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| Pretty November afternoon sunshine, seen at the unpaved eastern end of Grant Wood Trail east of Marion, Iowa, on Nov. 8, 2026. |
The day before yesterday, I rode my trike east out the Grant Wood Trail. The final mile of that trail was closed due to a bridge project, but most of it was open, and it was a beautiful fall afternoon for a 20-mile trike ride.
It’s November in an unusually warm fall in Iowa. In October, I experienced many fine rides, but the warmth then means little biting gnats were very evident and active.
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| Not every day has been sunny. Cool, breezy ride Nov. 4--Trail by Cedar Lake. |
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| Deer crosses bike trail Nov. 4, 2026. |
Usually, October is less buggy as the first freezes arrive early in the month, but there were no serious frosts before Halloween this year. That’s started to shift—there have been a few cool mornings with a taste of ice in the low areas, and one night with a general frost.
There has been no real hard freeze yet, however. But the frosts have served to abate the biting gnats, and although I saw some butterflies at Waldo’s Rock Park on my recent ride, I’m happy to report that I remained bite free during the warmest part of a cool fall day.
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| Rode the new part of the CeMar Trail Nov. 7 2026, and turned around at Mount Calvary Cemetery. Pausing to think of the Sisters of Mercy who founded Mount Mercy University, where I taught. Pretty fall day for a ride. |
November is normally a decent month for riding, although the clothing needs change. It’s been better than usual this year, as it’s beautiful and fairly warm. The woods at the east end of the Grant Wood Trail have taken on their late fall look, as most of the leaves have flitted to the ground. It’s still greener at ground level than it usually is at this time of year, but it’s clearly the final phase of fall, too.
It’s a good time of year to roll across my tiny neighborhood of the Northern Hemisphere. A hard freeze is forecast for later this week, so I think the typical November bug-free brown time is coming soon. Time to find my winter gloves and biking hat!
I finished October with 239.12 miles for the month. As of the morning of November 10 (I’ll get in more miles this afternoon, I rode over to a daughter’s house to be present for a project and will ride home later), I have 76.84 miles for the 11th month. So far, 2026 has added up to 2,650.35 miles on trike or bike.
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| Pausing at Oak Shade Cemetery, visiting my parents there, on Nov. 9 trike ride. |
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| Trike parked at Waldo's Rock Park Nov. 8, 2026. Parked there and walked for a while to enjoy the pretty fall day. |
