In Which Heat is Among Biking Complications

My good camera after my May 29 ride to Robins. Not sure how I damaged it--fortunately, it's just a filter that's shattered, not a part of the lens itself.

I did not realize I had broken the lens filter--which makes for an odd effect on this image of my bike parked at the bridge leading to the Robins city park.

Here and below--shot with a small Canon camera that has no filter damage--bike in late day light May 30 on bridge in Robins.

I can’t blame summer, entirely. Today, a beautiful sunny summer day in Iowa, I got exactly zero miles on my bicycle, and today was not the only such day recently.

One nice day this week, I drove with my wife to Des Moines for a final check of a house my youngest son and his life partner are purchasing. My wife and I have done some grandchild-watching in the past week, too, which has eliminated several potential riding days.

Today, I mowed and planted and played with a grandson—and didn’t end up with time for a bike ride. Life is what happens while you’re making other plans. And not riding today may have been for the best, since I still have not had my road bike fixed and I would want my lightest, easiest bike if I were to take a slow and careful ride today.

Because it was hot. It was also very humid. I can’t blame summer entirely, but a ride today would have been a bit brutal.

Still, despite life, I have enjoyed many pleasant recent rides. On May 29, I took my grandson home, then returned to my house, removed the Tag-A-Long seat and rode out to Robins and back. On May 20, I rode 20 miles by going to the end of the nearest leg of the Grant Wood Trail. Memorial Day, I rode 24 miles, going south on the Cedar River Trail for a way. I felt a little “off” that day and had to rest during the ride, but 24 miles on a warm day is not that bad.

My most recent ride, late on Friday, was my first trip out to Lafayette, which totaled almost 22 miles.

So, summer heat may have slowed me some. Mostly, I’ve just been busy—but I hope to get in some more miles this week. Morning miles, I’m thinking, if this heat continues—it got to the low 90s today and was also humid, so I can’t say I regret not biking much.

Many images from recent rides:

Dow

Pausing on ride north--brought water bottle that I had to stop to open, and it was a warm evening.

Pretty late-day light seen at Lafayette (June 4).

Summer sun on Cedar Lake.

Downtown--new flood levee by bike trail.

A small detour before crossing Cedar River.

Young grandson in England loves "diggers." Hope his mom shows him this image.

Part of Cedar River Trail south of river is gravel--I don't know why, that trail was paved last year.

As advertised. Go slow on this part of the trail.

New art in downtown Cedar Rapids by bike trail.

Train reflected in slough near Cedar Lake.

Power lines by Cedar Lake.

Passed by cemetery on Memorial Day.

Memorial Day.

Bright summer sky.

Deer watches me along Grant Wood Trail.

End of the leg of the Grant Wood Trail that I rode.

Plaque along Grant Wood Trail marking buffalo site.

Iris seen on ride.

More summer flowers.

Car passes Memorial Day flags.

In Which There Is New Pavement

Near Thomas Park--Trail Closed sign, but more pavement beyond it.

There is mixed biking news from my small corner of the cycling planet: One of my favorite trails will be closed for a time this summer. The Cedar Valley Nature Trail, which one can ride from Hiawatha to the suburbs of Waterloo, will be closed now and then between Center Point and Urbana.

True, I don’t ride to Urbana all that often—maybe 2 or 3 times a year—and the run to Center Point is enough of a ride for me most days. But no longish ride to Waterloo this summer, it looks like. There are good things coming—the trail is being closed for improvements that will yield a paved route all the way to Urbana, which I will like.

Meanwhile, the Lindale-Boyson trail complex remains not accessible. The Lindale Trail in Marion has been closed for months due to a large bridge project. In addition, derecho damage tree removal and a paving project related to plans to tie this trail to one leading to central Cedar Rapids means the nearest, and in the past, most-used, bike trail is not accessible to me.

Other end of the pavement, my bike Clarence at the T intersection where paving ends near Menards.

Another view of Trail Closed sign, showing location just north of bridge by Thomas Park.

Gravel at end of the paving seems rougher than limestone surface was--are they planning to pave here, too? I hope ....

After riding to the south end of the trail by Menards, I take street route back home. Using sidewalk on busy street, I pass over the trail on the bridge. Someday, I'll get to ride on the paving beyond the closed sign.

The first nice summer day when I have time, I’ll have to ride down to Solon just to enjoy a long ride.

Recent rides have featured some fun treks with grandchildren. Now that the back wheel of Clarence, my hybrid bike, is fixed, I’ve been using the Tag-A-Long seat. We were watching three children while their parents went to a race out of town, and Sunday, a granddaughter and I pedaled over to their house to let the dogs out. Then we met the rest of the crowd at a park, where another granddaughter got a ride.

Later, my 5-year-old biking buddy rode. And Wednesday, on the day he graduated from preschool, we spent part of the afternoon biking to a park and then to his house. After dropping him off, I left the Tag-A-Long at home and rode out for a cool, cloudy solo ride. I headed over to Marion and cycled through some neighborhoods, taking a roundabout to cross the busiest road and end up by McDonald's.

Tossing stick into C Avenue Pond during Wednesday afternoon ride (above). Below, same grandson, images from Sunday ride including geese by C Avenue Pond.

We never rent one, but grandson loves to "window shop" a video kiosk during bike rides.

 No, a Big Mac was not the goal—the MD is near the school track, which is accessible to the south end of the Boyson Trail via a foot bridge. I cycled across the bridge and ended up on the newly paved end of the trail. The trail, for now, ends at Thomas Park. At the other end, it terminates in a T with some rough gravel near Menards. But riding concrete where I was  used to limestone was a dreamy experience. There is a little rise by a Frisbee golf course—I used to think of it as “the hill” on this trail, in quotes, because honestly it wasn’t all that much when one was riding on limestone. It merely required a bit more care because not-flat limestone means watching for ruts.

On paving, I simply glided over “the hill” without changing gears, cruising like I was on a flat. I’m sure in wind I would be shifting, but still…

It was a nice foretaste of better rides to come. It’s not pleasant to have trails I enjoyed in the past closed, but the expansion of biking infrastructure in the years before I retire will, I hope foreshadow my using bike tyres a lot once I reach that stage in life.

And paved trails are the best. It will make parks easier to get to while dragging grandchildren on the Tag-A-Long!

In Which Birds and Bees and Air in Tyres

Morning ride on Thursday--pausing on C Avenue. I'm on The Fancy Beast mountain bike due to the threat of rain, although despite the wet pavement, I didn't really get rained on that day. I stopped to remove several nails from the bike lane.

On Tuesday, my wife had a request. When I went to work in the morning, it seemed too wet to ride, and my wife aske me to drive the Kia van rather than the Nissan Rogue.

Because there was a bike in the van and she wanted it out. Last week, we retrieved my hybrid bike Clarence from my daughter’s house, where the latest flat had stranded it—luckily I had gotten my 5-year-old grandson home before the tyre suddenly went flat.

So, in the afternoon, I drove down to Goldfinch Cyclery in New Bo.

It was a misty afternoon following a wet morning. I had to wheel the bike about half a block—there’s no parking spaces next to this bike shop—and my biggest challenge was trying to open the shop door while holding a bike with one arm and a big umbrella with the other. A shop employee saw me and helped hold the door.

Then I was greeted by a sweet young lady whose name I forget. She listened to my problem, then said I could either leave the bike—or wait 15 minutes or so and they would probably have it fixed right away.

So, OK. I hung around the shop, grabbed some chain lube and a couple of pants bands (a product labeled “Ankle Biters”). It turns out the rim tape I had purchased at another bike shop was just a little too wide—and its up curled edges were biting into the tubes until each failed.

As advertised, the repair took only about 15 minutes.

Wednesday was damp again but there was a break in the weather about 7 p.m., so I took Clarence out for a quick post-rain ride. The tyre still held air, which was nice, and I headed up the Brentwood Drive hill, thinking I might head out towards Lowe Park.

But when I got the hill, a Eurythmics song was being too well enacted in Iowa—here comes the rain again. I turned around and rode back down the hill. And when I got the bottom, the rain seemed to be ending. So I headed up to the Lindale Trail, rode it, stopped to shoot some images of phlox in the woods, and rode up to the C Avenue pond.

The ride was only 4 miles or so, but it felt good to celebrate the bike being back in a appropriate way.

Cloudy sky, sometimes bringing raindrops, on Wednesday ride.

Wire spider in power lines on C Avenue. Don't know what this is for.

New band on pants for Wednesday ride.

Tyre on Clarence before Wednesday ride--inflated.

 The night was a little weird, what with sun and sprinkles and wind. As I watched a bumble bee in the phlox, I was also hearing an early owl greeting his day in the woods as day faded. The birds and the bees among the trees--sights and sounds from both day and night mixing in a pleasant quick bike ride.

I pause to make some flower images on ride. Here are a few, including final one that I took in my driveway at ride's end.

I had at least one more day of work this week on Thursday, but ended up riding the mountain bike just due to, again, with rain threatening.

I include in this post some images from Monday, when I rode the mountain bike home taking the longer Cedar Lake route.

Cedar Lake on damp spring afternoon.

Biking this week in Iowa has been dodging the drops. Still, I hope I have a bit of dry time this weekend. Maybe I can take a grandchild or two out for a spin with Clarence and the Tag-A-Long seat.

Let the good times roll!

In Which A Tree Blooms and I Contemplate Mortality

On a cool spring morning, on C Avenue, I pause on morning bike ride to make image of flowering tree.

My morning paper, The Gazette, has had some reminders of mortality lately. I read about a famous Chicago architect, dead at age 81 after he was hit by two vehicles while on a bicycle ride. (I can't find the wire story The Gazette ran, but here is a Chicago Tribune account).

Closer to home, a bicycle rider in Coralville was killed last month by a teen driver who was both using social media on a cell phone and speeding at the time. The Gazette story.

I don’t aspire to expire in the saddle, and if I’m still rolling at age 81, I hope to die in my sleep rather than on the road. But I have had a few reminders on my bike rides lately that the world is a dangerous place. Today, on the way home, a right-turning car at the corner of C Avenue and Collins Road was ready to rev and turn in front of me, despite me making eye contact and having the right of way in the walkway (with a walk light on). He paused and I passed on, but luckily I didn’t also pass on.

The day before I had a rever ecounter, not exactly a reaver, but not pleasant. A rever is a BUT driver who gratuitously revs just as they pass. Sir, if I had a Big Ugly Truck, I would do a better job of having a functioning muffler.

Anyway, despite reminders of mortality, this dry spring is turning into a wonderful time for a bicycle commuter. I don’t much need lights anymore. My hybrid bike still needs to go into the shop to have it’s chronic back flat problem attended to, and I still haven’t had the road bike serviced.

Yet the Fancy Beast abides. I’ve noticed my speed on it has picked up a bit lately—I sometimes finish my half-hour commute in 25 minutes. I have no theory why, except maybe the luck that some days have not been windy. I've also been enjoying the new spring growth--along C Avenue, several of the new trees planted there are in bloom.

So, despite the right-turn danger demons and the noisy BUT drivers, I’ll still keep rolling through the 'verse. Stay safe out there.