In Which I Ride Through Faux Summer

Evening sky on my bike ride home Nov. 5.

Nov. 7--Collins Aerospace Pond on C Avenue.

 

It’s been a while, biker friends. Your correspondent has indeed been on two wheels a lot lately—weather in Iowa turned warm for this election week. Too warm—hot like our politics is.

Must be all that hot air blowing around.

It’s been almost like late summer or at least September—days in the 70s, nights in the upper 40s or low 50s. I have enjoyed it, a bit, although I’ve also been so busy that I have not had any long rides. I rode 12 miles today, and it was the most miles I’ve had in a fortnight, although I did squeeze in at least one ride down to Cedar Lake during this warm stretch.

While the temperature says “Labor Day,” the light definitely says “November.” Morning and afternoon shadows are long. I wrote prematurely about the time change, but it’s in the past now, and darkness falls by 5 p.m.

Today, to celebrate a bit of euphoria (I won’t get political, but my wife and I are registered Democrats), my sweetie and I took an afternoon break. We rode our bikes to a Dairy Queen about 4 miles from home. After an indulgent treat—eaten outside, at a distance—I biked home with her and then took off my myself to gain a few more miles.

Starting out on bike ride Nov. 7 (above) with my wife. Later (below) the light fades on the Lindale Trail as I pedal home.

It was getting dim, so I stuck to some trails near my home. At a bridge over a creek, I paused to admire the pretty fading light, and noted clouds of insects dancing near the bridge. Not big clouds, and nothing was feasting on me, but still—one is not used to clouds of bugs on Nov. 7 at this northern latitude.

The ride was nice. I have been fascinated with light in these dark times, and spend some of my rides shooting sunrise or sunset images, or pictures of shadows.

Nov. 3 view of Cedar Lake.

Nov. 3, deer near Cedar Lake, seen during ride on Cedar River Trail.

Shooting shadows of a rider on trails this week, above and below.

 

Sunrise at C Avenue Pond, morning bike ride to work on Nov. 6.

In other recent biking news, the seat on the Fancy Beast did what it does at times, and settled, which makes for a rather rough ride, knees tucked under my chin, no leg leverage. I got my tools out and got it fixed, I think, and I have ridden it several times since tightening the seat post, but mostly I’ve been riding on the hybrid bike.

Well, summer can’t last forever. I think. Winter is coming. A gallery of some late October rides, ending in images of the repair project on the seat of the Fancy Beast:

In Which Bugs and Thunderstorms Appear

Daffodils by the bike trail next to a big city parking garage in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Suddenly spring is getting busy. After a wet morning and cloudy early afternoon, it got sunny and warm late in the afternoon.

And bugs decided today was the day. I shot some images of early bees on my flowers before getting my bike out. Shortly after 4, I left home and rode down the Cedar River Trail. The sun looked nice, but clouds were also getting interesting.

The evolution of the sky--mostly sunny as I cross C Avenue (above). Sunshine at Cedar Lake (below). On the way back, sky getting cloudier on Cedar River.

As I rode under a bridge near the river, gnats were suddenly there. Not a heavy crowd—but, bugs in a cloud.

There were a fair number of bikers, walkers and joggers out. As I got down to Tait Cummins Park, the sky started to get a bit darker in the west.

Construction zone south of Cedar River.

When I got back to Cedar Lake, I noticed that the white pelicans had returned, so I made some images of them. But the sky was getting more and more dark, and about 3 miles from my house, it started to sprinkle.

Still, I got home fairly dry. And fairly happy. It was a longer ride than I had planned. My odometer said 16 miles, but it lies—the battery is not good and it kept blinking on and off throughout the ride. I suspect the ride was closer to 25 miles. And it was nice to be out there on two wheels during the first buggy day of spring.

Birds on Cedar Lake, seen on the way back north. Gull, above, pelicans, below.

In Which CR Biker Wonders Where the Birds Went

Birds gathered near Boyson Road trail very late one afternoon last week.  Paging Alfred Hitchcock.

South, I know, it’s that time of year.  But, they left suddenly.  I saw them last week and it seems that this week there are far fewer avian crowds on our neighborhood wires.

One reason to bike is to be “out” and to see the natural world a bit more often.  I’ve noted before that in Iowa, seasons sometimes don’t slowly evolve from one to another—sometimes they switch abruplty, like someone quickly slid the dial from “summer” to “fall.”

That’s to a communing biker’s advantage, in some ways.  Cool fall mornings are about the most pleasant biking conditions one could ask for.

But in the twilight of the suddenly earlier evenings, the silence is getting dominant.  Throughout summer, you hear life all around you, even at night when the insects and frogs are seeking sex and singing their love songs.

There are a few diehard Romeos out there, still, but the evening insect chorus has died down from a full choir to a few lackluster soloists and an occasional quartet.  It’s hard for enough beetles to get together to be a fab 4, these nights.

I took the photo of the birds gathered on a wire during the evening ride I blogged about last week.  The picture of the bug below shows a creature that was slowly—slowly—inching its way across a railing at MMU’s Busse Library this Sunday evening, the final night of September, when I had stopped by, on my bike, to check on the student newspaper.

The sudden fall leaves me with mixed feelings.  I like the vibrant change of colors that appeared overnight after one cold evening—but am a little melancholy that the unusual fall beauty is partly due to a harsh drought.  I like the biking weather now, but the chill reminds me that cold is on the way.

Summer might not be my favorite biking time—but it beats heck out of winter!

I had a lot of trouble getting this little guy's image.  I think it was getting too dim
for my little point-and-shoot camera to focus well.

The Bugs of Busse Are Back, Baby!

A fly on ledge of the glass entryway cover by my bike at MMU library this afternoon.

I parked my bike across campus from my office this morning, because I have two classes starting at 8. I had to go to my office first to pick up stuff and print stories, and barely had time to get across campus, so I used the bike, the fastest way to transit the MMU Hill.

I’m pleased to say no freshmen were crushed in the making of this blog post.

Anyway, it was a pleasant day to ride, albeit a bit windy and cool. But it only felt cool because Tuesday was so freakishly warm. Today wasn’t bad.

And in the cool, sunny afternoon, it was, in a few places, warm enough for bugs to boogie. Caught the fly on the inside of the atrium of the library building—an area covered in glass and protected from wind, so it was a bit warmer than the rest of the world.

Bugs are coming back. That’s not good news in itself, but it’s a sign of warmer times on the way. I broke a spoke Tuesday, but Northtowne Bike Shop quickly fixed it and replaced my worn chain and badly deteriorated brake shoes.

Took the trail home again today. It’s getting nice. I know for sure I’ll do a couple of RAGBRAI days, and I’m going to inquire to see if anybody I know might want to do more.

Bike season is underway—the only reason I can say hooray for bugs!

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.