In Which RAGBRAI Does Not Begin

Seen near 42nd Street on Cedar River Trail, Cone flower I saw during Thursday ride.

Of all the things this crappy COVID-19 year has robbed us of, honestly, RAGBRAI is not among my top concerns.

Not that I don’t miss it. I do. But the heat index in Iowa is around 105 today, so it’s an easy day to not contemplate a restless night in a hot, sticky tent. And while I like RAGBRAI, worries about family, my own health, school students, the political mess we are in that has led to massive failures to deal with reality—yeah, there is a lot besides RAGBRAI to regret in 2020.

Still, while I’m hiding from the world in my basement today, on Thursday and Friday I had some pleasant, if warm, rides. Taken together, the two rides added up to a pretty average RAGBRAI day.

On Thursday, I decided to ride for at least 40 miles on the road bike. No particular reason, it was just that I had about 4 hours available and wanted to reach that distance. I decided my main route would be north to Center Point, and I started off.

Heading north on Cedar Valley Nature Trail, traffic north of Robins.

The kind of day it was Thursday. Great day for a ride.

First, I headed south on C Avenue. My plan was to take the Noelridge Park route to the trail. But at Harding Middle School, some construction was going on, so I backtracked to Old Marion Road.

Where I ran into more construction, plus an ambulance stopped in the road. OK, so I went to the MMU campus, which I had not planned to go, but I made some garden images there, so that was good. And I finally reached the Cedar River Trial and rode north towards the Cedar Valley Nature Trail and Center Point.

Of course, on the way, I ran into a Linn County Conservation crew cutting brush—but I only had to wait a few minutes before they waved me on. As delays go, that was minor. And for whatever reason, I felt that I practically flew on this ride. One of my mile splits was over 15 mph—not fast for most bikers, I know, but for this big old biker, that was getting close to the velocity where I would fly off the face of the Earth into orbit.

Waiting for signal to pass tree-cutting crew. I wasn't unhappy to wait. Glad they do so much to maintain this trail.

I've been to Center Point and am on the way back. Pause to make image of this butterfly in the woods.

Call Thursday, at 40 ½ miles, a win—with a few miles tacked on that evening in a short ride with the 4-year-old grandson (and a few miles after dropping him off).

Friday—it was close to 10 a.m. before I ready to head out. For some reason, perhaps because (despite the dogs) I enjoyed my ride on the Grant Wood Trail earlier so much, I decided it was a day for the mountain bike and the Sac and Fox Trail.

And getting to the Prairie Park Fishery proved more challenging because—surprise!—road construction. I headed downtown to try to take the most direct route to the south end of the trail, and appreciated the new bike lanes on 3rd Avenue that I had not ridden before. (They may not be all that new, but they were new to me). It was when I tried to get from NewBo to Otis Road that my route took some twists and turns that were not planned.

On my way to south end of Sac and Fox via Otis Road and Prairie Park Fishery. Liking this 3rd Avenue bike lane--bikes are not next to parked cars nor traffic. Nice.

Oh well, I enjoyed the trail. It was a warmer day, but the trail is shady, which I appreciated. Due to recent high water, the south end of the trial near the Cedar River featured some muddy holes to avoid—and I was glad to be on riding The Fancy Beast with its wide mountain tyres.

I was considering whether I really wanted to go home from the north end of the trail. My choices were East Post Road (not good for biking) or the hill route back to Washington High School. I contemplated leaving the trail somewhere in the middle, but I don’t know the biking routes back home from the streets were that would place me, so I continued to the end and decided I could climb the mountain.

On Sac and Fox Trail. About a third of the way along 7-mile trail, at the point where the trail turns from east to north and where creek flows into the Cedar River. Two angles of The Fancy Beast parked for image-drink stop.

And I did. Only to find (surprise) that my roads home were blocked by construction projects. Roadwork doesn’t exactly make me happy, but it doesn’t make me unhappy, either. Despite the immediate inconvenience, there is the idea that the roads will be better in the future, and it’s a deal I’ll take.

All in all, I would be happier if I were on the way to the western edge of the state today. Still, I have my bikes and my health, and in this crazy year, those are things to be grateful for.

And, if you read this blog, you already know the road to Solon is open, but the local newspaper covered that story today, and also answered the question of why the Boyson Trail was closed (bridge removal was my guess and it turns out to be so).

A little inconvenience now, but better biking in the future. I’ll take it.