In Which I Top 50 and Visit a Serpent

Two June 3 views of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. Above, looking south from where my bike is parked at a coffee shop in Urbana. Below, riding north on the new pavement a bit north of Center Point.

As I recently reported, Iowa is at its best in June, and I’ve enjoyed recent rides. But I had not yet had time for a true summer ride.

I’m happy to report that on June 3, I both had the time and the weather was even more gorgeous than the day before. I headed out around 11 a.m., and decided to take the whole afternoon on a leisurely ride north. I was committed to going as far as Center Point, 13 miles north on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail (and thus about 16 to 17 miles from my house)—but I knew the trail has been paved for an additional few miles to the village of Urbana (a tiny town whose name always amuses me—it’s as if Metropolis were an Iowa village).

I took the hybrid bike, partly because it has the new bag on it and I could pack a lunch and stow my big camera without having to wear a camera bag. It’s slower than the road bike, but I didn’t mind.

There was a headwind blowing, but it wasn’t too bad. By the time I got to the first stop 7 miles north on the trail—Lafayette—I was tired enough to stop and eat a banana. Then I got to Center Point. It was round 1 p.m.—and would I push on to Urbana? I ate a bag of nuts and evaluated how I was feeling.

Bike parked at Center Point depot, the traditional water-restroom-rest stop on this part of the trail.

I must have felt pretty good. I continued on the trail. The new blacktop north of Center Point is a dream to ride on compared to the limestone trail that was there before. I zoomed under Interstate 380 and reached the quiet miles between that and Urbana. The headwind grew stiffer and I slowed down—but comforted myself with the thought that I would be able to turn around and the wind would then be my friend.

At Center Point, another biker I chatted with had mentioned that there was a new coffee shop by the trail in Urbana. I was pretty worn by the time I go to the town, and decided caffeine would be good. I pushed on past the park that is my usual stop, and near City Hall, off to my left, there it was. It looks like a modest apartment building, and maybe that’s what the upper floors are, but there was a sign for a coffee shop, plus bike racks and outdoor seating.

I went inside. Jams is a bit eclectic. It features coffee, smoothies, pastries and quick breads (it seems mostly a coffee shop and bakery), plus ice cream and a fairly extensive selection of craft beers.

A combination coffee shop—ice cream parlor—biker beer stop. Interesting.

The offer a Ruthie, and I was sorely tempted, but I needed coffee more than beer, so I purchased a medium brew and a pastry and sat outside and enjoyed the day and the treat.

Cate, I know you went farther north than this, did you stop at the coffee shop?

The pastry and coffee that perked me up on the ride.

New stop in Urbana. "Breezer?" Is that a rider on a windy day?

After a 15-to-20-minute break, I headed back. I was tired, I had already ridden 23 miles or so, but on the ride home I started to zip along. Wind will do that, and as I hoped, what had been a challenge on the way out was more of a help on the way home.

I stopped again at Center Point and ate the lunch I had packed. Then it was time for the ride home. But before I went far, I noticed a snake on the trail. As an Iowa gardener, I always consider snakes to be friendly souls. As I’ve noted before, if an Iowa gardener had written Genesis, Satan would have been a bunny. Although there are a few rattlesnakes in the state, for the most part, almost any Iowa snake you encounter eats bugs or rodents and is harmless to you. A friendly soul.

It was laying still on the trail, and I was worried it had been killed by being run over by a bike. But no, when I started to make images of it, it started to slither away. It had just been basking on the trail (a risky life choice, but it’s a snake, not a scholar).

I'm not tired of all these snakes on a trail.

Portrait of a reptile. What kind of snake is this?

Medium shot.

I was feeling pretty worn, particularly in the part that intersects with the bike seat, as I approached the south end of the trail. But I realized that my ride would be 46 to 47 miles, and that felt just wrong. So to add some distance, I circled the nearby park on the side trail in Robins, but was still only at about 43 miles when I got to Hiawatha—my house was about 4 miles away. And 47 would just not do. So I continued south, rode through Noelridge Park, and looped up and down the Lindale Trail, just to get my final mile.

And I made it. Over 50 miles. I anticipated I would have leg cramps Friday night, but fortunately, no. A sore sitter is the only real aftermath. Another pretty June ride, and the first 50-plus ride of the summer.

In Which We Await Bad News With Pleasant Rides

Late Sunday afternoon--my road bike Argent at turnaround point, a bit over 3 miles north of Hiawatha. Whatever that first parking lot you come to north of town is.

It was warm in Iowa this weekend. I didn’t have a lot of time, so Sunday was just a quick 16-mile ride before supper.

Saturday, I rode to a nearby park, about 4 miles away, with a daughter and granddaughter. Before that, in the morning, I encountered a snake on the Lindale Trail and took it’s picture.

Rode my bike to the gym Saturday morning, encountered this snake on Lindale Trail and shot images with my cell phone. After a short photo session, the snake on the trail moved back into the grass.

All weekend rides were on Argent. Francis went to the shop—brakes were stiff and the back wheel wobbled following Friday’s bike club ride. Sadly, the initial estimate at the bike shop indicates the cots to repair Frances—including a new chain, back wheel, brake pads and tune up—may exceed the purchase price of such a bike.

It’s possible this might be curtains for Francis. It’s frustrating, a little, that a 5-year-old bike with a perfectly good frame would be so costly to fix, but I await a more detailed estimate Monday.

The back wheel of the Beast will likely be fixed for around $25. I may soon enter a phase where only the old mountain bike and the new road bike are available to me, because it doesn’t make much sense, if I can make two bikes ride-able, to spring for a third.

Of course, perhaps I’m wrong and the estimate Monday will be low enough to save Francis. Honestly, I’m not feeling optimistic about that.

Well, at least the quick rides this weekend were very pleasant, in almost early summer-like warmth. I broke out the bike shorts for the first time Sunday, and rode about 3 miles north of Hiawatha on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. All in all, I put about 16 miles on Argent on Sunday alone.

So, if it’s the end of Francis, at least it won’t be the end of CR Biker.

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!

In Which A Snake Helps Lift the Mood

Loose gravel,hard to ride on. Horse poop doesn't help, either.

I rode almost 37 miles today, probably 10 more than I had planned. I worked on campus until close to 4, and figured I would ride my bike for a couple of hours. I went to the Prairie Park Fishery, and tried to resist the siren call of the Sac and Fox Trail.

And, of course, I failed. A woman was riding ahead of me, and stopped shortly after we entered the trail. She signaled to me, and I stopped.

“Is the trail open all the way?” she asked. “I thought they were doing some work on it.” I said I had not been on it yet this year, and wasn’t sure. “Well, I’m going to turn around and ride on pavement,” she said.

Maybe I should have followed her lead.

But the day was sunny and cool, the birds singing and the first mile of the trail in pretty good condition. I rode on. Everything was OK, until I reached about halfway through the trail. At the point where it crossed under a road and turn sharply right, the trail suddenly became rough, soft gravel, rather than fairly smooth limestone. I dropped my speed to avoid a fall, but was able to keep moving.

From then on, the trail began to deteriorate. Suddenly, there would be long stretches of soft sand. I picked my way along rather gingerly, coming to a complete stop at one point with my back wheel spinning. Luckily, I never fell.

Shoot! And it's not kidding.

Then, about 5 miles into the 7 mile trail, I came upon a sign that said “trail closed, 0.6 miles.” Shoot. I knew I was close to the north trail end, and I didn't want to go back across the poor stretches of trail. The sign looked faded and I hoped it was out of date.

In vain, as it turned out. As promised, 0.6 miles ahead, probably only a mile from the end of the trail, large cement pipes and construction equipment severed the path. I had to turn back and ride again across sand and rough gravel. I was feeling a bit low and sorry for myself, when a sudden movement over Indian Creek about 20 yards ahead of me caught my eye.

An eagle leapt into the air from a tree beside the stream and headed away from me, white tail flashing.

Well, cool. It moved far too quickly for me to photograph it, but a close encounter with an eagle always leaves one a bit breathless and somehow brightens the mood.

OK, I thought. I did wish I was riding a mountain bike—I have a poor track record of getting flats on Francis on the Sac and Fox, and the day sure seemed primed for that—but the trail is still cool.

Its cool kept coming. I saw and photographed a snake on the trail. I saw, but could not photograph, a young deer that quickly headed off into the woods.

Snake on a trail!

I was again feeling pretty good as I neared the south end of the trail. The Sac and Fox isn’t an easy ride, and I do recommend a mountain bike, but it’s still the most scenic trail in Cedar Rapids and the late afternoon was just too gorgeous to be grumpy in. And, even after it had already won me over, S and F granted one more favor. An adult deer ambled across the trial maybe 30 yards in front of me. As I pulled even with the point where I saw it, I noticed the deer had stopped perhaps 15 yards into the woods to munch some fresh plants. And he stayed put as I shot his picture.

Late afternoon snack at the Sac and Fox deer diner.

OK, I didn't plan to ride 37 miles, but I did. And I had planned to get some hill time in, but didn't. It still was a good biking day.

And to top it all off, I got a message from Ben. He has a new bike! We have a family picnic this weekend, and he might bring it along. I do have bike envy.

Photo Ben texted to me. I like how plant has dropped some petals--flower petals for the new bike. Looks pretty cool.