In Which I Ride the Narrows

Stump on lawn at Collins Aerospace on C Avenue. Large trees that were removed were painted with an L. Feeling sad for the loser trees.

Waiting for light to change at Collins Road. Raindrops pattern the sidewalk, first rain since the derecho storm. We only got a little.

First corner, Blair's Ferry and C Avenue. Off to the left, that open grassy area. It had many mature trees on it, all are gone now.

Riding south along C Avenue by Collins Aerospace. Near Collins Road--another empty lawn that used to have many mature shade trees.

It has been not quite a fortnight since the derecho storm blew through Cedar Rapids.

My first bike ride since then was a short tandem trip with a granddaughter. It’s been dry since the big storm, although there was a chance of some rain today. But, since wifi was down at my house and accessing work files would be difficult, on Saturday I decided to take a morning ride as my second post-derecho bicycle adventure.

My goal was to check out campus. Volunteers have been clearing the devastation there, and offices are to open Monday.

I started my journey south. The campus of Collins Aerospace is poignant to see—it was a pretty grassy area with mature trees, most of which were blown away by the 140-mile gusts of the derecho. It’s open and sunny now, and feels naked. Fortunately, the young trees recently planted in a line along C Avenue, although a few are leaning, largely survived.

After crossing Collins Road, I got to the place where C Avenue had a bike like. “Had,” although the lane is still there, just mostly buried under tree debris. That was not terribly surprising, and I planned to turn off C Avenue at the first intersection, rather than riding almost to the end of the bike lane, which in the past was my usual route.

Bike lane on C Avenue has disappeared under wall of cut branches.

Mail truck passes me along suddenly narrow C Avenue. I turned off as soon as I could.

The neighborhood I turned into was surreal. The storm was wildly inconsistent—it hit and damaged the entire area, but in some places it’s mostly downed trees, while in others roofs were damaged, sheds demolished—the winds of chance blew a bit more in places, and this neighborhood west of C Avenue featured the usual piles of debris stacked by the thereby narrowed roads, plus some wires still down and many roofs a patchwork of tarps. Today was the first that those tarps were important, as a few sprinkles came down.

And Mount Mercy University is in one of those hard-hit places, too. I was riding on familiar, quiet residential streets, but the ride was a still more than a bit eerie. The piles of former trees plus the more open skyline, the occasional downed wires—it’s still a revelation to move through this space, at once so familiar and so strange.

After turning off of C Avenue--the neighborhood of quiet streets and quiet devastation. Many trees down, those standing look shell-shocked and shorn of leaves.

Sure.

Another street scene I saw.

The space between houses is part of small neighborhood park, apparently used as a staging area for trucks.

 

 

No one will play in this park for a while. In fact, the city has closed all parks and said they are not even safe to walk across due to unstable trees.

A few unexpected turns on my route--some streets closed or filled with equipment.

I got to campus. Signs on the drives announced it was closed, and I could hear equipment moving. I know it will be open on Monday for work, and I decided it was best to satisfy my curiosity then. I rode partly around campus (a blocked street prevented a full circuit) and made some images from the edges.

I am betting a lot of cleanup has been done on central campus, and it will help a lot when the city can cart away the fences of felled wood, but at its edges of The Hill (local term for MMU campus) there is still a lot of reminders of the recent storm.

Unexpected detour of a few blocks.

Striving statue on MMU campus, seen from Prairie Drive.

Campus view, post derecho.

I decided it was best to obey the signs.

Not every tree in front of Warde Hall is down. Just most of them.

I paused here to pluck two drying hickory nuts off of the downed branches.

In our backyard after the storm, my 4-year-old grandson found some hickory nuts, although I don’t know where the nearest hickory tree is. He has planted some in his sandbox and in gardens, explaining that he hopes to grow “hickory dickory dock” trees.

At the end of the MMU campus, some drying hickory nuts were attached to fallen limbs laying by the street. I grabbed a couple. May as well try to see if I can get a hickory dickory dock tree out of this mess.

It was a somber 9-mile ride. The grey sky matched the mood. The sprinkles, which started early in the ride, held off, however, even as the sky darkened.

At Regis Middle School, people were clearing the lawn by the street. I wish that they had been wearing masks, although that would be hard to do such work on this warm, humid day. Yet I was glad to see them. It gave me some hope. Power is on back on campus, or so I’ve heard (I had no wifi this week, so I haven’t really seen any campus messages). We’re coming back. Slowly, it will be a long road back, but we’re coming back.

And then I rode back home. Longer and more pleasant rides are clearly a way off in the future. Here’s to those future bicycle rides.

Seen on my way home.

Nuts from campus.

On the way home I went up F Avenue to avoid C Avenue traffic. Just crossed Collins Road at F, entering Collins Aerospace bare lawn that used to be well shaded by mature trees.