In Which A Fine Fall Day Takes Us To Lafayette

My wife's shadow on the trail as we head back south after our stop in Lafayette.

The weekend was too good to pass up. Despite a mountain of work waiting for me, my wife and I took 2 ½ hours Sunday for an afternoon bike ride to Lafayette.

I’ve been there numerous times—often just passing through on longer rides, especially summer rides that preceded RAGBRAI. The wife had never been this far north on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail before, however, so it was kind of exciting to make it to Lafayette, a tiny village 7 miles north of the Boyson Road start of the trail. The weather was crisp and perfect, and there were many bikers and hikers using the trail.

When we got to Lafayette, we rested. We were yelled at by an aggressive squirrel (for whom I left three sunflower seeds from my snack although the noisy rodent didn’t deserve them). My wife recognized a former student as one of a pair of bikers who happened to stop at Lafayette at the same time and had a pleasant chat with her.

Angry tree rodent in Lafayette.
It must have been his picnic table.

It was a fine ride on a fine first day of fall .

We won’t have much time for such rides during the semester, but maybe, if the weather cooperates, I can persuade her to ride with me to Center Point sometime next summer or during fall break. We’ll see.

And we have not gone south through Cedar Rapids, yet.

More spouse-spoke adventures to come!

Francis and my wife's bike (Rhonda?) at the rack in Lafayette.