In Which I Go from Sunshine to Rain to Sunshine

Sept. 7--Monday, first day of classes at university where I teach. Bike in driveway before I leave home.

Morning glories blooming in someone's yard, seen on my Monday morning ride.

Monday morning--I have arrived at Rohde Family Plaza, Mount Mercy University.

Odd weather--storm, then heat wave, drought, cooler weather--some spring flowers are blooming. Lilac seen on bike ride.

Sunrise Monday morning at C Avenue pond of Collins Aerospace.

Another view, from another camera, of my bike on campus Monday morning.

The biking week in Cedar Rapids wasn’t much this past week. I commuted to work as usual Monday, Sept. 7, on two wheels.

And then it rained. And Rained. And rained. It was raining Thursday, but I was home a bit early and the weather app on my phone claimed there was a break. So I got out my mountain bike. It was sprinkling, but the weather radar said “clear” so I ignored my senses and trusted the smartphone—probably not the smartest thing to do.

After a quick ride of 3 miles or so I gave in to reality and went home.

Thursday afternoon--mountain bike ready for damp ride.

Heading south on C Avenue.

Heading east on Brentwood Drive towards the hill.

 

I drove to work Friday. As I had Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Man, commuting in a metal cocoon, cut off from the world, kind of ranks high in the suck-o-meter. Now that I’m used to bicycle commuting, car commuting feels very lame.

Saturday was cloudy and damp, but not raining for most of the day. I took a 4-year-old grandson to a park, using my bike and a Tag-A-Long seat. He seemed to enjoy it.

Grandson on bike Saturday. Cool, damp day, but it didn't rain on us.

A finally, today, glorious Sunday—aptly named, as it turns out, for the first sunshine in six days. We had a terrible derecho storm on Aug. 10, and then drought until the rains this week. I rode over to the Lowe Park Trail, then to the neighborhood where my youngest daughter has bought her first house, and then home—about 12 miles in all, enjoying it the whole time.

Well, the weather has cooled. This week should be dry, and I should be able to ride more. Or so says my phone’s weather app. I guess I should also look with my own eyes.

Sept. 13--Bike parked at Lowe Park on, finally, a sunny Sunday.

In Which I Ride In Comfy New Shoes

New shoes, last week. I rode my mountain bike to campus. For some reason, the slight variation in angle makes it look like I have two different colors of shoes on, but I don't.

The past week of bicycling has been surprisingly good. After an extended early winter cold snap, some pretty autumn weather came for a visit just before a wet and cold Thanksgiving break.

Well, it could be worse. We have chilly rain to deal with, and may see some snowflakes in the morning, while north and west of here, they’re seeing much more than “some” snowflakes.

My riding Monday and Friday—both pretty, cool, sunny days—was on my hybrid bike, my usual work ride. Clarence is fine. I’ve been on edge riding that bike a bit lately—I broke a spoke a few weeks ago, and the bike shop mechanic warned me that it could be a sign of things to come. So far, so good.

Monday--much of this week, when it was damp, I parked in the hall by my office. Nice to have a sunny day to park the bike outside.

Half of my rides were on the Fancy Beast mountain bike—there were a few dampish days where it was not too wet to ride, but if the weather is not nice, I switch to my winter bike. And my wife was kind enough recently to pick me up some comfy new sneakers. When I ride the hybrid bike, I usually wear my bicycling shoes, but there are no bike clips on the mountain bike.

Which is fine. I’ve either enjoyed sunny, quick rides or slower, comfy shoe rides. I drove today due to forecast afternoon rain, which indeed showed up, but all in all, I’ve thankful this Thanksgiving for, among other things, a nice fall to enjoy the outdoors as I cycle to and from work.

In Which Light Sometimes Shines

Oct. 3--Wednesday morning sun. A bit startling to see.

The commuting bike is ready in the shop, which is good news. I hope to pick it up either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Thursday I drove, which was sad because despite being cool, it was a day of sunshine. But Wednesday was the one summer day we had in early October, and it was a day of rare glimpses of the sun—a sometimes milky or partly cloudy sky, but patches of blue and sun shining through.

It was humid, muggy and warm. Then, of course, a front rolled through, thunder crashed and so did the temperatures. There was rain that night, and rain again overnight between Thursday and Friday. But, Friday I did manage to ride, as I had ridden Wednesday, on my mountain “winter beater” bike.

Another Wednesday morning sun picture, with bonus ducks, above. And while there are clouds, there is also still sun (below) as I head home about 6:30 or so.

I was glad of the sun. And glad that the bike shop called to let me know Clarence has a new derailleur.

Finally, I am trying a new bike shop to service Clarence, which I purchased at Cranky’s. I took the bike to Goldfinch Cyclery in New Bo. Parking was an issue, but I encountered two former MMU faculty members while I was down there, which was nice.

And the atmosphere of the shop was nice—I rolled the bike in, the man who looked at it was clearly the same one who would work on it, and he gave me a stern Eldon-like lecture about cleaning my chain.

Which I kind of appreciate. Advice from bike mechanics is good to get—and it just reinforced what I already knew. Where the machinery of a bike is concerned, it’s usually a good idea to listen to Eldon.

And on the C Avenue Bridge Wednesday evening, I spy a buck spying me.

In Which I Top 20 on a Warm Summer-Like Day

On the Boyson Trail early in the evening. Buggy, but pretty night.

Muggy and warm—I am hoping to get some serious miles in soon, top 40 in a day, for example. I didn’t quite meet that goal today, which was kind of my first day of summer riding, because I was busy during the day doing other things—picking out plants in the morning, picking up grandchildren from school in the afternoon.

So I don’t feel too bad about the rides I was able to fit in. I rode just over 8 miles in the morning, and 12 miles in the evening, so I did manage 20 miles today.

It was a good day for RAGBRAI training—a warm, muggy day, but not really too hot for biking. The morning ride was on the mountain bike, and I still have to figure out how to really get the seat where I want it. I rode it because I was going to the gym and decided to do a ride on the nearby Boyson and Lindale trails. Because most of those trails are crushed limestone and we’ve had wet weather recently, I anticipated the trails might be mushy.

And they were, in part, but honestly they were in better shape than I expected.

Climbing hill on Lindale Trail.

By the afternoon, I was brave enough to hit the same trials on my hybrid bike. The afternoon ride started with meeting my daughter and grandson, and riding to some parks. Then, after dropping the daughter and grandson off for the night, we rode over to the Boyson Trail. We didn’t ride as much of the trial as I had in morning, partly because my wife has a computer on her bike and came up with the goal of our reaching 12 miles for our evening ride, which we were not that far from.

Today was a good start to summer rides, but I hope to get some real distance in yet this week.

In Which I Ride the New Wheel

Grandson ready for first ride using new rear wheel on my hybrid bike.

Yesterday, I went to the bike shop in Marion to retrieve Clarence, there because I had broken my second spoke in a few weeks. At no cost to me, the shop replaced the original rear wheel with a more heavy-duty wheel with truly impressive spokes. The front and back wheels now are superficially the same, although you may notice the back wheel has silver spokes while the front has black.

On closer look, the thickness of the silver spokes in back is very impressive.

Note sure the image does them justice. Very strong looking spokes on new heavy-duty rear wheel.

Anyway, it was raining yesterday, so we took the grandkids down to the Children’s Museum in Coralville. Today was the first chance I had to test the new wheel. After awakening from an afternoon nap, I asked a grandson if he wanted a bike ride (I don’t think he napped, but I felt like rewarding him because I had—he read quietly while I snoozed).

He did want a ride.

So I got Clarence out and hooked up the Tag-A-Long seat. It was cool, breezy and cloudy—temperature about 50, probably felt like mid 40s with wind chill. We headed out and after a block returned home. I had forgotten my cell phone, and we mutually agreed that if we were going to do this ride, we were going to wear gloves.

Still, cool as it was, the ride was pleasant. We headed up to Boyson Road and headed east to the Boyson Trail in Marion. After a quick loop via the Lindale Trail back to C Avenue, I came home. And other grandchildren were waiting, wanting rides, too.

With one granddaughter, I went up to the Rockwell-Collins pond, crossed C Avenue and rode around the company’s HQ, and then stopped at Walgreen’s to buy hot cocoa mix. By the time we got to the store, the sun was starting to show through holes in the cloud covers, and we both put on sunglasses.

As the afternoon ages, the clouds break up and move out. A grey 50 is a chilling experience, but a sunny 50 feels much nicer. Rockwell-Collins pond as sun is just about to clear clouds.

Four grandchildren were staying with me this weekend, but, unfortunately, one has a cold, and we didn’t think it was a good idea for her to ride in the windy cool. There was, however, the oldest granddaughter to give a ride to.

I again headed up C Avenue, circled the pond, then went down the Lindale Trail. We rode to Thomas Park, and then came back again via the Lindale Trail.

Seen on Boyson Trail on final of three bike rides, as day finally turns sunny at the end.

All in all, I biked a bit more than 10 miles with three kids. The bike felt good, and I didn’t mind the windy, chilly day. I make a lot of heat while biking.

And there was hot cocoa when I got home.

Final bike ride of the day--oldest granddaughter reacts as sun comes out.

In Which I Glimpse a Nearby Star

Sunrise at Kenwood School during my morning ride.

It’s been cold and cloudy, lately, so a bit of sunshine yesterday—when it was still too slick to bicycle—and a morning break in the clouds today were welcome sight

The ride in this morning was a bit icy in places, and I had to take care. Other than making the ride take longer, however, the conditions caused no problem.

By the afternoon commute, the warmer day and some sun had gotten ride of some of street snow.

And, although I left after 5, it was just getting dark. In both the morning and the afternoon, I was able to catch glimpses of the sun. Glad to see it slowly moving back into our hemisphere.

Two views of sunset at Kenwood School, during th e ride home.

In Which I See Mostly Sunny Skies

Butterfly on MMU campus Thursday.

Cloudy, sunny, windy, cool, warm—even a few sprinkles. Biking this week has been every kind of weather except cold and snow.

But it has been good. My only regret is that I’m back at work now, which cuts into my biking time.

Argent on campus Wednesday, I think. All alone for now--hope more bikes show up this semester.

The butterfly is from walking on campus, but the rest are legit biking pictures. I’ve used both Francis and Argent, depending on if I have to haul books and things.

It has been a good biking week!

Earlier this week, Tuesday. Cloudy cool morning.

Late afternoon Wednesday, Cedar Lake.

Mostly sunny Friday morning.

In Which a Warm Sun Tempts The Beast

Boyson Trail near the intersection with the Lindale Trail. Very rutted, looks wet, but it's not as mushy as it seems. I did kick up some limestone mud onto my water bottle, but I didn't make new tracks in the mud. I bet anybody who was out this afternoon did!

I wrote not too long ago on this blog about attempting to ride The Lindale Trail to the Boyson Trail, and how I turned back quickly due to sloppy conditions.

Well, this morning I went the gym just in time to catch the 9 am. episode of “Law & Order.” I wrode The Beast there, because I have not made it to the bike shop to get a new tube for Francis.

I was done by 10—a new episode was starting, but I forced myself to leave because I knew that if I watched the first 5 minutes, I would be there for more than two hours, and I also had the crazy idea to try riding the trail.

It was going to get warm today, but it was still cool this morning. And maybe the trail wouldn't be too sloppy if I rode it in the morning hours before it thawed.

Well, I think it might have been in better shape even earlier. By 10 .a.m., the warm sun was already turning the trail to mush in parts. But the mush wasn’t very deep yet. I noted that the trail was very rutted with tyre tracks and footprints, but I made little impression as I rode along—and I’m sure I’m much heavier than most of the people who made those previous footprints and tyre tracks.

There were a surprising number of people on the trail, several pairs of walkers (always in pairs, for some reason) and a few random joggers. And, as I was going east along the Lindale Trail, off to my left in the woods, I could see a whole string of bikers headed west—not on the trail, mind you, but going through the woods.

Fat Tire bikers (I use tyre on this blog, but I guess the brand is Fat Tire) on the trail.

Well, I continued on my way, going to the end of the trail by Menards and then doubling back. I didn’t cross the bridge that leads to the park at the south end of the Boyson Trail, because time was getting on and I knew I had some speech proposals I had to read today.

Anyway, as I was heading back towards the Boyson trail on the trail to Menards, a group of fat tire bikers approached going the other way down the trail. I think they were probably the same bikers who had been in the woods adjacent to the Lindale Trail. I guess those fat tires can go almost anywhere.

View from a birdge on the trail. Even in winter, it is good to be out.

I headed home, taking my final leg of the journey over the Bowman Woods hill on Brentwood Drive. On the side street I turn off on to get to the hill’s summit, I noticed some trees missing, including the old “summit ash,” the tree that always marked the top of the hill to me. Yup. The city has been at it, removing ash trees.

That was one minor sad note on an otherwise nice biking morning. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow, so it might be a while before I am on two wheels again. But it was good to be out today—and good to be on The Beast. The trail wasn't too mushy, but it was best on a mountain bike!

The creek bridge on the trail that leads to Menards. I like the shadows, and you can see some walkers, too.

In Which I See Water Smooth and Roads Rough

The rough surface of the Lindale Trail. So I turned back and rode on pavement.

The longest ride of the Christmas break so far, and it came on the same day I spent two hours at the gym and the weather also cooled off so the day was below freezing. Strange how that worked out.

I woke up early, for no particularly good reason, and went to the gym a bit after 4 a.m. “Law and Order” did not start until 5, and my wife and I (she had showed up just before 5) enjoyed first one, and then a second episode. We decided by 7 we had to leave, so she want to pick up doughnuts for breakfast as I went home.

Well, after that sugary breakfast, I went back to bed and slept most of the morning away. I woke up after 11 a.m., had some leftover pizza for second breakfast/lunch, and spent a little time putting out birdseed and putting used bottles in the van.

By around 2, I decided the day was too nice to stay inside, and I dressed for another bike ride. It was cool, but I wasn't sure long underwear was called for. I decided warmth was better then coolth, and opted to risk over heating rather than hypothermia.

I set out, planning first to do the Lindale-Boyson Road trails and then maybe head over to the Cedar River Trail. But, once I got past the half-mile or so of paved trail to the limestone surface, it was both uneven and mushy in places. Although it was only 30 degrees, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the low winter sun was still warm enough to make water on rock liquid rather than solid.

I decided that once I get one of the mountain bikes fixed, it would be OK to ride this rutted trail, but I probably won’t do it on Francis and definitely not Fancy Bike.

So then I had the bright idea to stick to paving—and to go down to the Prairie Parks Fishery via the Cedar River Trail.

Birds on Cedar Lake.

I think it was a good idea. Cedar Lake, when I got there, has started to ice over again (early next week we’ll have lows near zero and it will probably mostly close). There were some walkers and riders on the trail, and plenty of birds were on the lake where water and ice met.

Closer look at some ducks. I like how the blue sky turns both ice and water blue.

Traffic was light as I traveled through downtown. When I go to Otis Road, the approach road to the fishery, Cedar River looked quiet and peaceful—even Mt. Trashmore was pretty reflected in the river.

It was such a pretty day even Mt. Trashmore, viewed from Otis Road, looked nice.

When I got to Prairie Parks Fishery, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few people strolling or fishing—it’s good to see a park in use. The other surprise is that, unlike Cedar Lake, almost no water birds were crowding the lake. Then again, the river is nearby and birds seem to like it a lot—maybe the moving water stirs up more food.

On north end of Prairie Parks Fishery Trail, look south (top) and you see the lake, turn around (bottom photo) and you're looking north across the Cedar River.

Anyway, I ate the snack I had brought and then headed back home. The last half hour, I was riding with lights on, but by 5, when I go home, it was dim, but no longer fully dark.

While the coldest six weeks of mid-winter lie ahead, it’s nice to realize that the star which warms us by day is slowly rising higher in the sky and giving use more light each day.

Part of the route between the Cedar River Trail and the Prairie Parks Fishery--two blocks of brick street near downtown.

With my computer on the fritz, I’ll be guessing wildly at mileage. But I know this ride felt longer than the trip out to Lafayette yesterday, and that’s about a 20-mile ride. Did I go close to 30 in a bit over three hours?

It’s possible. And whether it was 30 miles or not, it was still a pleasant ride. As the sun slowly sank and the air turned colder, it turned out the long underwear was a good idea, too.

Traditional view of low sun over Cedar Lake, but it does look nice, no? Turned on lights after taking this photo.

In Which A Christmas Star Shines In The Sky

Dec. 17, what is that bright object so low in the sky? We haven't seen it for a while. Rising sun peeks through artwork behind Warde Hall on MMU campus, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The talking voices on 93.1 FM were arguing about the weather forecast this morning. For those of you who wonder, 93.1 in Cedar Rapids is the oldies station, listened to by old people on their way to and from the gym early in the morning.

Anyway, one of them deliberately choked on the word “sunny” in the forecast, and the other berated him because most local forecasts said the day today would be cloudy. Voice A noted that the National Weather Service was calling for sun.

Well, it was cloudy this morning as I hopped on my bike, and I wore my non-biking glasses. I have one pair of glasses that the clip-on sunglasses I stow in Francis’ saddle bags fit, and the other pair that I usually wear on non-biking days—but I figured clouds count as sunglasses, so I didn’t need the biking specs.

I’m happy to report I was wrong, and person A on radio, at least as of noon, was right. The grey skies were broken by some patches of blue, and as I rode (slowly, my bike is stuck in a hill-climbing gear at the moment), the sky became clearer and clearer.

The photo is what it looked like by the bike rack behind Warde Hall—a clear sun rising, something we haven’t seen in these parts for some days and honestly don’t necessarily expect to see a lot of—there are many clouds in our weather picture.

Still, it’s nice for the nearest star to so brightly shine and light our days. Despite a cold commute, it feels better to be biking with old Sol lighting up the route.

In Which We Focus On Bicycles and Spring and Love

It’s March 1, and snow is falling. Subzero temperatures are forecast in Iowa this week. The biking omens are not what one could call entirely positive, but then again it is March 1.

It may be delayed by freaky ocean currents and the polar vortex, but spring is waiting out there. To tide us over, a few random bicycle love stories.

First of all the trailer to a movie I have not seen. But I like the opening credits.



Secondly, just because it mentions both love and bicycles, a song that counts the bicycle in Beijing:



Finally, maybe a woman who exaggerates love of bike just a bit. I like Francis, but even in Iowa I wouldn't go that far:



Good luck, kid, but don't expect any money from me. As for the rest of you, stay warm, love your bicycle, but don’t marry it. And soon we’ll all by cycling in the sun again.