In Which CR Joe Is Starting To Reconsider RAGBRAI …

Pavel Novak took this photo of Mount Everest, which I downloaded from Wikicommons. Is the Karras loop my Mt. Everest? Is this the year?

RAGBRAI 2012 was tough. Very tough.

Hundred-degree afternoons. Headwinds. Unrelenting sun in the drought-stricken desert of western Iowa. An ill-timed thunderstorm in Marshalltown that robbed me of sleep when I was already worn out.

But then, it changed. The final days were spent in company—first, I saw some MMU friends on the pleasant day I rode into CR. It was only 95 that day and the wind was not our enemy. A ride of more than 80 miles in 95 degree heat with side winds doesn’t sound like fun until you realize how vastly more pleasant it is than a ride of 60 miles facing a stiff headwind in 105 degree heat.

And company always helps.

That night, and the next, I slept in my own bed, and the next two days, I rode with two siblings and a brother-in-law.

I wrote yesterday that I was in Des Moines, attending the Iowa College Media Association Convention. That night, I sent my sister and her husband a Facebook message that I was in town, and they quickly made plans for a noon trip so that they could just say hello for 10 minutes in a hotel lobby.

Ah. Shucks. It was sure nice to see them. And they are starting to think—you know, Des Moines is on the RAGBRAI route this year, so one day mid-week would be in a “house,”—maybe this whole-week bike ride thing is not so cray cray. . .

And if they do it, and if my other biking sister does it, well. Hmm. Food for thought.

I had planned to do only a few days of RAGBRAI this year for three reasons: 1) Last year, 2) A trip to Paraguay will cut some of my training time and 3) I wanted to walk the Bix this year with my wife.

The wife, however, seems to be encouraging the bike ride. I don’t think she minds the week alone, and we can go for walks at any time. And, while we can’t predict what the weather will do—who knows, it could be another hot, dry summer—the RAGBRAI route is much easier this year. Plus, it goes through Des Moines and Fairfield, two towns I have connections to.

Today, at the ICMA convention, I listened to a very uplifting speech by Charlie Wittmack, a Des Moines attorney who completed the “world triathlon,” swimming the Thames and the English Channel, riding a bike thousands of miles across Europe and Asia to reach Nepal, and then scaling Mount Everest.

After describing the ordeal of riding across deserts and mountains, Wittmack said, “all I had left to do was to climb Mount Everest.”

Yikes. And I balk at a bike ride I’ve already done twice?

The story was both inspiring—and oddly familiar. I remember someone chatting about this guy before. Who do I know who is also a lawyer in Des Moines? Oh, that would be my sister. She also bikes and so does her husband—who, I think, was the one who raised the topic of Wittmack one summer weekend when Brigid and Eldon and Cate and I did the Raccoon River Ride.

At ICMA, Wittmack talked about the importance of doing something just a bit more than you thought you could. Me, I hate to stand on a chair, and I guarantee I’ll never climb Everest. It’s there and it can stay there. But a third RAGBRAI? Maybe even the 100-mile loop?

Hmmmmmmm…..

In Which I See The Light In Des Moines

Well, bike and blog pals, I’m hoping the winter bike commuting hiatus will come to an end soon. There are signs it might. I’m briefly in Des Moines, attending the Iowa College Media Association convention, feeling slightly guilty that I forgot to give my sister who lives here a heads up, but honestly I’m just going to pop into town and then scoot home, so there really wasn’t much time for a visit.

Anyway, it rained all the way here, and the snow is mostly gone. There was more in Cedar Rapids, but I bet even there the wet stuff melted much of the white stuff. It will have to dry up enough so that evening chills won’t make all pavement icy, but we’re close to biking seasons opening again.

I saw another sign while taking some students out to dinner after the Mount Mercy Times won nine awards at the newspaper convention. It was between 7 and 8, fully dark, and some brave soul on a yellow 10 speed was cycling in downtown Des Moines.

My sister?  Nah, her bike doesn't look that that at all, and he was a he. Well, at least he had lights!

Biking season is again soon to begin.

Random Biker Thoughts When Not Biking

An image from http://fortheloveofbikes.blogspot.com/2012/01/downton-abbeys-bicycles-in-1917.html. My wife and I have only just started watching Dowton Abby, and have ordered Seasons one and two--this is Lady Edith from season two.  On a bike.  Nice riding outfit, Lady E!

As expected, the week looks to be a total bust from a biking point of view. While it’s definitely warm enough, snow last week has left that peculiar Cedar Rapids white frosting on may residential streets, rendering biking just too dangerous.

To be far, it seems to me, in a totally unscientific way, that street clearing in snowy CR seems marginally better than in times past, but that might be an artifact of warmer weather following this winter’s snows.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the second half of February. February and early March are still winter (are at least they were in living memory, these days, who knows?), but the increasing sunshine tends to make a snowpack less persistent—and the snow does not have to be “gone” before I can back, just basically retreated from most pavement.

So what are my random biking thoughts?

• My spouse wants to toss the junk bike as a useless money hole. She has a valid point, I admit, but I’m secretly hoping to get a new rear axle before spring break in March. My daughter from England will be visiting, and her husband bikes, and it might be cool if we could get some trail time in while he is in Iowa—it would only be fair, since I borrowed one of his bikes when I was in Norridge last year.

• I’m really, really happy with my back rack. It has made transporting books so much easier. I’m not as in love with my new front basket, which seems pretty flimsy. But, as Red Green once said, it’s only temporary—unless it works.

• The older grandchildren have bikes now, I think. I know Nikayla does, and I thought that they bought a bike for Tristan, too, although I’m not sure. Anyway, I want warm spring weather to arrive so I can be on the Boyson Trail with a grandchild or two who are riding their own bikes. It will be a new family biking thrill.

• I haven’t seen many bikes in Dowton Abby, yet. It does not seem like the British upper crust in the 1920s spends enough time outside, and the servants certainly don’t have the spare time. Still, this is a generation after the “safety bike” craze, and surely bikes are a common commodity in Britain post Great War? What’s the point of beating the Hun and retaining the Empire if one can’t pedal about a bit? (Yes, I've seen some images  from earlier seasons. I have not viewed those seasons, yet.) And I would love to see the Dowager Countess use a three-speed to arrive for some formal luncheon …

That’s it, for now. I’m sure when the weather turns, as inevitably it will, I’ll be back on two wheel.

In Which The Bike Must Wait for a Thaw

No biking in Iowa until further notice:

In Which The Week So Far Is A Washout

Yeah, I wish I had taken this photo--clearly not today's Iowa  rain, which would not reflect many daisies. Photo from wikicommons, originally from audreyjm529 on Flickr or "Audrey from central Pennsylvania" as wikicommons describes her.

Rain, rain—well, don’t go away. We need you, although I would prefer you in March when the ground has no frost and you can actually do us more good. Today, it’s very odd to wake up to air in the 50s and thunderstorms in the sky. Not a good day for climate change deniers.

Anyway, so far it looks as if this week could be a total loss, from a biking point of view. I considered riding yesterday, but took the garbage out in the morning and discovered that Sunday’s ice had not totally melted and that sometimes what looks merely wet is very slick—not conditions I want to encounter on a bike.

Today is Tuesday, and thunderstorms are rumbling through. The eerie early spring is set to end is snow overnight tonight, and then the temperature will tumble. The tumbling temperatures alone are not that big of a problem—I have pretty good winter biking gear to wear—but they mean that any sloppy snow that is not quickly cleared will freeze and hang around.

Winter temperatures won’t keep me off a bike. Icy roads certainly will.

It remains to be seen how the interface between rain and snow works itself out, and how much snow we get and how long it takes to clear. But if we tally the days:  Monday, no go due to ice; Tuesday, no go due to thunderstorms; Wednesday likely no go due to 2 inches of snow—Thursday is probably a driving day, too, and Friday looks iffy (and I think snow comes back into the weather picture around then anyway).

Wah. Oh well, it’s Iowa, stuff falls from the sky. There will be good biking days ahead—just, probably, not this week.

In Which CR Biker Came Close

From WHOTV.com, the 2013 RAGBRAI route, which was announced tonight in Des Moines. I came pretty close, actually.

I only named two of the overnight towns, but I had the starting point very near Council Bluffs, and my end town was the one just south of Fort Madison. All in all, I think I did OK in predicting the 2013 RAGBRAI route, and I'm pretty excited that it does go through Fairfield.

Read the WHO story, from which I got the map. And see my earlier post for my, very similar, route.

In Which Mechanical Mishaps Prolong the Journey

Adventure number one: swapping pedals. The left one would not go on until I used an unnamed lubricant to clear the way. To be more cliche, I should have fixed the old ones with duct tape.

And now, 73rd Street is a bike route ...

I wonder to whom the sign is directed--me? The cars?  Anyway, this near the western, or "new" end of 73rd.

As usual with the first weekend of any semester, I have a lot of prep to do. So, I planned to ride to MMU this afternoon, spend a few hours working, and be home around 4 to meet the grandkids who were coming over, potentially to spend the night.

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and bikers.

Adventure number one was sort of planned. I broke my right pedal several weeks back, and have been planning to swap it out, but never have time in the morning before I ride to work. I decided to take time today. I had purchased a spare pair of pedals to use on Jon’s bike, but, since I can’t inflate his tires, decided I might as well use them on mine.

As I noted, the right pedal was broken. Since the new ones are not a perfect match, I planned to change both pedals. It turns out that the left one was the difficult one. After a few minutes struggle (and constantly reminding myself that left pedals are threaded backwards), I managed to get the old one to budge, and if it moves ¼ turn, you’re gold.

But, the old one apparently was so stuck that it damaged the final threads on the way out. And the new one refused to get started.

Well, I decided to try WD-40, and, in fact, it did the trick. Once squirted, the new pedal’s threads could get started.

A good mechanic would have changed the pedals in a few minutes. I am not a good mechanic. A half hour later than I had planned, I was finally able to hit the road.

My sister claimed she had driven over 73rd Street Northeast, the mythological road that is supposed to run between her neighborhood and mine, just last week. That road has been closed for repairs since the Bush administration, possibly even Bush the Elder. I had to return some videos (see my other blog) so I was almost to 73rd Street anyway, and I decided to try it and then take the Cedar River Trail to MMU.

The street was, as advertised, open. A bit of a surprise to me is that even the old section, which is really a rather narrow, primitive country road, is now labeled a “bike route,” so good on me for biking it.

The day was windy and cool, a bit cloudy and brisk, but the ride was pleasant until I approached the hill near HyVee Drug store, where the trail has crossed from Hiawatha into Cedar Rapids. As I approach a hill that is the approach to a bridge that goes over a rail line, I shifted into bigger gears in back and my rear derailleur started seriously “chunking,” like it was about to fall apart.

I stopped, checked it, and found the end of a bungee cord entangled in the gears and snagging some spokes. Well, hell’s bells. The cord was so taut that the hook at the end slightly misshapen, and if I had pedaled much more, either the hook would have given or the spokes would have snapped. And the spokes are a lot thinner than the hook, although I have to give them credit—they were unbent while the hook was misshapen.

Anyway, a slow, frustrating 25 minutes or so ensued where I was using various parts of my pocket knife. I sliced off the hook and then used the blade to slowly dig out the cord. It took some time and some tugging, but finally the cord, which was deeply embedded between gear cogs, popped out. Or, at least 2 inches of it that were still with the bike did. The rest, I suppose, is somewhere in Hiawatha or Cedar Rapids—the bungee cord had long been severed.

What with one thing and another, my journey to campus took close to two hours. I did get a little work done, but not much, and was slightly late getting back home. Still, the grandkids had just been dropped off, and no harm was done.

And I’m glad I carry a pocket knife along with all my other biking stuff.

My knife and the severed end of the bungee that became entangled in my back gears. I use bungees to secure my book bag to the back rack of my bike, and one slipped off and into the volcano whence Sauron had forged it to gather all bungees into the darkness.  Something like that.