In Which We Contemplate Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance

January 2020 bicycle ride--afternoon sunset at Cedar Lake.

OK, I ripped off the title for this post, but this is “Therapy Thursday,” where the Social Distance Biking Group on Facebook is contemplating the meaning of cycling.

What does riding a bicycle mean to me, especially in the time of pandemic? Following, in a post illustrated with images of biking highlights of recent years, is a partial answer. It’s a big question, and one I’m not going to try to answer in full. For me bicycle riding is tied up with lots of other aspects of my life:

• I’m a loner. I like the company of other people—in small doses—but am an introvert and am quite happy on my own. I like biking with buddies. My wife and I own an old tandem bike that we get out of the garage a couple of times of years, and we’ve survived those short joint ride with no divorce on the horizon. I have a family RAGBRAI team, and in a normal year would ride a fair amount with my sister who lives in town. So the “social” aspect of biking appeals to me—but 90 percent or more of biking is all alone. Riding to work, riding in the evening on weekends—going where I want at the slow pace I am comfortable using—riding a bicycle requires only a team of one, and that appeals to me.

Deer on Lindale Trail, April 19, 2020.

• I’m a bit of a tree hugger. I worry about the planet. A student at the university I teach at one said, sarcastically, “thanks for saving the planet” when he learned I commute via bicycle. It’s not sarcasm. My commute is longer on two wheels, but I would not save all that much time driving via car, and I enjoy the commute a lot more on a bike. And I am saving the planet in lots of different ways—preventing road wear and tear, reducing healthcare costs and, of course, not pumping much carbon into the atmosphere. A bit from my breath, but a lot less than if I were exploding ancient fossil life.

Another view of Cedar Lake from January. Great spot to watch the sun go down from the seat of a bike, and yes, I do have and use lights.

• I am happy being outside. I don’t have to be out there constantly, but getting some sunshine each day, seeing nature, hearing the birds, smelling the flowers—getting outdoors just feels good. Granted, for a tree-hugger that’s not a shock, but it’s not exactly the same thing either. Besides wanting to save the Earth, I want to be out in it. I’m a part of nature and feel at home there.

May 29, 2019--With my oldest son, who rode his own bike, I rode a rented bike up to the top of Hawk Hill, a steep climb that overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge near San Francisco. One can drive and walk to get there, I suppose, but it was better to ride a bike across the bridge up the hill. Earned this view!

• I’m an old, fat man. I need to stay active to keep the weight from shooting up. Granted, I also attempt to control what I eat and drink—but I love to eat. I don’t drink to access, but beer is a longtime friend of mine. Life is about balance, and clearly, based on what the scale tells me, I’ve not achieved the perfect balance in this area of life. But biking helps.

Sunny April bike ride on Lindale Trail with my wife.

Most of all, I enjoy riding a bicycle. It’s a quiet interlude in world of noise. It promotes self contemplation and thus adds to health, both physically and psychologically. It even connects me to family—I have sisters who ride and sometimes ride with me, I have children who like to bicycle—my oldest son talked me into RAGBRAI in the first place. My father bought an English 10-speed bike and commuted with it in the 1960s in California. He’s been gone for years, but I feel in a minor way that I’m with him when I ride.

2018 ride on Katy Trail near Boonville, Missouri. We used to live in that town and visited there. Halloween decorations in yard adjacent to trail.

I’ve enjoyed the Social Distance group, too. Thank you, Fred, for starting this group. It lets us share our biking lives even as we’re apart.

And to finish up, a few RAGBRAI images:

2019, Methodist Church in Indianola, Iowa. Typical RAGBRAI meal, and usually very good.

2018--Sister gets a flat and Major Caroline of U.S. Air Force team is there to rescue us.

Family members who rode RAGBRAI 2017. Me on the left, my oldest son who talked me into RAGBRAI in 2011 next, followed by sisters and in-laws. Team Joe!

In Which Sun, Rain, Flags and Critters Come from the Sky

Side trail that leads to park in Robins (above), headed back to Cedar River Trail. Clouds appearing in the west in what was a sunny sky. The clouds have moved in (below) as I ride south on Cedar River Trail. Sprinkles about to start.

Memorial Day weekend Saturday—the sky was cloudy in the morning, with a threat of rain, that arrived in force late morning. Rain pelted down hard, and I stayed at home.

I took a nap around 2, and by 3 the sun was shining. I decided to try to get some miles in today, so I planned to head up to Center Point on the Cedar River Trail—that round trip from my house would be about 30 miles.

Mother Nature had over plans. As I rode north of Hiawatha, the sunny sky kept getting darker and darker. By the time I got to the parking lot at County Home Road, it was cloudy and darker.

Cedar Memorial Cemetery on the way home

I turned back. Sprinkles began as I headed south. It began to lightly rain, and I pulled under the shelter of the restroom building at the Hiawatha Trail Head. The rain toyed with me for a while—I would think it was easing, get ready to ride out, and it would pick up.

But it was a passing shower nonetheless, and the wait was not all that long.

Sunshine and rain—both were features to this afternoon’s ride. I saw and managed to make an image of a goldfinch—not a rare bird to see, but not an easy one to photograph.

Goldfinch by Cedar Valley Nature Trail

I headed south and decided to ride around a bit to make up for the miles north I was lacking. I rode down the trail to 42nd street, and then turned back. I rode through Noelridge Park, and then headed over to the eastern leg of 42nd Street to catch the C Avenue bike lane.

The lane goes along Cedar Memorial Cemetery, which was bright with American flags for Memorial Day weekend. I went south a bit even though I live north, just so I could pass by the west end of cemetery.

Flowers are in bloom, the air is warming up, each day seems to feature rain or thunderstorms, a biker in the Social Distance biking group posted images of a tornado that was just a bit east of my area of Iowa. There was a tornado warning south of us, too.

Ride summary

In the end I did not get my 30 miles in, but I well topped 20 and don’t feel that it was a bad afternoon’s ride. And here are galleries of the many sights that 20 miles was packed with, Flowers, Birds, Flags and Sky:

Flowers—late spring beauties:

Late tulip under birch tree in my front yard at end of ride.

Iris along street in Hiawatha, seen on the way to the Cedar Valley Nature Trail early in ride.

Lilacs, above and below, growing at edge of Cedar Memorial Cemetery, late in ride.

Birds—in the sky and on the water, plus a butterfly:

Side trek down part of Lindale Trail--butterfly (above and below) suns itself on trail. Rain has passed and sun has come back out.

Above and below, hawk overhead as I turn from trail towards Noelridge Park. I think he has a snack in his beak.

Mallards in small creek near Harding Middle School.

Flags—what this weekend is all about:

Flags along street in Hiawatha. After rain, sun came out again.

Late in ride, above and below, passing by Cedar Memorial Cemetery, awash in flags this Memorial Day weekend.

Sky—Blue and gray, trail views:

Boyson Trail late in ride

Lindale Trail

Near end of ride, west end of Lindale Trail. Iowa summer sky.

On C Avenue, about to cross Collins Road.

Heading north on Cedar Valley Nature Trail, clouds rolling in.

Waiting at restroom building in Hiawatha for rain to pass by.

Pond at Collins Aerospace on C Avenue

Had to avoid some wet areas in limestone part of Lindale Trail, but trail was in good shape overall.

Sunshine on Boyson Trail.

In Which There Is a Boy and Sunshine

Early in ride, inspecting Dry Creek on C Avenue.

I rode about 16 miles today, a 12-mile evening ride and a 4-mile afternoon ride. They were very different rides, but both very nice, too.

The earlier ride was shorter and slower—and the more fun of the two. I took one of my grandchildren, a 4-year-old boy, on a short trail ride in the neighborhood.

He’s been my biking buddy for a while now—but last year was able to sit in a toddler seat in the front of the bicycle. This year, he’s grown too tall for that seat, and rides a Tag-A-Long seat in the rear.

I use the same seat for many grandkids, and one thing I like about it is that is suits children ranging from this 4-year-old up to children completing a decade on the planet.

Collecting dandelion seeds.

As usual, after about a mile or so, the grandson wanted to know when we would be home. I told him there was a bridge ahead on the trail, and he could throw dandelion seeds into the creek from there. That seemed to do the trick. The 4-mile ride was a tour of three bridges—early in the ride we paused on C Avenue at Dry Creek, and then crossed the same creek again, once on the Boyson Trail, once on a little side trail. On both trail bridges, the grandson stopped, watched the water, looked for ducks and tossed sticks or dandelion seeds.

Bike parked at bridge on Boyson Trail.

Duck seen from C Avenue (above) and from second trail bridge (below). Grandson was pretty excited to watch the duck.

They sky was cloudy, the day breezy and a bit cool, but slightly warmer than yesterday. He and I both enjoyed the ride. I love riding with grandkids, when they’re willing, and today’s bridge adventure was a good example of why.

Later, after supper, I went out again for my usual evening quick trip. This time, the great adventure was that there were a few breaks in the clouds and a bit of sunshine for the ride. I headed down to the Mount Mercy campus, shot some images there, and then headed over to the trail south of the closure to circle Cedar Lake.

The rides today were a nice change of pace. A ride with a young child and a ride in the sunshine—both, I think, were good for the soul. Images from the evening ride followed by computer summary:

Bike parked in sunshine at MMU campus. Rode to campus tonight, so I made it down to Cedar Lake, avoiding closed trail.

Flowers along Cedar River Trail.

Early in evening ride--Clouds finally having some breaks in them, sun will shine a bit.

Cedar Lake.

Other side of Cedar Lake.