My trike parked at Troy Park in Robins. We were hosting a grandson that day and I rode to two parks for activities and a restaurant for lunch--adding up to 27 miles, one of my longer rides of February.
All these places had their moments With lovers and friends, I still can recall Some are dead and some are living In my life, I've loved them all “In My Life”—Beatles, Lennon and McCartney
Something about the second month of the year put me in a nostalgic mood. It was an unusual February in that, while that month is traditionally overlapping the coldest part of winter, this year it featured days of sharp contrast—some stretches that were too cold for an old man to bike or trike, some days where it was OK to bike with warm boots but triking was not practical and, finally, more than its share of warmer days that foreshadowed spring. It wasn’t just on the penultimate day of the month—one of the warmest—spring-like sunshine and warmth was sprinkled throughout the month.
Did the groundhog see his shadow? Some days, it seemed so. Some days it seemed not. Spring kept arriving early, then ducking out the back door for a sudden smoke break or something.
How else do I sum up February 2026? In January, I posted that I was seeking a name for my newest cycling vehicle, a recumbent tricycle. I’ll get to that topic again, soon, with an announcement.
February was, from a cycling point of view, a better month than January was. I rolled 267.35 miles, 72.45 miles on various bicycles and 194.9 on the trike. On Feb. 27, I rode 27.04 miles on the trike, which felt appropriate for a sunny, warm day. At the time, I thought it was my longest ride of the month but I was mistaken—I rode the trike for three rides that exceeded 25 miles in February, 25.14 miles Feb. 15 and 30.67 miles on Feb. 11.
Some images from two longer trike rides Feb. 11 and Feb. 15. This is Feb. 11, view of new fishing pier, I assume, on newly opened section of trail at Cedar Lake.
Feb. 11--Rest stop at Cedar Rapids Public Library, the main one downtown. Elementary art exhibit going on.
Lunch stop at Ellis Park on Feb. 11. I rode through the city on a trike with no name. For now.
Crossing Cedar River on Third Avenue bridge on my way north--watching young eagle.
New trail on east side of Cedar Lake. The sign says "closed," the many people using the trail said "it's actually open, don't believe every sign you see." I rode on it Feb. 15.
I thought that I would set 30 miles as the next goal for March trike rides, forgetting that I had already exceeded 30 miles. Maybe 40 is the goal as I slowly ratchet up the distances.
On what? My wife is irritated by my habit of naming bicycles. I think of it as an homage to my mother, who had a habit of naming our family cars (although I don’t think all earned that honor—I don’t recalls that a trashy Ford station wagon we had for a few months ever earned a moniker, for example). Anyway, my oldest bike is The Fancy Beast, a mountain bike named because at the time I acquired it I had a less fancy old Schwinn mountain bike that I had called The Beast. My hybrid bike, which has a Tag-A-Long attachment and a bar to place a toddler seat on, is named Clarence—a direct call back to Clarissa, the 1959 VW chartreuse micro-bus that was the family car for the majority of the 1960s. My hybrid is the family bus, get it? The sleek road bike that I use for summer distance biking is Argent, because it’s a vaguely silver color.
I’ve never bothered to name the old red Schwinn tandem, but I don’t consider that to be one of “my” bikes, it’s more of a family fun bicycle.
Open coat on warm ride Feb. 16.
Trike in late afternoon light Feb. 16.
Warm February days make limestone trails unusable, mostly, at least to me. Not, apparently, to everyone. Part of Boyson Trail I didn't ride on Feb. 16.
Feb. 16--Warm enough today to wear biking sandals on trike ride.
Watching Connect CR bridge construction from detour, Feb. 5.
New bridge under construction over Cedar River, as part of expanding trail network in Cedar Rapids. Seen Feb. 5.
Start of detour around bridge construction Feb. 5.
Sunshine on The Fancy Beast, Feb. 4 ride.
Bike on trail on cool, grey day. Clarence on Feb. 25.
But the teal trike is definitely mine—and it’s my main cycling chariot these days. I asked on Facebook for some suggestions, and received several creative ideas. I’m sure none of the were serious—after all, this is not a serious issue to begin with. One friend suggested “Trixie.” Another “Lucky.” I’ve decided I’m not going to go with any stripper names. A family member suggested “Picasso” because it’s blue and I draw with it, which I thought was clever. Another person suggested “Day Tripper,” which was among the stronger ideas—a description of the trike’s use plus a nod to the Beatles.
Well, I like the Beatles reference. Which brings me to the name I have selected, both in honor of The Beatles and because a name connected to Buffy Anne Summers just feels whimsical and appropriate. The trike is a vehicle of my fourth quarter of life, and the switch to trike riding feels both fun and a fundamental reminder that life means coping with a living in change.
So, the Beatles song the trike puts me in mind of is “In My Life.” The lyrics note that, among friends, “some are dead and some are living.” I’ll go with the living end of that spectrum, for now. And the trike is also a fair-weather vehicle, a summer cycle.
Meet “Sommer Livin.” Spelled badly, I know (again, this is me and I am a terrible speller). I’ll probably just refer to her (I don’t know why Clarence is a he and Sommer is a she, except Buffy, right?) as Sommer.
Sommer Livin, aka Sommer, parked at Ellis Park several weeks before being named.
