In Which a Hoped-For Eagle Appears

Heading south on C Avenue bike lane early in the ride.

I took an afternoon ride today—no need for lights. It was a fairly quick ride, probably 90 percent on streets with a few jaunts on trails, but relatively quiet ones.

I wanted a ride that was mostly street in nature, and to avoid the busiest trails. I decided to aim for Ellis Park. It was mostly a ride on streets, although the route there does include a trail on top of a flood control levee south of the Cedar River.

Third Avenue bike lane in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Bike trail on top of levee west of downtown area on south side of river.

On the north side of the Cedar River, in in recent years, a nesting pair of eagles have their home high in a tall cottonwood tree.

Luck was on my side. On this nice, sunny day, an eagle sat in a tree next to the nest, watching the river.

Eagle on north side of Cedar River, seen from south side. Below, the nest is in the next tree.

Ellis Park is one of the older city parks in Cedar Rapids. It’s been damaged by flooding in the past, but is still a nice place. The trail that leads there was pretty quiet today—I suppose most people drive to this park. I rode to near Edgewood Road, the west end of the park, paused to lower my bandana to take a drink, and then headed home.

I was enjoying the network of bike lanes in Cedar Rapids. Some have had recent improvements. On the Third Avenue Bridge, barriers separate cars from the bike lane, and water drains, that used to be perpendicular to the street and thus “bike catchers,” have been replaced with covers that have slots perpendicular to the line of travel—not something I would want to ride across, but if by mistake I did, it would just be a rumble strip and not a nasty fall.

Cedar River, on the way back east on the south side.

5-in-1 damn--crossed by four spans (north and south street and north and south Interstate highway) and is also a dam. Rode by it.

Third Avenue bridge crossing the Cedar River.

Bike lanes downtown are in more proximity to traffic, but traffic late on a Saturday afternoon was very light.

As I approached home, I had ridden more than 18 miles. Rather than head directly home, I briefly detoured down the Lindale Trail (pretty much empty) to add the extra mile I needed to get to 20.

A 20-miles ride on a pretty afternoon, and an eagle. It all makes for a nice day to be on a bicycle!

Deer looking at me from woods beside Lindale Trail.

Today's ride, above and below. Map on app makes it seem like I was drawing a bird on today's eagle ride.