In Which Tyres Bring Some Challenges

Jan. 29--Pretty late day light on Lindale Trail in Cedar Rapids.

Feb. 20--Pretty, frosty morning seen on morning bike ride to work, C Avenue Pond.

Feb. 18, pretty late light on Creek Trail behind Linn-Mar High School in Marion.

It’s been a little while since I reported on my two-wheeled journey through life. It was near the end of January the last time your correspondent wrote a blog post.

It’s been a busy time. Winter term turned to spring semester with no break; I attended a statewide student college media conference; my wife and I worked on jigsaw puzzles and got hooked on an old British TV mystery show (Midsummer Murders)—what with one thing and another, almost a month has passed.

Most of that month has been a sunny, dry and unusually warm February. In fact, today, Feb. 20, I posted images on Facebook of flowers blooming in my backyard gardens.

Anyway, while I have not done any long (over 50 miles) rides, I have been riding almost every day. There was even one day, Friday of last week, when it had snowed overnight, but I made the unusual choice to ride anyway. The snow was just a light dusting, and it was cold so the snow hadn’t melted and frozen into ice, but stayed a white powder. I thought I might be OK rolling across it on my mountain bike, and, as it turned out, I was correct.

Feb. 16--Snowy Friday and I'm not the only crazy bike commuter. I don't know whose it is, but a white bike beside my black mountain bike.

Feb. 15, pretty morning light as I arrive on campus.

I was lucky to have the mountain bike ready to ride. In January, the back tyre went flat. I didn’t find the cause, but changing the tube seemed to fix it. But, when I took the wheel off, I noted the brake shoes were so worn the metal under the rubber was starting to show.

So there was a slight delay until I could pick up some new shoes before I could ride that bike. Meanwhile, I was riding my road bike or my hybrid bike. The mountain bike is my usual winter bike, yet this February has barely counted as winter.

But I got the job done, and The Fancy Beast is rolling again. Meanwhile, I noticed that the outer layer has started to wear off of the front tyre of my road boke. For more than a week, I’ve left it parked as I have simply not found the time to get to a bike shop for a new tyre.

Feb. 4--New brake shoes installed on The Fancy Beast, after a few days, it's ready to ride again.

Jan. 28--One morning I just found this. I had ridden this bike the day before. Time change tubes.

Jan. 28, changing tube. Sadly, bike not ready to ride when I'm done--brake shoes too worn.

One reason the quest isn’t too urgent is the season. I make far less use of my road bike Argent when it’s winter—the Fancy Beast is my usual winter ride, and I’ve used Clarence, my hybrid bike, when I want a lighter steed. The road bike will be ready when the weather turns really warm and I aim for longer rides.

If I’m going to roll 50 miles, it would only be on my lightest, fastest bike. But at this time of year, other bikes serve me perfectly well.

Meanwhile spring is coming early. Your biker correspondent has been on the saddle nearly every day. As of Feb. 20, I’ve ridden 152.88 miles this month. That compares to 128.39 in all of January. So far this year, I’ve rolled 280.94 miles, which I think is OK given the time of year. More images from recent rides:

Jan. 29, Deer by trail.

Feb. 3--Bike at day's end (road bike shortly before I stopped riding it due to tyre wear).

Feb. 11--Snow has melted off county trails--on ride north to Robins.

Feb. 18--Creek on trail near Menards.

The Fancy Beast in the woods Feb. 20--finally dry enough to ride mountain bike trail off of Boyson Trail.

Feb. 4--On bridge on Boyson Trail.

Feb. 4--Warm weather brings bike and foot traffic to Lindale Trail.

Feb. 8, ride down to Cedar Lake.