In Which I Birthday Roll on Three Wheels

 

Aug. 30--Pausing on my birthday to take a picture of my new recumbent tricycle.

A conspiracy was afoot that I caught a few hints of, but didn’t get the whole story of until after the fact. And as a result, my biking life has significantly changed.

Is there anything for a biker more exciting than new bike day? For me, my Aug. 30 birthday this year was that exciting day. Although I had gone to the neighborhood bike shop and helped pick it out, and I rode it home, I was enjoined not to ride the new bike much until it was presented the morning of my 2/3 of a century day.

And “bike” is a loose term, related to bicycle, meaning two wheels. The new bike is technically a “trike,” a recumbent tricycle. Although I think the terms “bike” and “biking” are still broad enough to cover what I do on my cool new teal vehicle.

Sept. 5--Rode to campus where I worked before I retired, mostly to make flower images there and for a restroom break on trike ride. Model of the new trike shown on frame.

Tricycle parked at MMU bike rack.

Trike brand.

Me, reflected in campus building window.

The conspiracy started in January when I had heart bypass surgery. I’m getting up there in years, and while I was in the hospital, or so I’m told, one of my sisters suggested to my wife that maybe a trike would help me continue to roll as I become, shall we say, more mature. My children, my sister and my wife pooled resources to pull this off (a trike is an investment).

I have long been open to the idea of getting a recumbent tricycle. My four-person RAGBRAI group—comprised of my two younger sisters, a brother-in-law and me—has three members who ride trikes. They are slow uphill and fast downhill, and can stay even with this slow biker on the flats. And my teammates can ride all day without feeling the sore butt that bicycle riders must endure. An advantage to trikes.

A three-wheeled trike is, by its nature, more stable than a bicycle. Second advantage, one that grows more important as I age.

There are a few disadvantages, however. A trike is a larger vehicle than a bike, with a more substantial frame—add more metal, more structure, to anything and you add weight. And a recumbent tricycle is lower to the ground, which enhances its aerodynamics, but also means car drivers don’t see you as well. Nor, because you as the biker are lower, do you see them as well.

On balance, whether a tricycle makes sense depends on who you are and what kind of biker you are. I do a significant portion of my riding on bike trails, and a tricycle is perfect for that riding environment. And I haven’t given up bicycles. Just today (today being a loose term for when I first drafted this post, not the day I published it), I went for a bicycle ride on my hybrid bike because I was going to stop at a gym for a while. There is some street riding to get there. For in-town commuting via streets, I’m still going to ride a bicycle.

My sister Cate precedes me on Labor Day ride north on Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

Visiting new bike trail at Cedar Lake with new tricycle Aug. 31.

I parked trike outside during family lunch Aug. 31, when I came out for second ride, I had a visitor on the tricycle.

New trail at Cedar Lake, seen Aug. 31 while riding tricycle.

But I’ve also really enjoyed the new trike. I had decided well in advance of my birthday that, due to my wacky health history this year including heart bypass surgery and a follow-up procedure, I would split my usual birthday bike ride. I turned 67 this year on Saturday, Aug. 30, and I decided any rides Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday could count as birthday rides.

Well, I rolled way over that 67-mile goal, with most of those miles ridden on three wheels. On Friday, I rode my hybrid bike 12.86 miles. Then, on my birthday, I broke the trike for 20.6 miles. Then, on Sunday, I rode twice, 6.59 miles in the morning and 18.34 miles later in the afternoon (there was a very enjoyable family birthday lunch that day, hence the two rides). My sister, who lives in town and is on Team Joe, went on a 32.59 trike ride with me on Labor Day.

Counting all four days of my birthday weekend, I rode 90.98 miles. Just on the new trike alone, I put in 78.12 miles. All in all, a good 67^th birthday ride!

A few bike ride images to show I have not neglected by two-wheel steeds. On Sept. 2, I used my mountain bike to ride the Sac and Fox Trail, including one of the side mountain bike trails--although the limestone trail itself is best ridden with a mountain bike.

My mountain bike parked at south end of Sac and Fox Trail. I rode the Fancy Beast on the trail after parking at north end--after rest I had to ride the 7 miles back to the start. The ride was a bit over 14 miles, due to added distance from also riding a mountain bike trail beside the main trail.

In Marion, there is a side trail east of the Boyson Trail. It's been closed for months due to a large city utility project, but on Aug. 29, on my first birthday ride, I noticed it was again open. Bicycle on that trail. I don't know if I will trike this trail--tricycle may be too wide for a narrow bridge at one end of the trail.

Fixed the chain on my ancient (1970s vintage) tandem bike--wife and daughter and grandson rode a couple of miles with me on my birthday. My grandson and daughter rode this bike, after the derailed chain was put back in place. The biggest part of the project was removing and putting back on the chain guard (not shown, this is just after I fixed the chain).

 

In Which A New Bridge Opens

Aug. 12--Bike parked by new bridge near Cedar Lake.

When did the new bike trail bridge over the creek that feeds Cedar Lake open?

I don’t know for sure, but the detour on the Cedar River Trail north of the lake has changed—coming from the lake, the route now goes down a road to a new street bridge that crosses the trail. I was taking the trail north at that point (I had ridden down to the lake via H Avenue), and before crossing the new street bridge, I turned right and crossed the new bike trail bridge over the creek.

It’s very nice, a foreshadowing of the new trails near Cedar Lake that aren’t open yet but are being constructed. I crossed the bridge on one of the longer rides of summer 2025—a 17-mile ramble that took me to the Mount Mercy University campus before I continued to Cedar Lake.

A bunch of images from Aug. 12 ride. As I rest at Cedar Lake mid-ride, I watch a Stork that was fishing in the lake.

Monarch butterfly on Thistle flower near Cedar Lake.

Aster, fall flower, on Mount Mercy University campus.

Pausing on MMU campus.

Cone Flower in garden near Basile Hall on MMU campus.

For various reasons, summer 2025, the first summer of my retirement, has not featured the usual summer distances of bike riding. I didn’t, for example, participate in RAGBRAI this year. I had a heart bypass operation in January and a follow-up procedure in July.

In August, four grandchildren from Minnesota were visiting for a week. That precluded any long bike rides that week for me—but the good news is that one of my bikes has a Tag-A-Long seat, and a 7-year-old grandson was very happy to put it to use. Sadly, other events and very hot afternoons constrained those rides a bit, but nonetheless, most days that week we headed out for at least a few very pleasant miles together.

July 26--Deer on Lindale Trail are pretty socialized to bikers. Fawn lets me get pretty close to make this image.

Bike on Lindale Trail July 26. Note milky sky, it's been a wet summer but also a hazy one; sometimes the haze, from Canadian forest fires, has limited biking.

Anyway, back to my lake sojourn on Aug. 12. I missed one day riding last week due to yardwork—mowing and clearing weeds. But in the past four days of the week, I used all of my bikes.

On Aug. 12, I rode Argent, my road bike, on the longest ride—the 17-mile cycle to campus and the lake.

On Aug. 13, I rode my mountain bike, The Fancy Beast. It’s been wet lately. I planned to ride the Boyson Trail, the paved and unpaved parts, on a day that would turn too warm for this old man to ride in the afternoon. So, I went on a late morning ride, which went well, but the mountain bike trails beside the Boyson Trail looked too muddy, so I stuck to the main trail. The ride was about 8 miles, but given the heavier bike and warmer day, felt like it was as much work as the 17-mile ride the day before.

July 29--another day, another deer. I know it's farther away,but I like this image of the Lindale Trail.

Reflecting ball in Lowe Park seen on July 27 bike ride.

I skipped riding, as mentioned, for the Aug. 14 yard work day. The forecast was for hot, humid weather after this day. It was too bad to avoid riding on Aug. 14, but it was good to get the yard work done, too.

On Aug. 15, the afternoon was forecast to feel like 100 degrees, which dictated a shorter morning ride. I was going to ride part of the unpaved Boyson Trail again, but it had a bit more time to dry out and I decided that Clarence, my hybrid bike, would be a good choice. It turned out to be a 10-mile ride where I headed up behind Linn-Mar High School on the Creek Trail and road part of the Boyson Trail, too.

My biking goals have become modest in 2025. I’m accepting, for now, of shorter rides, although I’m hoping the 17-mile ride, accomplished with no problems, is a sign of longer sojourns coming as soon as the weather improves. However, I’ve already decided it’s OK to take several days to ride my birthday later this month.

I turn 67 later this month. Maybe by next year, 68 miles in a day would be a doable goal. For now, I’ll just be happy to roll 67 miles over several days and be satisfied that I can keep rolling.

As of Aug. 19, I have 851.02 miles for the year. I’ve ridden 85.46 miles in August. July’s miles totaled 112.16.

Aug. 15--I have some Goldenrod planted in my garden--it's a great late-season flower that feeds pollinators as fall is setting in. This is not in my garden, however--Goldenrod by Boyson Trail seen during bike ride.

In Which I Contemplate No Alt RAGBRAI

June 23--Early morning ride on very hot summer day, bike near C Avenue on Lindale Trail.

The last time I didn’t ride RAGBRAI, my family team and I made up for it with alternative, non-RAGBRAI miles. Not so, this year--some are riding some of RAGBRAI while I am sidelined.

As of today, I have biked 711.87 miles in 2025—a pretty low figure for this point in recent years. My riding has been constrained by serious health issues—I had heart bypass surgery in January and was subsequently knocked off two wheels for a while.

I was back to riding in a couple of months, but a lingering heart flutter kept me from longer rides—and now I’m off the bike again due to yet another heart treatment. I developed a heart flutter following my bypass surgery, and the flutter required what’s called a cardiac ablation. On Tuesday of this week, they put me to sleep and snaked a needle through my veins to my heart, where some tissue was frozen to end the errant nerve signals causing the flutter and to put my heart back into normal rhythm.

And now I have to take a week off from most activities, including biking, in order to recover from that procedure. We’ve had some beautiful days this week which I have been watching from a recliner in my living room. Not to complain too much—the procedure was apparently successful and the recovery is far less onerous and lengthy than the one that followed the surgery.

July 10--Above and below--Black Swallowtail Butterfly seen at Hanna Park garden in Marion during bike ride.

Still, no RAGBRAI riding for me this year. Good luck those of you that are setting out Sunday, crossing the state the west to east, I’ll be thinking of you and hoping you have a good ride.

In the meantime, if all goes well (and the first two days of recovery have gone well), I should be back on a bike by the end of next week.

June 13--Pretty day, late afternoon ride, bike at north end of Creek Trail near Tower Terrace Road.

June 14--Two rides totaling more than 14 miles. Evening ride, final one before heart procedure, is to see grandson play baseball in Marion. On the ride, I encounter one of those indifferent deer on the Lindale Trail--it's such a heavily used trail with woods that deer love that they become too used to humans.

I rode over 14 miles on July 14 and had my heart procedure July 15. I expected my miles in June to exceed my May miles. That did not happen—I rode 228.9 miles in May but 228.78 miles in June. So, I was not off much, but weather got more complicated at the end of June and my heart flutter was getting to me, a bit, making my rides shorter.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings. Tomorrow as in the vague future that starts in the second half of next week when I can start riding again. It’s been an interesting summer in Iowa, some very hot weather, but no extreme heat, and the June wet period has lasted into July, when a dry time usually starts.

Recent rides may have been a bit short, but have also been pleasant and pretty. I’m looking forward to rolling across my corner of Iowa again soon—I hope to see some of you out there on the trails next week!

In Which Summer Rides Bring Mixed Surprises

Surprise! We'll put in a major bike trail all the way through our town and then tell you that you can't ride on part of it! Wacky fun. My bike on trail across the street from Marion's new Central Plaza.

Well, biker pals, May was my final month as a professor at Mount Mercy University, as I retired from my professional career. In May, I was biking to work more consistently then before, so I had more time on the bike and rode more miles in May—but, what with the end of my career and the busyness associated with a new life phase, I had less time to devote to posting on this blog.

The past few weeks of bicycling have been an interesting time. I still have a follow-up heart procedure scheduled in July due to a lingering flutter in the old pump, and my miles are thus somewhat limited this biking season because I tire quickly and, also, how carefully (read slowly) I have to move on a bicycle to avoid any injury. Falling off a bicycle while you’re taking blood thinners, my doctors and my wife often remind me, is not a good life choice.

Basically, about 20 miles is my current ride limit, with most rides being around 10 miles. 2025 is therefore, for me, the year of short rides. I don’t resent that, because January and February where months of zero rides as I had and then recovered from major surgery, so I’ll enjoy the slower, shorter rides I experience now and keep on rolling with a smile on my face.

My bicycle parked on Creek Trail the runs behind Linn-Mar High School, on May 29 bike ride.

Another surprise, a "greetings, bikers, we're happy to have you" sign in the woods at the north end of the Creek Trail in Marion. OK, a landowner is free to put up such signs, but I can't imagine many bikers were trying to roll through the walnut grove there. Whatever, life is full of surprises, one of many signs posted in this area seen on May 29 bike ride.

We are in a June summer heatwave now, with the heat index topping 100 degrees this afternoon. That hasn't generally been the case lately, and on May 9, a cool but not cold morning, I noticed sun dogs in the sky during my morning bike ride (sun dogs are usually seen on the coldest mornings of winter, little rainbows created by sunlight refracted by ice crystals high in the atmosphere. It must have been much colder way up there).

And, although we are starting a heatwave today, the weather has mostly cooperated with biking. Although there have also been some unexpected challenges.

One is mechanical. On a commute to work in May, I broke a spoke on the rear wheel of Clarence, my hybrid bike. That wheel has had a previous broken spoke, so it was time to replace the whole wheel rather than just the snapped spoke. At the bike shop, they also noted the drive train was very worn and the bike was long overdue for a thorough tune-up.

So, that broken spoke cost me several weeks of riding that bike, plus more than $300. Oh well. After I retrieved that bicycle, it has been notably more pleasant to ride, which is a bonus—it has cleaner shifting and better rolling speed.

May 4--A nasty surprise at work. A broken spoke, and not the first on the back wheel of my hybrid bike Clarence.

Here and below, some damaged trees were cut down after the 2020 derecho, and someone had then carved into bird statues. Corner of Albernett and  Boyson roads. Another pleasant surprise seen on ride May 31.

In the meantime, my road bike Argent in late May developed a weird wobble on its front wheel. Was it another snapped spoke? I couldn’t find one, and I concluded it was a flaw in the front tyre. But I took the wheel into the shop to have more experienced eyes confirm my opinion—and the mechanic could see the problem right away. The wheel is mechanically sound, but the inner fabric of the front tyre had failed, leading to a bulge.

At least that was a much cheaper and quicker problem to fix—and I could have just replaced the tyre myself but the labor charge at Goldfinch Cyclery to do that was only $15, and I was happy, with my wife’s encouragement, to save 30 minutes of my life at that price.

Well, those minor blips didn’t prevent me from biking in recent weeks. I rolled just over 228 miles in May, compared to 159 miles in April. My miles are slowly building, and I hope that they will jump substantially after I recover from my second heart procedure that takes place in July. We’ll see.

The Fancy Beast, my mountain bike, on freshly mowed mountain bike trail in Marion. A nice surprise.

Life can bring you unexpected challenges and unexpected pleasures, too. For example, on a recent ride June 11, I rode my mountain bike, intending to use the mountain bike trails that split off from the Boyson Road Trail near my home.

Those mountain trails can be a bit challenging—they don’t have any dramatic features, so I don’t mean they are a challenged because they are designed with challenges as some mountain bike trails are—but the trails are not mowed very often and the encroaching plant life in the woods can make a ride a bit difficult. That was pleasantly not true on this day—the good surprise is that the trails had obviously just been mowed and were wide open and fun to ride.

June 16 bike ride down to Prairie Park Fishery--suprise! My usual route is closed, as short trail by the river is not open due to construction of a new biking bridge over the Cedar River. Well, OK, a major new biking attraction is coming. I'll live with riding a different route.

Yet, surprise, there is so much utility work going on in the Boyson Road area that I have not been able to repeat that ride due to difficulty accessing those trails. Mow ’em and then close ’em—bah, humbug.

What Marion gives, it also takes. Another recent example: Our neighbor city to the east has established, in recent years, a major bike trail that leads from my neighborhood all the way through Marion to the countryside east of town. The Grant Wood Trail, not long ago, was just a grassy stretch in the county rideable only on a mountain bike. In recent years, the county has paved several miles and added a grand new bridge. The city of Marion, in the meantime, has constructed a connecting trail and extended the Lindale Trail with two new fancy bridges.

Now, one can ride a road bike all the way from Council Street in Cedar Rapids out to Waldos Rock Park in Marion and beyond on nicely paved trail (well, one short leg on a quiet county road, but still, it’s an easy, paved ride).

I was aware that Marion has worked on a fancy upgrade to their City Square Plaza, which is directly across the street from the new Grant Wood Trail route, so I decided to ride there last week just to see what the plaza is like. It’s very nice. Marion’s treatment of the bike trail, however, has gotten a little weird.

Climbing play area seen at newly renovated Central Plaza in Marion (above and below).

Right across the street from the fancy new plaza, two blocks of the recently created bike trail have been designated as pedestrian-only zones. Well, I can sort of understand. I always thought the downtown stretch of the new Grant Wood Trail was a little awkward, taking bike traffic on a sidewalk directly in front of both the public library and City Hall.

Riding there always made me feel a little weird. You do have the alternative, once you near the Westside Diner, to go south one block and ride down that street until you get past downtown, a route I use whenever I think pedestrian traffic might be heavy, but that alternative route is neither marked nor designated for bikes.

On the one hand, I think the pedestrian zone downtown makes sense. On the other, I think Marion should mark and sign and declare a “bike boulevard” for the alternative route one block south (and on the connecting streets that they want bikers to use). I think the need for the alternative route is obvious, and I’m a little miffed city planners who created the bike trail in the first place didn’t anticipate the need for another route before putting up “dismount bikers” signs.

If the Grant Wood Trail shoots all the way through Marion, as it now does, then let bikers ride it and mark where they should ride. If the city does not want them riding on the walkway downtown—fair enough, I understand. However, create and show me the alternate route. Otherwise, you made a new, nice, fancy long trail and chose to knock a hole right in the middle of it.

Harrumph.

Honestly, I can’t get too mad at the city of Marion. Like Cedar Rapids, the city has invested a lot in recent years to become more bicycle friendly, and I appreciate that. This just seems like an obvious, foreseeable flaw in that overall nice pattern.

Well, back to summer rides. Despite the current heat. which is keeping me off my wheels this weekend, my bike rides have been very enjoyable. We’ve had some rain, but most days, even the wet ones, have not been rainy all day long, and we’ve had a fair amount of warm, but not hot, sunny weather, too.

Iowa is in its most beautiful month. For bikers, June is busting out all over. Catalpa have bloomed and faded. Orange Tiger Lilies are growling (or trumpeting). Common Milkweed is moving into its pink, perfumed firework phase. The world in Iowa is a very good place for those of us who choose to roll on two wheels across this planet.

A few images from mostly May bike rides but also this one from April 29. Daffodils in bloom near my hybrid bike parked in rack behind Warde Hall, were my office what when I had an office. Retired now.

Bike parked at Lafayette during May 3 ride. That ride was a bit more than 20 miles and I was pretty spent the next day, leading to a warning from my wife to watch the miles. She's an RN and I generally find her medical advice worth listening to.

Phlox in bloom on trail north of Robins during my one ride up to Lafayette May 3.

May 4--I always lock my bike, even on campus. You never know who or what will be interested in it. As far as I can tell, the tree rat did no damage.

May 31--Peony in bloom near bathroom building and playground at Lowe Park.

Even if some of us must limit our rolling, a bit. Still, I have ridden 179.72 miles in the first 21 days of June, which probably means I will likely top the 228.9 miles I rode in May. I was hoping retirement meant more miles on the bike, and that is a path I seem to be on.

This year, the path I am on does not mean RAGBRAI miles, because I can’t currently roll 50 or 60 miles in a morning, at least until the ticker gets straightened out. Still, how has biking been in Iowa these past six weeks?

Filled with surprises, good and not so good, but overall, quite glorious.

Cone Flower in bloom at Prairie Park Fishery on June 16. Here, above and below, some images of things I saw during June bike rides.

Deer seen munching on a tree leaf near Boyson Trail June 11.

Cone Flower in bloom at Hanna Park, see on June 10 bike ride.

Ride down to Cedar Lake via CEMAR Trail, stopping by Mount Calvary Cemetery to say hello to Sisters of Mercy there.

June 2 bike ride down to Cedar Lake.