In Which More Than 67 Mile Creep By

Morning break at Waldos Rock Park.

Grant Wood Trail in morning ride.

So last week, I took advantage of a nice Saturday to go on my longest ride of the summer, heading south to Ely and finding the trail to Solon.

That was a 50-mile ride. Today was sunny, gorgeous and cooler, with a morning in the 50s and the afternoon high in the low 70s. So I decided my goal would be 60 miles. I new that the end of the Grant Wood Trail contiguous leg was 10 miles from my house, so there and back would be 20 miles, and I figured getting the rest of the miles by heading north.

Tool--fixed loose mirror 10 miles into ride.

Mirror after fixed. It was loose. I tightened it.

Painted rock at base of sign at end of trail.

I was a bit faded soon after I started. I felt a bit ill on the Boyson Trail only 3 miles from home, and worried that my plans were derailed. I stopped, drank, rested a minute, and started riding more slowly.

When I got to the section of the Grant Woods Trail in town, I was more than 5 miles from home, and starting to feel better. I decided to keep going, and rode to the end of the trail. I decided to rest at Waldos Rock Park in Marion, adjacent to trail, just to be taking care.

Then I rode past home and headed to the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. At the Hiawatha Trail Head, I thought it would be snack time. But it was close to 11, I was at 20 miles by that point, so I decided to eat the peanut butter sandwich, Cheezits and raisins.

I then got water at the park in Robins.

The ride north was pleasant. Maybe too pleasant. I started making good time, and I knew what that meant.

Flowers seen on ride today.

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Bikers, you know what I mean. If you find yourself riding, and you feel powerful and are making good time, eventually you figure out you have a tailwind. Which means when you turnaround, the wind will no longer be your friend.

I snacked at Center Point and kept going north, intending to turn around when I had gone far enough to get 60 miles in on the ride. I also wanted to pass under the interstate, just because that’s a fun tunnel. Dong the math, I figured 17 miles on the trail, 3 miles from the trail to home, if I was at 40 or more at miles it was time to turn around. And that was my plan, so I parked my bike at mile 17 and did a bit of a  photo shoot.

But a family rode by. It reminded me I was close to Urbana, exactly how close, I was not sure. So I rode on, and it was only a couple of miles away.

I rested for a few minutes in Urbana and then headed south. I took several breaks on the way—the afternoon was wearing on and I was tiring. At one trailhead, I even lay down on a bench for a few minutes, not to nap, but to elevate my slightly swollen feet.

In the end, despite, the weird start, I went well beyond my goal. It was a good day for a ride.  Views of my bike today during the ride: