In Which Some Additional Bikes Appear

Damp and cool weather has returned, but it is now spring in Iowa. A magnolia bush located by the building where my office is started blooming this week.

Cooler weather is settling in—not winter cold (snow is still possible in Iowa in April, but doesn’t seem to be a thing this  year), but normal spring cool.

Along with the shift from an unusual taste of summer is the return of the Gulf of Mexico. Water vapor sweeping up the plains from the south makes for grey skies and rain in Iowa. Oh well, April showers and May flowers and all that.

Partly cloudy sky as I pass the C Avenue Pond during my morning commute early this week.

Which also means my biking has been a bit limited. I know that there are bikers who brave the wet by wearing the right clothes. I’m like that with winter cold—I’ll ride basically all year round in Iowa because I can wear layers and dress for cold.

But I want my bike and myself to be dry. I’ll gamble with quick passing storms or with light morning mist—but rain will take me off of two wheels.

Morning bike ride to work, Monday or Tuesday. Clouds and sprinkles on this ride, but dry enough for two wheels.

It rained Friday, and I was working from home for other reasons on Thursday. But I did get rides in earlier in the week, and early this week saw what is a bit of a rare sight—other bikes parked at campus bike racks.

At one time, the university where I teach had an active bike club and a fleet of bicycles that students could borrow. Unfortunately, the bicycles were mostly stolen one summer, the student who was the organizer of the club had graduated and the club fell apart.

A short side ride down the Lindale Trail on the afternoon commute home. Spring comes from the ground up--grass is green now, trees still have bare look. That will dramatically change soon, as a close look shows the tree leaf buds are swelling.

Yet here we were, spring of 2021, after a year of pandemic biking—one outdoor thing one can do in this weird year of moving through the planet masked and avoiding human contact is rolling through it on two wheels. Bicycle sales were way up and some other bicycles appeared on racks on campus.

Not as many as I would like. Too often, my bicycle is all alone in a long bike rack behind the oldest building on campus. But other bikes are nice to see.

Lots of room left in bike rack behind Warde Hall where the Fancy Beast is tethered.

Meanwhile, at a bike rack near the library--bikes! That others rode to campus!

In Which The RAGBRAI Deed is Done

Magnolia by Warde Hall. I'm passing by on Clarence, and I paused to snap this image of spring getting underway.

Spring in Iowa—cool, a bit wet, but starting to finally look a little green.

Last week, for spring break, my wife and I went to San Francisco to visit our son and daughter-in-law. It’s a bike-oriented city, despite the impressive hills—a fair amount of bike traffic. Both Jon and Nalena often use their bikes to commute to the train station on their way to their tech jobs. Sometimes, Jon even rides his bike home from the Facebook HQ, which, I think, is a more than 20-mile journey.

One thing that impressed me about bikers in San Francisco is that way too few of them ride with lights at night. And those who do use lights generally have just one in front and one in back—unlike me. I’m lit up with helmet lights, two headlines, two taillights and spoke lights. I like redundant lights—I don’t want to be one drained battery away from going over to the dark side.

Anyway, I didn’t ride at all in San Francisco, but have been commuting by bike this week. I rode Monday and Tuesday, and also this morning, although this afternoon I rode home in a minivan with my wife due to the cool rain that was falling.

I saw some deer in Dry Creek Monday evening as I was headed home. And this week there were other spring sightings—it’s not as warm or green or flowery here as it is in California, but some early flowers are starting to show as the Iowa chill slowly goes away. This morning, on a cool, cloudy damp morning that threatened rain (which, luckily, did not fall until after I got to work), I noticed that the large Magnolia bush (or small Magnolia tree, I am not sure what to call it) by Warde Hall at Mount Mercy University was starting to bloom.

Spring! It’s almost April, I’m just registered for RAGBRAI, and I’m feeling ready for warm weather.

In Which Sweet Smells Accompany The Ride

Two views of pretty pink Magnolia tree in bloom on F Avenue. I have a magnolia in my back yard, but it's smaller and has darker flowers. Magnolias, whether pink or red, do swell sweet.

Early spring has a particular odor to it, and it’s not always pleasant. It’s sometimes the accumulated winter dog byproduct mixed with decaying worms on the sidewalk.

But we’re weeks past early spring now, and the air has taken a noticeable turn for the better. I was passing a magnolia tree on F Avenue NE, and stopped to snap some photos of its blooms partly due to the sweet smells this pretty pink tree was putting out. The tree is right by the street, so I couldn't help but notice it's flowers and their perfume.

I shot the magnolia in late afternoon light—it was pushing 7 by then. Later, as I was entering my house, I was impressed at how the setting sun made a blooming Rhododendron bush in my front yard positively glow.

It, the Rhododendron, doesn't give out an odor. At least it doesn't smell like a pear tree. And more sweet smells are on the way—peonies and lilacs have yet to bloom, and once those lilacs pop, well, the morning and evening bike commutes, already pleasant, will be even nicer.

Rhododendron at sunset. Another biking day comes to a close.

In Which The Daffodils Bloom In Passed Lawns

It was chilly this morning, again, and windy and cloudy this afternoon—but still getting more and more into spring.

Today was a flower show.

The magnolia behind Warde Hall on the MMU campus is in bloom, and I walked by it on the way back to my office after my piano lesson, so the magnolia photos are from just before my bike ride.

Three views of magnolia near Warde Hall.

Despite the wind, which made riding east or south a bit cool, I decided to head to the trail, and when I got there, I rode down to Cedar Lake before turning north. It was especially windy by the lake—a large flat expanse that the rushing air just whips across.

Choppy waters of Cedar Lake.

I noticed, along the ride in residential areas, that many daffodils are starting to bloom. I have lots coming up in my yard, but none in flower yet. I like seeing this cheery yellow sign of the new season of growth.

Later, near home, I took a loop down the Lindale and Boyson trails just to get on the other side of the Bowman Woods hill just so I could climb it. RAGBRAI training, don’t you know. Still no long rides this month—no time yet—but I’m doing fairly well, and I’ve done more than 450 miles so far this year.

Still considering that 100 mile loop ….

Lawn in neighborhood south of Rockwell-Collins--daffodils in bloom in a garden by a house. None in bloom in my yard yet, or at Mount Mercy, but they are coming up and will bloom soon.

In Which CR Biker Celebrates Earth Day

Magnolia in bloom at MMU.  Not that you have to be a biker to see it, but I did notice it first as I rode my bike by this morning.

The magnolia next to Warde Hall is starting to bloom, along with daffodils at MMU and in my own slow gardens.

It sprinkled on me this morning as I rode in, but since it’s Earth Day, I felt sort of honor bound to bike, if possible. It was possible. We’ll see how I feel about the gamble this afternoon, but despite the sprinkle, it was clearly a spring ride—a sweater was plenty. No jacket or glove.

I also saw that Des Moines has released its logo for the overnight RAGBRAI stop this summer—I got the logo via RAGBRAI’s Facebook post. I’m not sure that either the town or the ride are the “world’s greatest,” a slogan that makes them sound a little like the "world's best" coffee in the movie “Elf,” but I like the logo and it puts me in a RAGBRAI mood.

The unfolding flowers are a reminder of warmer weather to come—and that one reason to bike is to have a closer daily connection to the changing seasons. And the Des Moines RAGBRAI logo is a promise of the upcoming great biking event of the summer. Maybe it is the world's greatest.

From: http://ragbrai.com/2013/04/19/ragbrai-events-village-will-showcase-des-moines/ this is the Des Moines RAGBRAI logo.