from my house to the Grant Wood Trail for the first time.

• June 7: My sister had told me that she had ridden her trike to Solon, but to me, the Hoover Trail ended a few miles south of Ely, well north of Solon. On this day, I find out that one can indeed ride the trail all the way to Solon—a route my sister and I use later on faux RAGBRAI.

• June 29: I enjoy a pleasant ride to a park with one of my grandchildren, and return to the route to try to photograph a butterfly we had seen, when the butterfly tries to steal my bike.

• July 14: I take The Fancy Beast, my old mountain bike, for a ride farther on the Grant Wood Trail than I had been, only to be attacked by forest beasts. Fortunately, both biker and beast emerge unharmed from the experience.

• July 25: On the week when RAGBRAI would have happened, one my sisters and I decide to ride the equivalent number of miles on local routes. This is a description of our century day.

• July 26: My wrap-up of the week that was not RAGBRAI. We reached 356 miles that week.

• Dec. 22: And finally, my report of some pretty rides on the shortest days of the year.

Well, that’s it for 2020. I did not ride in the final three days ft the year as 10 inches of snow fell in my town, but I’m hoping for pleasant biking miles in 2021. And, knock on wood, when and if things change, maybe we can share a few rides in person. Happy trails!

In Which I Dodge Snow for 30 Miles

On Dec. 26, I had a pretty afternoon Boxing Day ride. It was cool, and my feet did get painfully chilled on the ride, but I enjoyed very pretty skies as the lengthening day faded. Lengthening, but still short—these are days when lights on the bike are a must.

Anyway, I thought it might be my last ride of 2020 because snow was in the forecast and did fall Sunday.

But it was less than an inch, and I had to go to campus for a few hours Monday. I hate to drive to campus when there are perfectly good bicycles in the world, particularly in my garage.

My mountain bike on driveway awaiting departure.

Still, a Monday ride was a gamble. I had shoveled my sidewalk, but the long ride up the hill on C Avenue would be on a walkway not yet cleared. And while part of the route would be on important streets that had been cleared by the city, more of the ride would be on quiet streets that I was pretty sure would not have been scraped.

As I wait for light at Collins Road, I look back at uncleared sidewalk that I just rode on. The narrow track is from my tyres--the wider one is where I put my foot down both to aid braking and prevent a spill as I came to a stop.

I have a sad history with snow and ice. My only bad fall was on E Avenue one January day when the hybrid bike I rode back then slipped out from under me and I landed hard on my left knee, making that knee sore and stiff for many months. Joints heal slowly and incompletely, I’ve found.

But, I didn’t have a mountain bike back then. And up to 8 inches of snow are expected Tuesday, which no doubt will cause a longer pause in my biking.

For my final ride of 2020, I rode The Fancy Best today. There were times when I was on a street where the traffic had packed the snow into a slick looking glaze when I wondered at the wisdom of what I was doing. And it was even colder today than on Saturday when I almost froze my feet. Today, I wore insulated boots and my feet were fine. And despite the scary appearance of some slick streets, I was fine. I rode very slowly, kept a wary eye out and paid a lot of attention to whether the bike seemed stable, but there was nary a slip.

Pausing on F Avenue just south of 42nd Street. From here, I rode very slowly.

So, between Saturday and Monday, I dodged snow for some 30 miles. And that probably concludes the biking adventures for this year.

In Which I Ride a Few Windy, Unrecorded Miles

Setting out--no mittens, no coat. It was nearly 50 degrees (U.S. degrees, that is sweatshirt weather).

Winter came back to Iowa today. However, rain that had been in the forecast for today did not materialize by midday, and although it got very windy, it was also quite warm.

As I write this, it is 14 degrees with a wind that creates a wind chill of minus 6 (that, by the way for non-U.S. readers, is Fahrenheit, in your world, that’s an actual temperature of minus 10). But I am seated in my family room with slippers on and a heater blowing on me.

At around noon, I had finished some morning chores and decided to take a quick spin before the cold front blew through. It was grey, windy and cloudy, with a chance of rain. Because of that, and because I was thinking of riding on a limestone trail, I decided to take the Fancy Beast, my old mountain bike.

Riding up C Avenue meant dealing with the actual and the wind hill at the same time. Still, I didn’t have to wear winter coat nor mittens, and bike control, even with my left index finger in a splint, was easier today. Having one immobile finger complicates shifting gears less when the fingers aren't all together in a mitten.

As I rode up C Avenue, I felt some droplets in the air and worried the ride would be very short, but the sky started to clear a bit when I got to the Lindale Trail and turned east onto the trail. The wind from the southwest that had been fighting me became my ally, and I flew along.

Lindale Trail. Not sure it was the best day for a spin--tree branch blown onto trail.

I rode through a Marion neighborhood to the short side trail west of the Boyson Trail. Because it has been dry for several days, I was hoping the trail would be semi dry—my original plan was to ride this trail, plus part of the Boyson Trail, and end up retuning home down the Lindale Trail again.

Well, you know about the best laid plans of mice, men and over-optimistic bikers. The trail was a mushy mess, and I felt a bit guilty adding some ruts. It would have been impassible on the hybrid, so at least I had a bike that I managed to slog through the mire on. At times, I rode on the grass beside the trail, which was firmer than the trail, but there were many spots where passage required the soft trail ride.

Back tyre and the rut in the trail it made. Sorry about that. Trail should freeze hard tonight and may be more ride-able tomorrow, although also much colder. By the way, it's my style to use the UK spelling of tyre on this blog because the American spelling just looks tired, and the Brits invented this kind of tyre so should be able to name it.

Well, I made it. And when I got to Boyson Road, I decided my trail time was done. So I rode west on the Boyson Road bike lane and turned into the residential area north of the road.

I used the crosswalk to Huntington Ridge Park on C Avenue, circled the park and then headed home.

By the time I got to the park, sunshine was coyly peaking out through holes in the clouds. However, the wind did not let up, and I think the temperature was starting to fall.

Still, the ride home from the park was fine, even if it was into the chilly wind. I don’t have a holder for the GPS computer on the mountain bike, so I just rode these miles unrecorded.

Which is OK, I think. Pedaling is the point, and before winter crashed into town this evening, I got a few miles in. Probably 4 to 5.

The Fancy Beast at Huntington Ridge Park on C Avenue as we get a bit of midday sun. You can tell I planned only a short ride--no water bottle.

In Which I Take Some Pretty, Light Rides on Dark Days

Bike as I arrive at Cedar Lake in Cedar Rapids late Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon--I pause early in the ride on Geode Street in Marion to turn on lights.

Tuesday on my way home, ready to pass under Highway 13 at east edge of Marion.

Sunday, bike at sunset on trail at south end of Cedar Lake.

Leaving Mount Mercy University campus Monday. Bike in drive near Warde Hall.

The sun reached its most southern part of its annual sky trek early on Monday, the darkest day of the year.

On Sunday, Monday and today—Tuesday—I rode my hybrid bike late in the afternoon and experienced the daily transition from light to dark. The injured finger was tucked into a mitten and seems to be doing OK.

I find that shifting my front gear requires more effort and foresight. Apparently, the index finger is involved in that.

A set of sunset images made at Waldo's Rock Park, Marion.

 

 

 

These were light rides—moving at an easy pace on the hybrid bike in dim conditions—but pleasant rides, too. A winter blast is due to hit us right before Christmas, but these days have been warm for this time of year.

Of the three rides, Monday’s was the shortest as I basically just rode to work. About 7 miles in total.

Sunday, I enjoyed the afternoon sights at Cedar Lake, which included many ducks and geese crowded together where a stream runs into the lake and there is a bit of open water. I could not circle the lake, as a project has the trail on the west side of the lake closed.

Images of Cedar Lake on Sunday.

For today, I rode to Waldo’s Rock Park in Marion, along the Grant Wood Trail. I planned that as the turnaround point because temperatures in the 40s would have made the unpaved trail east of there mushy—and because it was sunset by the time I made it through the maze of street and trail projects in Marion to the park.

Although I saw some other bikers, one perk of winter riding in Iowa is that roads and trails are generally quiet, which I like. Anyway, although weather and holiday celebration may keep me off the bike for a few days, I enjoyed these dark winter rides, even if I’ll be happier as the daylight grows. Still, as I hope my images convey, there is some beauty in the early sunsets of an Iowa winter.

Computer data on Sunday and Tuesday rides.

Sunday near Cedar Lake, part of trail closed. I was surprised by detours on both Sunday and Tuesday--winter is not usually road and trail work season.

Sunday, looking east at unpaved Grant Wood Trail. I did not try to ride on that mushy surface.

In Which I Ride with Stinky Stubby

I head out to get my bike. I still have to put on coat and mittens.

I wrote earlier this month that, thanks to a sliced tendon in my left index finger, and wearing a splint on that finger, I was done with biking in 2020.

Well, cycling friends, often our problems are not as bad as they seem. This week, I got the stitches removed. I was impressed, while the splint was off, that the final joint of the finger did not curl over, but I was able to briefly hold the finger straight. Getting the stitches out hurt, but only briefly, and otherwise the finger seems to be healing well.

But it also smells bad. A splint holds in dead skin cells, skin oil and sweat. Even without infection, and I have no signs of infection, my stinky stub has an unpleasant odor.

Well, whatever—it’s not nice, but also not all that strong. And this week, it’s been cold enough in Iowa that I’ve had to cover my hands to drive to work. One reason I thought my biking days were on hold was I cannot fit a glove over the splint. But this week, I found I can slide on a mitten, as long as I’m careful and slow in removing it.

So, late this afternoon, I decided to take the mountain bike for a spin and see how it went. It was already close to 4 and getting dim when I left, so I figured it would be a short ride.

Early in ride, crossing C Avenue Bridge over Dry Creek. CR did a decent snow removal job on bridge. Snow fell six days ago.

End of the trail ride on Lindale Trail. The trail is half in Cedar Rapids and half in Marion. CR cleared its snow, Marion did not. Oh well, I just turned around and rode an alternate route.

I planned to ride down the Lindale Trail and through a neighborhood in Marion to reach the Boyson Trail, but it turned out that only the Cedar Rapids end of the trail has been cleared of snow. So instead, I turned back to C Avenue, rode up to the pond at Collins Aerospace, and then looped around the neighborhood south of Dry Creek. In all, I think I only went 3 to 4 miles—I don’t have a holder for the GPS computer on the mountain bike.

Sunset at corner of C Avenue and Blairs Ferry Road.

Here and below, late afternoon views of icy C Avenue Pond at Collins Aerospace.

It was only a short ride. Handling the controls with a stiff index finger did take a little adjusting, but it was not bad. It was cool, in the 30s and breezy, but not so cold that I needed long underwear. For a winter ride, it was short, but comfortable.

Weather willing, there may yet be a few more miles for CR biker this year. Even with stinky stubby.

My mountain bike, that I named The Fancy Beast, in my driveway at the end of the riding experiment. Success! CR Biker can get back on the seat.

In Which Beans Foil a Biker

Bike parked at C Avenue pond as light fades Wednesday on what would turn out to be my last ride until sometime in 2021.

I worked all day Wednesday, and although it was cool in Iowa, decided a quick ride would be in order.

Little did I know it was probably my final ride of 2020. 2020! You are so 2020.

The ride was a loopy one around the Boyson and Lindale trails. There were a fair number of people out on this cool, pretty fall afternoon. I saw one little girl riding piggyback on her mom comment on me and greet me several times.

A cat watches me as I ride on Boyson Trail.

When I got home, my wife was ready to make a kind of bean soup I like, so I volunteered to help open cans. First was a can of corn, but my opener did a poor job, so I pried the lid with a spoon. Next was the same drill with beans, but the spoon slipped and my index finger caught the sharp edge of the can lid.

A gash so deep it did tendon damage, so now my left (dominant) index finger is immobile for 6 weeks or so. It was my first time in an ER as a patient in 62 years, and after all these biking hears, it was a can of beans that has waylaid this biker.

2020!

Sunset light on Lindale Trail.

Collins Aerospace building reflected in ice of C Avenue pond.

Dry Creek seen from side trail beside Boyson Trail.

Map of ride.

2020!

In Which It’s Looking Like Christmas

Walkers and Bikers on trail north of town. Long afternoon shadows.

Late November in Iowa—a cool afternoon. Around 2:30, I take a break from post-Thanksgiving grading, and get the hybrid bike out. Temperature in the upper 30s, so I have coat, hood and gloves on.

I decided to head north. I wasn’t sure if I would go all the way to Lafayette, which is a bit over 20 miles as a round trip, but the day was enticing. I was riding into a cool headwind, which slowed and chilled me a bit, but I was still enjoying the sunshine.

The Cedar Valley Nature Trail north of Cedar Rapids had some joggers, bikers and walkers on it, but was pretty quiet. I rode at a steady, slow pace, just taking in the quite brown beauty of Iowa in late fall. It’s not the prettiest time of year—the leaves are gone, and although the grass is still tinged with green, most plants have died back in the cold.

I rode the small trail that leads to Troy Park in Robins, but it's still closed by a mountain of ground derecho wood. I've turned back towards the main trail, shadows on the way.

Bike parked at Lafayette. I've just turned on lights for ride home.

But in the afternoon golden light, the harvested corn fields were almost glowed. About 5 miles north, I ran into Cardinal Village, a short stretch of the trail where, for some reasons, several cardinal couples reside. Cardinals live north of Robins.

The light was definitely faded when I got to Lafayette. I got off the bike for a few minutes, and flipped on my lights before taking off again.

Fluffy seeds glow in afternoon light beside the trail. I shot these near restroom at County Home Road, where I stopped.

Sun close to the horizon bathes trail in golden light (above and below).

It was dusk when I got back to town, fading into full night. Christmas lights shone from some houses. I detoured into a neighborhood where one of my younger sisters lives, and looped around a block where there is the house that in past was so lit up it probably interfered with aircraft navigation and was visible from the space station.

Sadly, I saw no lights there this year.

Moon rising as I head home. This is in Hiawatha, I think.

I noticed a new side trail in Hiawatha and took it--but it was just a little stub leading to a nearby street. Moon rises over water tower at trail's end.

Just north of Tower Terrace Road, not far from Boyson Road trail head, geese fly overhead to land in harvested corn field, seeking bedtime snack, I assume.

Well, there were other lights, and it was a pretty night. I admired the not-quite-full moon and shot some images of lights.

It was good to get out and work off some of the holiday feasting, although, to be honest, the feasting on leftovers was in full swing when I got home.

Christmas lights on the western edge of Cedar Rapids, seen as I ride home.

Waiting for light to change at corner of Boyson Road and Council Street, I amuse myself by making image of streetlight and moon. Was surprised it turned out without a tripod.

Rode by my daughter's house on the way home--lights on a fence near her house.