In Which Some Rides Turn Wild and Pretty

It was a cool, damp week in Iowa. Friday in particular was a gray day, and I spent most of the day working. After a Zoom class meeting, I finally decided it was time to get outside.

But, what route to take? These days, I’m trying to minimize time on crowded trails, yet there are a limited number of street rides that work at that time of night (around 6 p.m.).

I had taken a longer ride not long ago to the Grant Wood Trail. The route that I used to get there involved leaving the Boyson Trail at the Marion High School football complex (not at the actual school) and heading east on streets from there.

Waldo's Rock at Waldo's Rock Park. Spoiler alert, I found a new route.

It’s an OK route, but I don’t like crossing the gravel lot at the complex, and the streets, while rideable, are not ideal.

Today, I decided to see if I could find an alternative route by going to the end of the Boyson Trail, and, from Hanna Park, heading to Grand Avenue. That street is marked for bike travel, and is a bit wider than the streets I used on an earlier ride.

The good news? The route works. Cate, sometime we’ll have to try your trike on the Grant Wood Trail, if you have not been there yet, and this second route is probably more trike friendly.

Do not leap off the rock. Do not drink bleach. Do not stare at the sun. Do not ride in front of  semi trucks. Do not die.

Dry selfie. Left my water bottle at home. Yes, I wore the bandana over my nose and mouth (and also wore my helmet) when riding. And yes, I used hand sanitizer before adjusting the bandana. This was socially distant break time in an empty park, but for me and several ducks.

Turning on all light for ride home.

The exploration wasn’t completely direct. I ended up on a street called A Avenue (an odd name, which maybe was a hint, most streets and avenues in Marion are numbered) which eventually left me circling in one of those edge-of-town suburban neighborhoods with deliberately confusing tangles of Drives and Courts intended to keep masked, slow bikers at bay.

Still, if I head down Grand Avenue and turn on the street where Marion High School is (the school, not the football complex), it’s clear that I can get, if I avoid the siren song of A Avenue, far enough east to catch the end of the trail that leads to the Grant Wood Trail. (Is the city trail actually just also called the Grant Wood Trail? I don’t know, but “the Trail that Leads to the Grant Wood Trail” would be whimsically accurate.)

The Boyson Trial had a few bikers/walkers on it, but on this cool, gray afternoon was fairly quiet. There was far less traffic on The Grant Wood Trail and TTTLTTGWT (city trail’s suggested name even better abbreviated), so keeping distant was fairly easy.

On my way out of town, a herd of deer were mostly on the south side of the trail, with one straggler that ran across the trail maybe 15 to 20 yards in front of me. The ride was turning wild. Later, on the way home, I would encountered a bunny. So wild.

Deer bounding across trail in front of me. Camera is fairly wide angle--object may be closer than it appears.

This, on the other hand, is on the way home. Took the Lindale Trail and bunny bounded across trail and then tried to look invisible in grass. Grass is getting too green for your brown coat, bunny.

Anyway, I made it to Waldo’s Rock Park. I parked there for a brief break, and discovered that I had left my water bottle at home. It’s sitting on the mantle in my family room now as I type this, and I may liberate the bottle and take it for a Saturday spin soon.

All in all, Friday’s ride was a success. Thursday was also a bit gray, although sunnier in the afternoon. That day featured two rides, a short one with a grandson, and a longer, later ride in which I shot many images of flowers at Mount Mercy University. Because I never grow tired to seeing those pretty gardens, and just wish that students and faculty and staff were all there to see them, too.

Bike Thursday late afternoon at garden on MMU campus.

Almost home Thursday, sun setting at Collins Road.

End of the longer, second ride Thursday.

Low sun at Cedar Lake April 23.

Gosh, students can be aggravating. But I do miss them.

So, the week ended with some satisfying rides. And I did find a new route to The Grant Wood Trail.

I’m amused by the maps of the rides, for some reason. They look like very crude stick figures, don’t you think? The ride summaries, first from Thursday and then Friday: