In Which CR Biker Considers Swiss Cows on Bikes

Almost 5 o'clock, waiting for light to change so I can cross 42nd Street NE on the Cedar River Trail. It is indeed wet, but also warm for January. It's dark enough that I am running with lights on.

It was a warm and wet end to the biking week, my blog pals. Indeed, we’ve had so many days above freezing, and rain on Thursday, that I did it—I decided to ride the Cedar River Trail route home.

It was a bit of a gamble. I don’t know which, if any, trails Cedar Rapids plows in winter, but I figured even if it had not been cleared of snow, most of it might have been melted.

Was it cleared? It was clear, but that’s not the same thing. Anyway, something with tires had driven the trail, and in a line of slowly melting snow on the side, I thought I could detect evidence that at least once this trail had indeed been cleared. Well, good for the city if it’s so—I can’t be sure, because the trail could have been simply cleared by the warmth and rain.

My sister just returned from a European trip, chiefly to Italy, and apparently brought warm Italian weather with her. She even posted a picture of a rose blooming in a garden in Rome.

Yes, CR Biker was indeed envious. Anyway, I rode in Thursday morning and left my bike in my office. Audrey and I had planned to ride home together Thursday night, and Friday morning was “grandparent’s day” at my oldest grandchild’s preschool. It was still rather foggy and wet this morning, so driving in with Audrey was not a bad thing.

I rode home, as I’ve already stated, this afternoon. It was cloudy and very damp, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed being on the trail again.

And I was thinking about Swiss cows riding bicycle. As part of her trip, my sister’s group visited Switzerland, where she shot this photo. What does it mean? Cows may be sacred in India but they’re far more dangerous in Switzerland? I do take some risk being CR Biker, but running into a cow on the trail is, I hope, not high on that list.

And I do envy the cow. Cool bike, cool helmet, cool scarf. Oh. Wait. I have all those, too—I only lack the horns on my helmet. Would horns give me a jaunty Viking vibe, or would I merely be a novelty, like a cow on a bike?

Borrowed with permission from my sister Cate Sheller's Facebook gallery of her recent trip.  The bike may not be happy, but the cow is having a mooooving experience!