An Eerie Ride with Flat C

I wanted to get to 60 miles for the week before the day was out, and had spent most of July 6 packing up the student newspaper office at Mount Mercy University.

When I was done, it was 6:30 in the evening.

I was tempted by the Sac and Fox. I have not done it in the very late afternoon before, but I also had not ridden it recently--and I just printed off Flat Catherine this morning, and she wanted to see someplace new.

So I took her for a ride. Headed to the Cedar River trail via J Avenue, and turned south. At 6th Avenue, I leave the trail and head north to 6th Street, where I turn east. You can cross 8th Avenue, a busy street, at a light there, and continue until 6th Street turns into Otis Road. After you pass the big Cargill plant, the road goes right by the Cedar River. Even before you reach the factory, it’s not a busy street, and after the factory, it’s a cool in-town country road.

We continued east until reaching Cole Street, and then took Cole to the south end of the Sac and Fox Trail.

It was just getting dusky when we got there, but still sunlight. I was toying with the idea of turning back, but Flat C hadn’t been on the trail yet, so I went ahead.

It was one of my fastest transits of the Sac and Fox. In the woodiest areas, the trail was settling into evening shadows, and for the first two miles or so, along the river, there was nobody else on the trail. I did not want to be on the trail in the dark, so I rode pretty quickly, although my speed on this trail is always slower than on others due to the trail's conditions.

After we passed the delta of Indian Creek, however, signs of humanity returned in the form of more trail users, and very late in the trail, the sun was shining again, which was nice.

It was a slightly eerie ride in the woodsy parts of the trail, but still pleasant. I did have to watch it a bit more on the soft spots—be careful if you bike the Sac and Fox, you’ll enjoy it, but only if you avoid being tossed by the loose places, and there are several of those.

At the north end of the trail, there’s a frog statue that someone keeps decorating for the seasons. I posed Flat C with the frog. By how it was almost 8, and I had to flip on my lights during the ride home.

I did make it to 60 miles. More photos on Facebook.