In Which I Avoid Ice, Ice Baby

Daffodils (above and below) at Bowman Woods School. I'm passing by, riding in the bike lane on Boyson Road on my way to the Boyson Trail in Marion.

In a cul-de-sac at the end of the trail, a blooming magnolia in someone's front yard.

It was a summer like day in Iowa this Tuesday—the last warm day we’ll have for a while, according to forecasts.

I was busy most of the day, and it was late in the afternoon before I was able to get a short ride in. I was wearing shorts for the first time, as it was in the upper 70s.

The sunny late afternoon was muggy. It felt like a warm June day, but blooming daffodils and magnolia-as well as the still bare large trees—reminded me that it was still spring.

I went over to the nearby Boyson Trail in Marion, which was fairly busy. I was wearing my bad biker boy bandana, and did my best to keep good distance. I saw at least one group of Frisbee golfers, five men clustered like a Petri dish for the pandemic.

Exercise stations (and playgrounds) closed at Hanna Park in Marion.

Well, the day was still pretty. I took the side trail that leads to Menard's, and saw some new signs announcing, for example, that Cedar Lake is just a few miles away.

On a trail that is going to be built in the future. The signs, apparently, come first. Well, the trail may be here in 2022 or 2023, according to The Gazette.

4 miles to Cedar Lake. 100 Yards to trail's end.

As I finished my loop, riding briefly on Grand Avenue in Marion to get back to the end of the Boyson Trail, storm clouds gathered in the north. The sky was mostly open and blue, but the lights and clouds started to get interesting.

When I got to the Lindale Trail, rain started to fall. Luckily, it was just a sprinkle, but there were distant booms to indicate something more was coming. It sprinkled, and then cleared, and then, as I got near home, sprinkled a bit more insistently.

I got home, put my hybrid bike in the garage, and started cooking supper. Rain started to fall in earnest, and I went out to the sunroom to watch, when suddenly the sound level shot up and the drumbeat of rain became the profound banging of hail.

I was glad to be home. A few raindrops fell on my head, but I wasn’t out there for the big chunks of ice.

At south end of Boyson Trail, what had been blue sky is suddenly getting a bit too interesting.

Around the corner from the sign that tells me Cedar Lake is not that far, the trail ends. Well, plans are advancing to finish this trail, which will be great when it happens.

Shadows in woodsy area of Boyson Trail.

Lindale Trail, heading towards home.

End of the Lindale Trail. I've already been rained on, and more will start soon.

Short ride, 7.7 miles in 48 minutes.

About to enter neighborhood of the magnolias on Grand Avenue in Marion, noticing the sky mountains creeping in.