In Which CR Biker Rides Again

Late afternoon light at Cedar Lake.

Well, my personal ban on biking lasted just a bit over 24 hours. I re-read the city’s phone alert that I received Thursday, and recognized that it didn’t ban recreational biking.

It seeks to reduce public interaction, and on bike rides, I’m pretty solitary. I don’t mean to trivialize the city’s warning—I plan to take it seriously and bike as responsibly and distantly as I can.

That part about people over 60 not being on recreation trails—it was not an order or rule, but a suggestion. And one I don’t plan to ignore. I won’t avoid trails completely, but will endeavor to emphasize riding more along on solitary streets and avoiding crowded trail areas at busy times
.

The almost 4 miles between my house and the Mount Mercy campus are mostly quiet residential streets.

So, after supper tonight, I decided to take a solitary bicycle ride. I rode to the Mount Mercy University campus and shot some images of flowers in gardens there. It had snowed overnight, but by afternoon, all the snow was gone and the flowers looked fine.

Forsythia bushes in bloom  along the "hard way" onto the MMU campus--the back drive that goes to the library. It's the way I biked today.

Rohde Family Plaza as the daylight fades.

Daffodils are still blooming, and tulips are getting close, but still buds. Images of Robyn's Garden near the MMU library:

Some other campus images:

There were some blips on the radar, so I decided to ride the hybrid bike tonight. Bike (and shadow of biker) on Rohde Family Plaza, Mount Mercy University.

Statue of Sister Catherine McAuley, who founded Sisters of Mercy, at MMU.

Peonies (above and below) in garden at MMU plaza.

Rohde Family Plaza, MMU.

I then headed down to Cedar Lake. That involved some trail riding, but I figured few people would be on the trail at sundown on a cool Friday night. I passed two people in total, doing my best to maintain distance.

I decided not to circle the lake—I could see some other people walking on the other side, and after riding to a city park on the east shore to shoot some sunset images, I turned back.

Low sun at Cedar Lake.

Another view of the lake.

I did see some cool wildlife. A white pelican was hanging out at the lake. Some redwing blackbirds objected to my presence. And some deer darted across the trail and a street in front of me.

Where the wild things are:

The drake is king of the rock at Cedar Lake.

Pelican, view 1.

Pelican, view 2.

A herd of 6 or so deer crossed the trail and street on J Avenue.

Deer looks back.

The blackbird was not singing in the dead of night. He was angrily sounding an alarm at a passing biker.

Another blackbird.

I am adjusting my rides to try to keep more distance. I won’t be on the Boyson Trail, for example. I won’t head north on the Cedar River Trail, since it seems to be busy around Robins.

So, I’ll be more choosy and probably ride a bit less—but I think it’s OK for me to ride. It maybe is important for me to ride. It reduces my stress and helps keep me healthy, as long as I avoid the virus.

The danger is not the outdoors, it’s proximity to other people. So that’s what I plan to avoid. My bikes, on the other hand, I plan to use.

Sign on trail where it crosses J Avenue.

Hyacinth in bloom at Noelridge Park as I get near home.

Tonight's ride summary, and ride summarized on 2 apps (below).

Wednesday's ride, app finally updated map of that ride.

In Which Birds are Seen on a Final Ride

A pair of geese form a heart on the pond at Collins Aerospace on C Avenue.

Iowa’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a bit confusing. The state was divided into zones and the governor uses unexplained matrices to assign a risk score to each zone, and the level of state-mandated isolation varies as a result.

I live in Cedar Rapids, the city in Iowa most hard hit by the virus. And this week, we reached 10 on the mysterious state matrix, which promoted today the ordering of new restrictions.

In Linn County, popular walking/bike trails are going to become one-way routes, to facilitate easier social distance. Well fine—except that another new rule is that any person over the age of 60 is not supposed to be on those trails at all.

Well, darn. I am not sure about street bicycle riding; I’ll spend part of tomorrow reading the new directive in more detail. But CR Biker may not be doing much biking for a while.

I did not know this was coming today when I went on a very short ride with a very short co-rider. A 4-year-old grandson, a refugee from a closed daycare, was with me today, and we took advantage of a comparatively nice day.

Although the temperature was in the upper 30s and then lower 40s, there was limited wind and some sun, so it was OK to be outside if one dressed for the weather. The grandson and I went in back to hang a swing that replaces one which broke this winter. We played for a while in the sandbox, and I offered to take him on a bicycle ride.

Two views of the hybrid bike. My wife walked up to the pond and met us there, she and my co-rider along with the bike, above, bike portrait, below.

I got the hybrid bike out, and attached the Tag-A-Long trailer. We spent a few minutes finding a child’s helmet that would fit over a thin hat, since it would have been too cold without a hat.

We cycled up to a pond south of my house on C Avenue. At the pond, the grandson had a snack, and we watched some geese and a cute group of baby ducks with their mom.

Two views of duck family we watched at the pond.

The pond is just over a half mile from my house. On the way home, we rode for a little while on the paved part of the Lindale Trail (the trail closing order had not been issued and did not go into effect until midnight tonight anyway).

On the way home, we approached the C Avenue bridge over Dry Creek (badly named, it’s almost never dry, it’s just a creek). As we approached the bridge, a big tom turkey strutted out from under the bridge and walked along the edge of the wooded creek bed. We paused and enjoyed watching it.

It was a short ride. I didn’t even bother with a computer, knowing we weren’t going very far—we probably rode only about 3 miles. That was enough of a journey for the 4-year-old. It may be my last bike ride for a fortnight. If so, I’m glad I had a pleasant companion for this ride.

April 17 update: Here is the notice from the City of Cedar Rapids that I was writing about.

The turkey near the creek.

A Tale of Two Trails (and Two Bikes)

Hanna Park on the Boyson Trail Tuesday night, hybrid bike next to closed exercise equipment--at least the bike is still open.

My road bike (above and below) at Lowe Park Trail in the outdoor public art display near the art museum there.

I didn’t plan it exactly that way, but on Tuesday and today, I took roughly equal rides on two different trails on two different bicycles.

Both rides were just under 9 miles, and both involved trails that are near my home in Cedar Rapids (although both trails are mostly in Marion, an adjoining city).

On Tuesday, I rode my hybrid bike on the Lindale and Boyson trails. On Wednesday, I rode my road bike to the Lowe Park Trail.

I think I made better images Wednesday, because I toted my good Nikon SLR camera. The camera Tuesday was a point-and-shoot Canon.

There were a few more critters and people around on Tuesday, and I rode with my face bandana in place. While on the Boyson Trail, near the woodsy hill near were the trail splits to go either to Hanna Park or Mendards, I noticed a small herd of deer at the bottom of the hill, hanging out at the edge of the woods.

After climbing the Brentwood Drive Hill, I rode down the bike lane on Boyson Road to the Boyson Trail. Shadows of some trees (and a biker, if you look) near the north end of the trail.

Deer at bottom of woody hill seen from Boyson Trail.

Pretty light on unpaved leg of Lindale Trail.

Up ahead--a VW Beetle with legs--racoon starts to cross trail. It saw me and turned back, but was clearly in no hurry.

One deer had been on the trail, but moved quickly to the group as I approached.

Later in the ride, on my homeward trip down the Lindale Trail, what appeared to be a VW Beetle with four stubby legs appeared and started to cross the trail. It was the distinctive shape of one of the badass animals of these parts, the fearless trash panda—the raccoon.

It saw me coming and paused and considered. I think maybe it was counting my calories. I must have seemed like an unhealthy snack, because the VW did a leisurely U turn and ambled off into the vegetation. In no hurry. It’s only a human. Trash pandas don’t care.

Neither animals nor people were as common on my ride tonight. It was chilly both nights, but maybe the difference was that the Lowe Park Trail is on the edge of town, while the Boyson-Lindale Trails are easily accessible from many residential neighborhoods in both Cedar Rapids and Marion.

View of sky along Tower Terrace Road on the ride to the Lowe Park Trail Wednesday night.

Low sun Wednesday on the Lowe Park Trail.

There are lots of wildflower fields at Lowe Park.

Final look at sky as I finish Wednesday ride at Lowe Park.

I enjoyed the solitude of tonight’s ride.

The ride tonight was a bit quicker. The road bike is a faster steed. But the difference is also the trails—the Lowe Park Trail ride is on streets to a fully paved trail. While part of the Lindale Trail is paved, and part of Tuesday’s ride was on streets, most of the Tuesday ride was on a bumpy limestone surface.

My sister and I once did the 100-mile round trip to the Waterloo area via the Cedar River Trail. Past Center Point, the trail is not paved—and we noticed a significant loss of speed. On limestone, a bicycle slips a bit and tosses up rocks—all of which absorbs energy. On pavement, virtually all of the energy translated into motion.

So, no, hybrid bike, the slower pace Tuesday wasn’t just you. Of course, it may have been partly me, although to be honest, I think I felt better on Tuesday than today. (Not COVID-19, it’s just that my sinuses and breathing vary from day to day anyway, and Tuesday was a better day).

Well, I don’t mind the local unpaved trails. The Sac & Fox, which I described just a few days ago, is one of my favorite places on a bicycle in Cedar Rapids.

Still, as the experience of these two late day local rides shows, there is a case to be made for cement or asphalt.

Wednesday night ride (above) on the bike computer. Tuesday night ride (below) on screen shot from linked cell phone app.

In Which the Ride Has Both Sunshine and Snow

Early in the ride, a cardinal takes wing. He had been sitting on the trail.

Sky overhead is blue, but looking more interesting to the north which is the direction I'm going in.

What could that white blur in the not-too-far distance be?

It was cold today in Iowa, the start of a few days of freezing lows and high temperatures that are not a lot higher. Today the cold front was rolling through and the main weather feature was a chilly wind from the west.

Still, the sun was shining, and while it was in the 30s, I ride in much colder weather each winter, so I dressed for the weather and got the road bike out.

The sky had some blue and some clouds, and the wind was definitely brisk. It was the kind of Monday where social distance was not difficult to achieve—not a lot of people were out.

I had ridden north to Lafayette, a tiny village 7 miles north of Hiawatha on the Cedar River Trail. Today, my goal was to go on beyond Lafayette to the next destination, the small town of Center Point, 13 miles north of Hiawatha.

North of Lafayette, I saw a very dark cloud heading my way. And then the blowing wind became not just wind, but wind with nature’s dandruff—snow pelting down.

Snow.

Snow selfie at depot in Center Point.

As frozen water from the sky goes, snow is not the worst news for a biker. It beats heck out of hail, for example. There is also sleet—nasty little ice pellets that sting. This was blowing in a 30-mph wind, so it had some force, but it was tiny, soft flakes. The sting factor was more from temperature than from collision, and that’s OK with me.

The trail started to be difficult to see—my glasses were getting all covered in droplets, and the snow was getting thick enough to slightly obscure the world. I was a bit worried about the slickness of the asphalt surface—I was sure it was too warm to form ice, but a thin layer of cold water on asphalt might still be a recipe for a slip on a road bike.

I made it to the depot in Center Point, and the snow was starting to slack off. I was going to wait in the cover of the depot, but it’s closed for the season. Still, the roof overhang kept me out of the worst of it, and I climbed off the bike to take a short break (and a selfie—my sister labeled it the “abominable Joe man” on Facebook).

During the time it took me to post an image on my phone to Instagram, the snow stopped. The pavement quickly dried.

The cold wind did not die down, but since it was from the north and west, it was a help on the way home.

On the way back south from Center Point. I bet cows by the trail appreciate the low late afternoon sun rather than the snow.

Sky has changed.

Blooming bush by trail.

When I got back to Hiawatha, I heard the sound of a train horn. A track crosses the trail south of the trailhead parking lot, and the front of the train rumbled by as I approached the crossing.

Well, all things considered, having to wait a few minutes for a train was not all that bad. By then, no snow was falling, so it was OK.

And I got to make lots of images of folk art on the train cars.

What greets me on the trail south of the Hiawatha trail parking lot.

Several views of graffiti on train cars.

 

Ride summary--34 1/2 miles.