In Which the Season Turns to Bike Time

Sept. 28--I arrive on campus early (to grab student newspaper). Pretty, cool morning, frosty in low areas, although up on the hill, it's mostly dewy.

Sept. 28--Frost in low grass by C Avenue bridge--first frosty morning.

Sept. 28--Early in the ride--I've stopped to make image of frosty grass. Wearing winter jacket. Have not had to wear it consistently, it's warmed back up to sweater-sweatshirt weather, but it's time is coming.

We’re in a bit of a drought in Iowa, and one of my other interests is gardening, so I sort of would like more rain to fall from the sky, please. Not Ian rain, but still, some moisture.

But as far as the biking part of my life, well, dry and fall equals just about the best biking of the year. Makes me look forward to the time in a few years I’m retired, and I have to bike now to potentially be in shape to bike then.

It’s a burden that, in this wonderful weather, I’ll gladly take on.

Sept. 19--Late afternoon sky at Waldo's Rock Park, Marion, alone the Grant Wood Trail.

Sept. 9--Morning sun at C Avenue Pond, Collins Aerospace.

Sept. 22--Late day sun at Blairs Ferry, seen on ride home.

The morning of Sept. 28, the temperature dropped into the 30s. It was not cold enough to be a hard freeze, but frost formed on some roofs and low grassy areas. It was the first morning where I felt the need to drag out my winter biking jacket.

I don’t mind wearing that. It means weather is growing cooler, and while winter may sometime get a bit too cool, for me, cool-weather biking is comfortable biking.

Sept. 28--Pausing by C Avenue Pond on first frosty morning--Argent, my road bike, and shadow.

Sept. 19--In bike rack by Warde Hall. Earlier this month, I was parked by Basile Hall and had a bit of a walk to Warde--not very convenient when I wore biking shoes. The bike rack is sideways to the sidewalk, it was moved a few days later. Honestly, I sort of liked it this way, it felt like I was not parking in the Hostas this way.

Sept. 19--Deer on Lindale Trail. Be a little careful on this trail, there are deer living there that just don't care about a bike.

Sept. 30--Clarence in bike rack at Warde Hall. Rack moved back to its previous location.

I’ve used all three of my bikes, but most of my recent rides have been via my road bike, Argent. In the past, I always thought of my hybrid bike, Clarence, as my main commuting bicycle, but the bags that fit the back rack of that bike wore out. I do have a bag, currently on Argent, that would fit on the rack on Clarence, but since I use my hybrid bike to tow a Tag-A-Long, I would have to remove the new bag to hook it up. It’s more convenient to just leave the bag on the road bike.

Can’t say I’m hating the change. While I like the hybrid bike, I admit the lighter road bike is more fun to roll along on.

So we’re past the equinox. The dark is just now growing longer than the light, which is not bike convenient. But the cool is pretty cool to ride in, and I’ve been having lots of fun. It’s been warm enough—just a few light frosts with no freeze, and although you can tell it’s fall, the foliage over all hasn’t moved into late autumn mode.

Well, we’ll get there, the brown months. For now, I roll along in the quiet, pretty, dry autumn. I hope, if you’re north of the equator, you’ll enjoying this change of seasons. Total miles in September: 273.49. Total miles year-to-date: 2,191.06.
 

In Which I Must Find My Winter Jacket

Earlier this week, bike in rack behind Warde Hall.

Rode to campus early on Wednesday, using mountain bike due to chance of rain. It sprinkled on the way in, one of several times I experienced water on my rides. Bike (above and below) on campus shortly after 7 a.m.

The scene this morning: I drove Thursday due to rain, but today was determined to bike to work. But Thursday had been a long day, with me having to do some class work after I got home at 9 p.m., so I was not early to bed.

But I had to be early to rise. That’s not very wise.

Oct. 22—and something is new this morning. It’s our second frosty morning this week, with the frost being far more widespread. So, despite being a bit pressed for time to get to an early class, I had to move the shoe rack in order to open a closet door.

Time to dig out the biking jacket and some gloves.

I dreaded opening that closet door. I am terrible at finding stuff, and hate the process of looking. Of course, I “solve” that problem by putting it off as long as possible, for that wonderful combination of doing something I’m not good at which always takes too long when I don’t have time.

Quick Sunday night ride to Milwaukee Road bridge.

Moon reflected in C Avenue Pond during late bike ride home.

Well, this morning the bike gods were with me. I scooted the shoes, opened the door, and the white stripes of my blue biking jacked were clearly visible, right in the middle, directly in front of me. And gloves were even easy to find in a bin on the top shelf.

It’s been a decent biking week, even if some rain had me driving Thursday. Friday’s ride was cool and windy, but I’m fine with my jacket on.

This afternoon, as I was packing for the bike ride home, I got a text from my wife. “It’s raining,” she said. It was. I checked the radar, and it looked light and like it might end soon.

Don’t always trust radar. With the jacket, despite getting a bit damp on the way home, I managed to stay warm. And the rain was never heavy, although it sure was more persistent than I expected.

And so it goes. You find the jacket and a cold rain finds you miles from home.

All in all, I would still call it a win of a week. And I cannot complain about finding my jacket—I am not thrilled by the deepest cold of winter, but frosty weather I can dress for.

And no biting insects!

And to finish off this post, four morning views of the C Avenue pond at Collins Aerospace.

In Which I Praise a Frosty Bare Bike Ride

Lindale Trail Sunday, Nov. 20. Trees are bare, but the trail is still pretty.

I wasn’t bare, let’s be clear about that right up front. I wouldn’t want any of your overactive imaginations to make you queasy.

No, I meant that, several weeks later than usual, we’ve arrived in late fall—dimmer light as the sun is far in the southern sky, trees denuded for their winter sleep.

During this unusually warm fall, I often got comments on campus like “aren’t you enjoying this biking weather” and “you’re lucky you can still be biking in November.”

Not really—due to long underwear, I’m usually biking in November anyway. But this morning, with the air temperature in the 20s and a cold wind making it seem much colder, it was definitely the first really chilly ride of the season. As they say, winter is coming. I didn’t wear warm winter socks today, and it would have been a good idea.

Two images of railing on bridge over Dry Creek on Boyson Trail--note the frost on the rail and bridge deck.

Still, I enjoy being out on a bicycle, even in these dim weeks of the year. We’re only a month from the solstice, so even if we’re not into the coldest weather of the year, we’re into the darkest days.

As fall moves towards winter, there is a dramatic change in the outdoors. The trees are bare, although the compensation for that is you can see both the land and the shapes of the trunks more clearly.

Shadows on Boyson Trail.

Argent parked by bridge as I take some photos.

View on Boyson Trail shortly after I got on the trail at the Boyson Road end. Rising sun, bare trees, blue sky--a bit stark, but still pretty. A good morning to be outside. And to wear gloves ...

When the sky is clear or nearly clearly, there is a special quality to the deeper winter blue of the sky. Even as we approach mid-day, shadows stay long. And although I like bright flowers and green foliage, the brown countryside has its own more subdued beauty.

Well, it wasn’t midday when I took these photos. I was out around 8:30 this morning on the Boyson Trail after heading over the Bowman Woods hill, on my way to the gym.

It was pretty, if cold. I like the peace and serenity of a winter trail. Of course, it will be nicer when the leaves and the flowers and the butterflies all return—but I’ll enjoy the stark beauty of the bare weeks while they are here.

In Which We Think of Hitchcock Films

The crow in the corner calls the morning bird meeting to order.

See the power lines, which I photographed on a cool, cloudy Wednesday morning during my bicycle ride to Mount Mercy University. This is on Eastern Avenue.

“The Birds,” right? The crow that seems to be chairing this meeting did squawk a bit menacingly at me as I paused to photograph this group—sadly, only one crow so it’s just a group of birds, not a murder—but I don’t think it quothed “nevermore.”

And so I emerged from said spooky October dinosaur photo shoot unscathed.

It’s fall y’all, and the seasonal bird sightings continued Wednesday afternoon. I choose the trail route home, and there wasn’t just one white bird of unusual size at Cedar Lake—two flocks of pelicans graced the lake with their awkward, stately presence. They were pretty to see, and I may swing by the lake today to see if they’re there in the bright, cool, pretty fall sunshine of today.

The pelicans have landed. There were in two groups, one on the lake near the north shore (first two photos) and one that came in for a landing in the middle of the lake (bottom photo).

Finally, get a load of the deer. This is not the same photo shoot as in my previous blog post—this is later on my ride home Wednesday, almost there—the deer are right beside C Avenue near rush hour—I hope they don’t become McMeat via any car (or bike) dodging!

Light is fading, so walking deer is a blur. There were three in this group.

Today featured featured the first frost of fall–definitely a jacket morning. I looked, but did not find my winter gloves, and my bike gloves did not quite cut it. My digits were frigid by the time I got to campus, although not too frozen to shoot an image of the frosty grass at sunrise.

First frost--I hope you can see it on the oak leaf. Sunrise on hillside at MMU this morning.

Fall is indeed second only to spring as a pleasant biking season. I love the cool air. The advantages that spring has are: Flowers. And the bugs aren’t out yet. But with frost in the air, we may be getting to the end of mosquito season in Iowa. The true bug hammer won’t come down until the first hard freeze, which isn’t even in the weather forecast, yet.

Maybe that’s a good thing. I still have time to find those gloves.

In Which I Enjoy Cold Rides, But Not a Cold

I’ve had a cold, which is finally starting to break. Thursday was rough—I hadn’t slept all that well the night before, and was very tired.

But the weather was good, though chilly, so I rode my bike to work. Just a bit more slowly than usual—so I arrived barely in time for my 8 a.m. class, which luckily I co-teach with my wife, so she could teach both sections while I cheered her on by coughing on the sidelines.

The history lecture in my next class felt rather long, even though I love history.

I debated about whether to bike that morning, but am glad I did. Despite the cold, and my cold, it felt good to get some fresh air. Although the lack of sleep and the cold (the virus, not the air temperature) left me so tired that afternoon, that during the second half of an office hour, I gave up and “measured my futon.” (I have a futon in my office, and on the rare days when I take a nap on it,I call it “measuring the futon.”)

As luck would have it, as I was losing consciousness, I sensed a voice out in the hall. “I’ll just leave this in Joe’s bike basket, I’m sure he’ll find it there,” I thought I heard someone say.

Later, I found a note in my bike basket, with a very nice thank-you card and tickets to a Christmas concert.

The card was signed by the president of the university I teach at—and  it was probably her voice that I heard as I drifted off to dreamland.

My usual futon-measuring session is about 20 minutes. This time, I knocked off at 1:30 p.m. and didn’t glance at my watch again until after 3:30. A two hour nap is very unusual for me … but it was very refreshing. I think it marked the end of the “bad part” of the cold. I was feeling just a little better as I biked home Thursday night.

The cool days and evenings have actually been pretty nice for biking. I’m just using my old bike for now—I have not had time to swap pedals on Argent yet (I broke the right pedal, probably by cracking it on a curb, but I have a spare set of pedals to put on). Honestly, on the 4 miles to work, the slower, older bike is not much of a handicap. On the rides this week, I have had to watch a few icy spots where the streets were wet and frozen, but mostly the only issue with the rides is that I always have to use lights, morning and afternoon.

Anyway, it was very frosty this morning, about 28 when I rode in. Because I didn’t have an 8 a.m. class, the sun was already up, but it was early enough and cool enough that the frost still lay across the world, leaving a grey, sparkly blanket on everything. It was pretty.

8 a.m. sun this morning on frosty lawn at Kenwood School during my bike ride to work.

Tonight, I had an extra ride, I was meeting my wife and daughter at a restaurant for supper. It was in the 40s, but a bit windier, which meant it actually felt a chillier on the way home.

But, I could pretty much taste the food. I still have a lingering cough, and sniffle, but the cold is thankfully fading. So the riding is even more pleasant. And I hope I will be awake next time when the president stops by!

In Which The Frost Looks Kind of Pretty

In yard near C Avenue bridge over Dry Creek--frosty cottonwood leaf on Saturday morning in sunrise.

Morning gym ride Oct. 11—it frosted finally in my part of Iowa that morning. There was a coating of ice on the car and grey crystals all over the grass. The TV weather talked about a “hard freeze,” but I struggle with calling it that because it only dropped down to 32—I think of a “hard” freeze as in the 20s.

Still, it was a definite frost. It must have stayed at 32 for some hours. Luckily, on my morning bike ride to exercise at the gym, there was little wind, so even with an air temperature just chilly enough to induce a state change in water, I wasn’t frigid.

And the clear morning sun make the ice sparkle, don’t you think?

It's not the same leaf--there are two here--but it is the same lawn.

I was hoping it was a foretaste of rides to come. I actually like cool, icy bike rides—a frosty morning in the 20s, if it’s also dry and not windy, is both pretty and comfortably ideal for a large man like me who is riding on a bicycle.

Alas, this week it was not to be. It started to rain on Sunday, and this is Tuesday night now—and it has not let up. So I drove for the two days of school this week. Now it’s fall break.

I might have heard a small voice. Did it say "we are here?"

If I’m lucky, I may get some break rides in, although I also have work to do because mid-term grades are due right after break. Anyway, my wife and I plan to visit our youngest son in Ames later this week, and we may bring bikes and try out some trails there.

I hope so. After this rain, I feel the need to hit the peddles again. May it be soon.

And may there be more pretty, frosty, sunshine mornings.

Later Saturday. 1-year-old granddaughter. She has lately become an enthusiastic biking buddy, but we spent our time playing in leaves I had raked. Maybe later this week we will go for a ride--I hope so.

Two Views of The Rising Fall Sun

Two views of the morning sunrise this week, the little one shot with my cell phone Thursday, the larger image Friday's less cloudy sunrise, both looking east at the corner of C Avenue and Blairs Ferry Road.

Cold weather, morning frosts, are finally arriving in Iowa, and that’s not a bad thing from a biking point of view.

I did have to wear the hood (corrected, used to say "hook" which would be cool as a costume on Halloween, I suppose) of my biking jacket once this morning, but it’s a thin hood that fits between my helmet and head. I have warm gloves that I think I inherited from one of my sons, but frosty, 30ish mornings are way too warm to worry yet about long underwear, and CR Biker enjoys the crisp morning air.

Anyway, I’ve enjoyed seeing the morning sunrise and wanted to share what Thursday and Friday looked like—Friday’s photo is not as dramatic, but it’s bigger because it’s with my point-and-shoot digital camera, which I try to have with me when I bike. The Thursday photo is a cell phone image—the sky looked great, the light at Blair’s Ferry was red so I had time, so I figured what the heck.

Hope you’re enjoying your fall!

In Praise of Grey Skies

Grey is the color of the day.

It can put you into a bit of a funk, if you let it. This time of the semester life gets to feel like the gerbil wheel is greased way too well and its hard to keep your little legs pumping without tripping and tumbling.

But there is an upside to grey. Although the morning was the coolest this week, in one way, because I wore my winter gloves on the morning commute--have not had to do that for a while--in another way, the clouds are good news indeed.

Little or no frost that I saw in Cedar Rapids. Delicate buds probably weren't hurt much, at least not in my area. The photo was actually taken last week during another grey morning--it shows a bud on my tulip tree.

Probably a leaf bud, which would be hardier than a flower bud, anyway. There are lots of flower buds on my other trees--buds that probably owe their future flowers to clouds that rolled in overnight.

Clear skies aid frost. Clouds are a blanket. And the birds were still singing. Clouds can be our friends.

Frosty Mornings, But Sunny Days

I hope my apple trees manage to weather this chill. The crab apples are budded and ready to bloom, the weeping cherry is already blooming--but the apples haven't really shown their buds yet.

Although they are also young, so maybe the just won't bloom much this year anyway.

But, while frosty morning are a bit iffy for the delicate flowers of this cool spring, they're great for a big guy on a bike! There's another rainy stretch of weather ahead next week, so I've got to bike while I can.

And on these pleasant, fresh air frosty mornings, I sure can. Bell choir practice kept me on campus until almost 7:30 tonight, and it was just starting to get nippy as I rode home--again, from my point of view, a bit of cool is a good thing for me on a bike.

A hawk, for reasons unknown, flew at me and landed in a tree above my head. It was odd to be stared at by that substantial bird of prey, but he had been thinking of making more of a dive for me, he also obviously thought better of it and decided to remain in the upper branches of a tall tree.

It was cool, both in the symbolic and literal sense. A hawks is a welcome sight among many other on these beautiful spring rides!