In Which We Seek The Scream

Sunday--overnight storms included two tornados in the area, but not in CR. Some limbs and trees down. Tree at the top of Bowman Woods Hill.

Sunday’s ride was interesting primarily because there were places where trees were tossed about by a violent overnight thunderstorm. Luckily, unlike some nearby communities, I don’t think there was much property damage in Cedar Rapids.

Monday, one of my daughters stopped by with her bicycle and wanted to ride this afternoon. So she, my wife and I headed off.

Monday--Cedar Lake is looking very pretty as we cycle by.

I suggested we go to The American Popcorn Company in New Bo for some ice cream. The ladies did not resist.

I had not been there before, but Maddie, my newspaper editor at Mount Mercy last year, insisted I take Audrey there, so now I have. It was a worthwhile place, and I’m sure we’ll be there again.

Enjoying a warm summer afternoon--not hot in CR  yet,this is the start of the week before the heat wave.

The afternoon was perfect for an ice cream ride—warm without being too hot, sunny with a light wind.

I worked this morning to install some bling on the new bike, including the back rack and toddler seat holder from Francis. And I rode that bike today on our ride, which I think was about 14 miles in total.

New blue bike with toddler seat and back bags. Now I am ready for work rides to campus.

***

The day after I wrote this post, and before I posted it, there was sad news in Cedar Rapids. Daniel Lehn, a Coe College professor, died near North Liberty after being struck by a pickup truck while riding a recumbent bicycle.

He was only a year older than me. Here is The Gazette’s story.

I had not met him, but probably saw him sometimes on the trails around town. I feel lucky that I don’t have to ride any country roads to get to a bike trail—but I commute by bicycle and frequently use city streets.

The accident hits close to home, in many ways. I don’t know any details of the accident other than what the paper reported, but it’s a reminder that life is a gift that can be taken at any point, and all of us who ride bicycles get to have a special joy in that gift. But, the saying is that you only live once—so let’s all be careful out there, bikers and walkers and drivers. My condolences to his family, friends and the Coe College community.

In Which Gender ID Proves Difficult at 12 mph

Beautiful blue sky and perfect weather made this a day to ride. My sister and I did a bit over 55 miles today, a decent RAGBRAI practice day. Here and below, images on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail north of Hiawatha and and Robins. Lot of traffic on the trail today.

Up until today, this summer’s bike rides have been missing one of the common, pretty sights of this season in Iowa.

There have been no Monarch Butterflies. I thought I was sort of imagining it, and then I read a story Friday in The Gazette. For some reason, they have not posted a link to it, although it was in the paper, but the story reported that, after a rough winter, the diminished Monarch population is spreading north much more slowly than normal this year—and have just started being seen in our area of the state.

So, on the Cedar River Trail just beyond Cedar Lake near the Quaker Oats plant, when I saw a Monarch flit by this afternoon, I did a quick stop. “Monarch break!” I shouted at my sister who was biking with me.

But she (the butterfly, not the sister) was too quick and my point-and-shoot digital camera too slow. Ms. Monarch got away, no picture taken. Monarchs are easy to spot, with their distinct size and orange color, and if you see one well enough to glimpse the back wings well, you can sex them quickly. If the back wings each has a visible, sizeable black irregular dot that would send you to the dermatologist if you saw it on your arm (the spot, not the butterfly, which would simply be a thrill to see on your arm), you are dealing with a male. No extra back blotches means female.

Milkweed near Cedar River Trail between Quaker Oats and Cedar Lake--actually, on the shores of the south finger of the lake. It was in this area that I saw a Monarch, but failed to catch its picture.

Ms. Cedar Lake was sans dots, hence a girl. My elation at finally seeing a Monarch was only slightly diminished by not having caught its image—mostly, I was just glad to see you, madam. Now, go find a boy butterfly and make some fertile eggs, please. We have plenty of Milkweed just waiting for your babies to munch.

Anyway, back to the biking. This was the second of two rides, today. The morning started with a breakfast date, in which my wife and I met my sister and her wife at Riley’s. Then, my wife, sister and I want on a ride of about 12 miles or so out to the trail at Lowe Park in Marion. I rode my new hybrid bike for this ride, and about 11 a.m., stopped at home to swap the new, as yet nameless bike, for Argent. I wanted to ride the longer ride today on my RAGBRAI bike.

My wife bid us a fond adieu, and we, my sister and I, were off. We went south as far as Tait Cummins Park on the Cedar River Trail, and then turned north. Lunch was a bit off trail—we cycled over to Burgerfeen. The first butterfly incident was before lunch.

Trained for RAGBRAI lunches by eating burgers here for lunch.

It wasn’t going to be the last. When we got to the north part of Hiawatha, just a little south of the Boyson Road trailhead, another Monarch crossed our path. My sister noticed it first (I don’t think she saw the Cedar Lake one) and pointed it out, but it was gone before I got my camera unzipped.

I could see it was a Monarch, but it also flitted by too quickly for me to identify the gender.

“I was going to say something about how difficult it is to sex Monarchs at 25 mph, but I decided it wasn’t appropriate,” my sister said.

True. It would have been totally inappropriate, because we were only going 12 mph.

We rode up to Lafayette, and while we rested there before the return journey—the gorgeous afternoon was getting warm enough to feel a bit toasty to bikers—the next incident took place. Another Monarch flitted by, again too quickly for gender identification and too quickly for me to unlimber my camera. I had to be content with a blurry image of a Cardinal that was yelling at some other Cardinal in the distance.

Cardinal in an Oak at Lafayette, yelling at some other distant Cardinal, heard but not seen. Cool, true, but not a Monarch Butterfly.

And so our ride was coming to an end. It was a gorgeous ride. I thoroughly enjoyed the morning outing with my wife, and also the second, longer RAGBRAI training ride with my sister.

No picture of a butterfly? No matter—I saw them, there are a few that have finally made it to Iowa, and I hope everyone is planting Milkweed this summer.

And then we got to the woodsy area just south of the Boyson Road trail head. And in the same spot as before, a butterfly decided to put in an appearance. I yelled, stopped, and got out my camera.

Monarchs are not particularly shy creatures. They have distinct coloring because they are meant to be seen—their youth, spent gorging themselves on the mildly toxic Milkweed plant, gives them a taste that birds hate, so being seen by birds who should know that this particular bright patch of protein is not worth the eating, is part of their identity. They don’t try to hide. But they are also quick, strong flyers. Trust me—I’ve been paced by a Monarch while I’m riding down the trail at 15 mph. They can move.

But there was some Milkweed by the trail that our Ms. Butterfly was apparently interested in, just long enough for me to get a few quick images before she flitted off. That butterfly can sure flutter by.

She wasn’t drinking, which would have distracted her more and kept her in one place longer and allowed me to get better images, but at least you can see her.

Welcome, Monarchs. May we see you and your kin next week on RAGBRAI. I’ll watch for the stands giving away Milkweed seed bombs and heave a few for you, if I can. Photos:

Look in the lower part of the image, center. And below, a blow up of that area of this photo.

Lady monarch on Milkweed leaf.

And again.

In Which I Ride the Boyson Trail Thrice … And Another Thing

I didn’t have a lot of time this morning—my daughter was going to fly to Baltimore, and I and my wife were dropping her off at the airport—so my morning bike ride was a simple trail loop on the nearby Boyson Trail.

Which, as fate would have it, I rode three times today. The two later rides were a bit different.

“After we drop (our daughter) off at the airport, why don’t we visit the bike shop?” asked my wife yesterday. Why not indeed?

I’ve been down to one bike in riding condition. The Beast broke a spoke shortly after I had the rear wheel repaired. The Fancy Beast has been lame for months with an untrue back wheel. Francis “went to the farm” in the euphemism of adults talking about where old dogs go.

And I have been lobbying for a second bike. Fortunately, some in my family—I am especially looking at you, Jon, although you’re not alone—supported the cause. My rationale was, basically, my road bike is for fun and RAGBRAI, but not really for commuting. I need a bike to put a back rack and some bags on, a comfortable bike to bolt a toddler seat to, an everyday, pickup truck bike to ride when I don’t want to have the sports car out.

And today was the day. We visited Cranky’s Uptown Bicycle in Marion, and I tested a bike I liked a lot—a blue hybrid with a very light aluminum frame. Then, we went to Northtowne, where I had purchased previous bikes. The Northtowne experience was less than satisfactory. The salesperson I dealt with seemed distracted and disinterested. The bike I test drove was OK, but not as comfortable as the blue hybrid I had ridden at a previous shop.

We, my wife and I, talked it over during lunch, and both concluded that we liked the Cranky Uptown bicycle better. That shop had agreed to put on a kickstand for free if I purchased the hybrid, so I called at the end of lunch to ask if they would install it so I could pick up the bike later that afternoon.

“It’s already installed,” the man at the shop said.

And so, about 2:30, my wife flashed a card and a new blue bike was added to the family. I had my helmet with me, and rode the new bicycle home from downtown Marion, which involved going over to Seventh Avenue and heading west to the Boyson Trail. As a test, I also rode it over the Brentwood Drive Hill.

The new bicycle, light aluminum frame, medium width hybrid tires, fun to ride.

The new bike is not quite as light or fast as Argent, but is significantly lighter than Francis was. It has wider hybrid tyres, and straight handlebars, rather than the drop handlebars of a road bike.

Selfie with bike after I rode it home. Wearing MMU Bike Club shirt, which matches bike pretty well.

The first ride went well, and after a swimming outing with some grandkids, my wife and I went on an early evening ride together—on the Boyson Trail.

So I rode it thrice today, twice on a new blue bike that I like very much.

My shadow at Hanna Park during evening ride on Boyson Trail.

In Which I Check Out The West Side

Bridge of Lions is closed to auto traffic, but the east walkway is open so the Cedar River Trail is not blocked at this bridge.

Well, actually, I ride the west side of the Cedar River fairly often, whenever I cross the river on the Cedar River Trail. But today, just on a lark, I headed way out west, to the wild, wild west—Ellis Park.

I started the day’s ride, as most do, with climbing the Brentwood Drive Hill. Then, I rode to the trail and went south. It was fairly late, about 4, when I started, so I knew I wasn’t going for a long distance today.

I paused to eat some Cheez-Its at Tait Cummins Park. I didn’t plan to push on to Ely, but wanted a bit more of a ride, and that’s when it occurred to me that I hadn’t been out to Ellis Park.

Time to head north, again. The 16th Avenue Bridge, the Bridge of Lions, is indeed closed to car traffic, as feared, but they left a walkway open so that Cedar River Trail riders can still travel through, which is nice. When I got to the federal courthouse, rather than continue on the trail, I stayed on the walkway beside the river until I got to Third Avenue, which has some nice bike lanes on its bridge (although it also has some drain covers in those bike lanes that seem designed as bike traps).

Bike Lane on Third Avenue Bridge. Yes, thank you city, for a bike lane--but this does not look like a bike friendly street drain. Can the holes run the other direction--perpendicular rather than parallel to road?

I liked the ride on the west side out to Ellis, some of it along a well-placed bike path atop a flood control levee. I do wish that they improved and marked more of the walkways on this side of the river, so that the bike route went all the way from downtown out to Ellis Park, especially since it mostly does now, anyway, except for some gaps.

Anyway, along the way I was amused by the city-sponsored American Gothic statute, and also photographed the new CRST building downtown.

New CRST building on east side of river has taken shape.

City's Grant Wood American Gothic statue on west side of the river.

I liked my bike's shadow, so I took a photo of it. I've dismounted to take statue photo.

It was a warm afternoon for a ride, but very pleasant. There were many bikers on the trails, although fewer on the route to Ellis Park, which seems a bit of a shame.

In the end, I rode 39 miles and was home about 8:15.

In Which I View The July Sky

Clouds and young tree behind Oak Ridge Middle School. Wednesday afternoon, I rode out to the trail that leads behind the school and over to Lowe Park.

Not that many miles in the past two days—Wednesday I spent most of the day with a grandson, but did get a short late afternoon ride.

Heading home on Boyson Road, looking west near Bowman Meadows development.

Thursday was more family time and some work tasks, so the biking was basically just the commute to campus.

Thursday afternoon clouds, MMU campus, as I bike to my office.

Still, on both days, it was interesting to be out, partly due to the changing July sky. Our weather has been humid and warm, and storms have bubbled up and rumbled through. It rained early Wednesday and early Thursday—with the Wednesday rain being an intense storm during the night.

Warde Hall Thursday afternoon, seen from near the bike rack where I just parked Argent.

In the day, the unsettled atmosphere produced a continuing kaleidoscope of cloudscapes. While I’ll take a pretty blue sky any day, I have enjoyed the ongoing show.

Looking west at corner of C Avenue and Blairs Ferry Road, Thursday around 6:15 p.m.

And, I hope, I will ride more miles this weekend!

In Which I Practice RAGBRAI Pancake Eating Skills

Bikes in Ely. Many bikers ended up eating pancakes on the Fourth of July. Very American.

Monday was a good practice day for RAGBRAI.

It was misty, cool and cloudy, so not so much from a weather point of view. But I knew I wanted to get some serious miles, so I fixed myself my favorite breakfast (fried eggs, toast, orange juice and coffee—not fancy, but it’s what I like) and got Argent out of the garage.

The ride began with a double climb of the Brentwood Drive hill. I knew I was going for distance today, not climbs, but I wanted at least a bit of climbing before I hit the flat trail miles.

And I was off, headed along the north route to the Cedar River Trail. Do I take the Cedar Valley Nature Trail north first, or go south?

Well, I had been north recently, so I decided south was the first direction. And I chugged along all the way to Ely.

Statue at Ely fire station. Too bad hose is not a sprinkler ....

The trail was pretty busy—lots of bikers out on this Fourth of July. And when I go to Ely, about 10:30 a.m. (the ride started about 9), there was a sign advertising the firemen’s breakfast. I’m neither a fireman nor a firefighter, but I decided if I had money, they would probably feed me. And I was 24 miles into my ride—what better analogy for RAGBRAI than to ride 24 miles and have second breakfast?

Well, I didn’t have any problem finding the fire station in Ely, which was surrounded by crowds (and bikes) and featured a very long line for food. Again, RAGBRAI, right? 45 minutes later and $7 poorer, I again enjoyed fried eggs, but this time with pancakes and sausages.

Second breakfast. Better than the first because I did not cook it.

Inside Ely fire station. What a bad name--you don't go to a fire station to get fire. Unless it's heartburn. This looks like a RAGBRAI breakfast, at least in terms of crowd size.

It was a good feed. You can’t go back for seconds, but on the other hand, you just ask them for how much food you want and they just give it to you. The ride and long line had worked up my appetite, so I had 3 very large pancakes, 2 eggs and 3 pretty big sausage patties. I could have had bacon, too—but given the choice between bacon and sausage, I’m usually on Team Sausage.

Well, that was satisfying. I rode off from Ely, traveling a bit more slowly, and went over to the Prairie Park Fishery, primarily just to collect some miles. Then, I headed north.

Won't be going to Ely again for a while, I suppose. Sigh.

I had brought some snacks with me—raisins and nuts—and paused to consume them at about 40 miles at Cedar Lake. I texted my wife, because I wasn’t sure how late I could ride (it was getting to be 1:30 p.m. or so and we had evening plans), and I was not sure if I could reach my secret goal—80 miles.

I suggested we meet at DQ in Hiawatha, and she agreed.

After the 2:30 ice cream stop, I went north to Lafayette. Time was getting away from me, and I realized I would not make it to 80 miles.

Still, I rode just over 72 miles—my longest ride of the year so far, and a pretty good RAGBRAI-like distance. And I deliberately climbed the hill again (although just once this time) to cap the ride off--again, thinking RAGBRAI. On RAGBRAI, a 72 mile ride seems to always end with a hill.

There are only two Mondays left before RAGBRAI, and I hope to make “Many Miles Monday” a training thing. I’ll see if, weather willing, I can break the 80-mile mark next week.

Ely firefighters—feel like hosting a July 11 breakfast? Please?

Selfie with bike after riding 72 miles. I live to tell the story.

In Which I See Cedar Lake Twice

It was cool for July 1--in the low 60s. Morning sun reflected at Cedar Lake.

I biked two trips to Cedar Lake today—morning and evening.

I left home around 7 a.m. and had to be back by 9—grandkids were coming over—and I wanted to see if I could squeeze in 20 miles. I did the hill ride, and then headed out on the north route to the Cedar River Trail.

It was cool—in the low 60s, and I was cycling pretty hard to stay warm. Fortunately, there was not much of a wind.

Well, I’m familiar with Cedar Lake in the afternoon and evening—it’s when I usually see it during the school year—and it was kind of nice to experience it on a cool morning. It was quieter, with only a few hardy souls out there, but just as pretty.

A few morning flowers on the shore.

The morning ride indeed added up to two hours and 20 miles. So this evening, after the grandkids left, I wanted to see if I could reach 30 miles on the day with a quick 10-mile ride. Leaving home about 7:30 p.m., I again went to the Cedar River Trail, but through Noelridge Park this time—a shorter route.

Final morning shot--milkweed frames lake.

I pedaled to the lake, circled it once, and went home. The light, as it usually is in the evening, was quite pretty there.

Two evening views of Cedar Lake.

In the end, I went over time a little, and over on miles—I rode about 34 miles total. A good half day of RAGBRAI—and as the photos show, it was fine to see the lake twice!

This is not Cedar Lake--it's a Rockwell-Collins parking lot. Pretty sky around 8:40 p.m. as I near home.