In Which 50 Miles Gets Measured

A nice bike addition for RAGBRAI--a bike computer. And pink tape to hold wire adds a touch of class, too.

We purchased some bike computers, recently, my wife and I. One was for her bike, one for my new bike (Francis already has a computer).

The models we chose are pretty simple, basically only recording speed, distance and time. The installation wasn’t too hard, although I am increasingly discouraged at the icon craze in directions. I want text. Don’t just “show” me, write it out a bit. For instance, the directions called for you to hit the “reset” button by showing a green circle. The actual reset button is a tiny white dot on the back of the computer that requires a paperclip to activate—so the directions were a double lie. They said “no tools,” and a paperclip is, indeed, a tool. They also depicted the “reset” button as something it is not, and didn’t, using useful English words, describe where the heck that button was in the first place.

Words, manufacturers, words. I understand and appreciate the need for pictures—I am not advocating for text-only directions—but be a lot more chatty. We’re not all of us post-literate persons.

Anyway, after some French was spoken, the computers were installed and appeared to function. My wife and I rode together and called out distances and speeds a bit like crazy people. The devices agreed on distances, and they only had minor variance on speed—probably because, at that second, our bikes actually did vary in speed a little bit.

We rode the Boyson Trail area, and were thinking of a Lowe Park ride, when we got a phone call that brought use home a bit early.

That afternoon, around 2, I started riding again. I wanted to get as many miles in as possible, and headed north, figuring I would go as far as the pavement went and then turn around and head south.

I have several impressions of that ride. One is that Argent reached some strange speeds—like 20 mph—on some flats when I was feeling at my best. I don't know why, I was just putting the speed on--maybe just because I knew I wasn't planning any hill challenges that day.

I had a rehearsal at 6 that evening, and my goal was to get to 46 miles before that—the idea was that the commute home would add 4 miles, if I made it to 46, that meant I would have a 50-mile day. So after the journey north to Schultz Road, I turned back south.

I did the modified detour on the Cedar River Trail—where I cut down some back streets behind Wright Brothers School and ended up crossing Center Point at the New Pioneer Coop. And I rode down to Cedar Lake. I had seen, and tried (with no success) to photograph some honey bees on clover at Lafayette, and was thinking about critters as I rode. This week, I’ve seen an eagle, some hawks and lots of other assorted Iowa wildlife. For example, I saw a pretty orange and black bird, a bit smaller than a goldfinch, twice. I have no idea what it was. A mom turkey and her babies scurried across the trail in front of me on my ride this morning.

Anyway, as I neared Cedar Lake, I was musing how I have encountered snakes in past years, but have not seen many on bike rides this year.

I rode around the lake, and then sat on a bench to rest and snack. I was topping 40 miles by this time, and was tired. Before circling the lake again (I needed a few miles to get to my target), I stood up to walk around a bit and take some photos.

And I almost stepped on it. Snake. A big one, too—I didn’t see his or her head as he or she darted into the weeds, but the body I did see was thicker than a garden hose and more than two feet long. It was black with yellow stripes. It got away before I could take a clear photo, but see my effort below. I did, however, catch a large lake bird out on a stroll at lake's edge.

Cedar Lake.

You may not see it well, but in the lower left corner, hidden in the weeds, is something black with yellow stripes. A snake.

Lake walker at Cedar Lake July 10, 2015.

Anyway, I did reach my 50-mile target for the day. I only climbed the MMU hill once—it was, after all, a day for a mileage goal. But I have done substantial rides for four days in a row.

I’m taking it a bit easier today. I got my old bike out to commute to the gym, and did end up on a 10-mile trail ride on the way home. The Boyson Trail was unexpectedly closed in Hanna Park, but I merely did some park lawn riding to get back to the trail.

Streets they make detours for, trails and sidewalks they sometimes just close. Not my favorite approach to transportation.

I also spoke to my oldest son last night. He’s pretty excited about coming back to Iowa for RAGBRAI. My oldest daughter made a cool shirt design, which I’m sure I’ll show later on this blog.

Despite storms expected Saturday, it has been a good biking week!

The Curious Case of the Computer On An Odd Warm Day

The bike computer springs to life. Don't know how or why.

I was scheduled to stay on campus for a bell rehearsal, starting at 5, just when the sun was going down.

But, I had been at bells yesterday. And it was sunny outside. The straw the broke the bell ringers resolve was when Audrey reported that my 2-year-old grandson Tristan would be thrilled to get in a bike ride on such a warm day.

Well, warm days in January are not to be squandered by CR Biker. So at around 3:30 I hopped on my bike to head home.

I absentmindedly touched my non-functioning wireless computer, and voila, it sprang suddenly to life. I average more than 10 mph on the way home, it said. Why did the computer suddenly start to work? Why did the magnet detector on the front fork of my bike suddenly start transmitting to the handlebar receiver?

Well, it was an odd day. Weird things happen, I guess.

I peddled home, and indeed the grandkids were waiting. I put Tristan’s helmet on, placed him in the trailer of my wife’s bike and rode to the C Avenue park north of our neighborhood. The girls—Audrey, Katy, Nikayla and Amelia—walked and arrived a bit later. Nikayla joined Tristan and me for the bike ride home.

I hope the coming cold snap doesn’t give way to too much warm weather. Insects are stirring and some plants are starting to sprout—and it’s way too early in the upper Midwest, tender shoots. Patience, patience. The equinox and spring are a ways away.

But then again, what can a biker say? It was a glorious day to be a bike commuter, and a great day to tow some grandkids.

Well, Shucks, 4 Just is Not 5

If I were running for president (and I think I'm at least as qualified as some members of the GOP field this year), the media would jump all over me.

For years, when asked how far I bike to campus, the answer has been "5 miles." See photo. Clearly, almost 4.

Shucks.

In my defense, I always was giving a wild guess based on the idea that the commutes takes 25 to 30 minutes. I neglected to account for the amount of time spent at stoplights--especially at Collins and F, where a car has to come along to trigger the light.

The wait is never huge. I use a "decade" standard for waits. If you can't complete a decade of the Rosary as you wait, the wait does not qualify as a long one, and when I've almost never gotten to a second decade before that light changes.

Still, a full stop isn't just the time spent not moving at all--it's the braking beforehand and the accelerating after. There are, on average, seven full stops on my home-to-work commute. And the commute has more and more distance if I take the trail.

So I do not feel too bad. And as for my biking record keeping, the minor upside is that the commute to the gym in the morning is longer than I thought--about 2.5 miles one way.

More than halfway to MMU...

New Computer: Good News and Bad News

The good news is that I actually bike faster than I thought.

Audrey bought me a bike computer, and, assuming I calibrated it correctly (true, a bit of a big assumption--I'm not a mechanical genius) then there is that bit of good news.

I had been estimating my time based on distance traveled over a period of time, and the answer kept coming up around or under 10 mph. But the computer showed that much of time I'm actually biking much faster than that--my cruising on the flat speed is more likely to be 13 or 14 mph. It's just that I slow way up (sometimes to 5 mph) on hills, and, of course, when I stop, my speed is a goose egg.

Still, I averaged over 11 mph on a bike ride of a bit more than than 2 hours, and that 25 mile ride, plus some miles to and from the gym this morning, make it a legit 30 mile day.

The bad news? An 11 mph average still means old ladies were passing me on the trail. Oh well, as the RAGBRAI guide says, it's a tour, not a race.

By the way, one factor in today's ride is that I inflated my tires more. Don't know if that made a real difference, but it felt like I was biking faster.

Anyway, picture shows the computer (and my new backpack water bottle in my front basket with my helmet) during my mid-ride stop at Tait Cummins Park. A lot of people were out on the trails today, which is nice. I had to mow earlier, or I would have taken an even longer ride.

Still, 30 miles is OK, and I topped my weekly goal by 55 miles. Still in the hole, but I've ridden more than 900 miles total since mid April, and the RAGBRAI participant guide emphasizes "ride at least 900 miles." Well, I'm not at 1,500, which is the goal, but I'm over 900!

Thanks, Audrey, for the cool computer.