In Which I Can Only Say of Sac and Fox Trail: WTF*

*Wow—Trail’s Fantastic!

It was warm and I had already ridden a slow mountain bike about 15 miles. I was tired and paused at a picnic table at the south edge of the Sac and Fox Trail.

But I felt pretty good. The day was not hot, the stubborn seat on the mountain bike, despite my breaking the latch that tightens it (in my attempt to raise the seat and tighten it) was staying up. I knew I was riding a bit slower than I would on my hybrid bike and probably considerably slower than on my road bike, but I was on the Fancy Beast for a reason.

It was Sac and Fox day—the first time in 2018 that I decided to try this trail.

Mountain bike parked at south end of Sac and Fox, I'm taking a break before hitting the trail.

I have a mixed history with this trial. On my old hybrid bike, Francis, I used to think of it as “flat tyre trail,” because it seemed that I would always get a flat tyre when I rode the trail. Once, I rode with Jon when he was riding a road bike—which is quite a challenge.

The Sac and Fox Trail Is not a road bike trail. So, today I chose the Fancy Beast for my ride.

By Cedar Lake--train seen on my bike ride to the Sac and Fox.

And I am glad that I did. The trail in about 7 miles long, and maybe 2 ½ miles in or so, a tractor of sorts, or small bulldozer, approached coming the other way.

The worker hailed me down and warned me that the trail had washed out near the railroad bridge.

“Can you get through on a mountain bike?” I asked. He said sure, he just wanted to give me a heads up so I would watch for the washout.

“I’m going to get some material to repair it,” he said. Then he asked if I had observed any places needing repair on my ride from the south end.

I assured him that, while there are some wet and soft places, there were no washouts.

We parted ways, he to continue going wherever he was going to get trail repair materials, me headed along the trail towards the washout.

When I go there, it was honestly not much—just basically a bump or low spot, so I slowed a bit as I went over it, and then turned, as the trail does, where Indian Creek runs into the Cedar River.

Just past the rail bridge, there is a little side trial that leads to a boardwalk in a swampy area. There are some interesting signs there, so I decided to go there. The boardwalk ended after a time, but there was a grassy trail. And I was on a mountain bike, so what the heck? I continued.

Eventually, the trail looped to a road where the new Indian Creek Nature Center building was visible on the opposite side. At the road, I turned back.

Monarch on milkweed seen on Sac and Fox Trail.

I know my speed on this ride was slow overall, and I’m sure that the several miles I spent on this side trail slowed it even more—one must go carefully on a primitive grassy trail. I had also practically bathed in Bug Soother before the ride, and as buggy and gnatty as it was on this trail, I was glad I had.

The Sac and Fox Trail is still a primitive trail, but the encounter I had with Mr. Trail Fixer seemed a good omen, somehow. While still soft in spots and rather rough gravel in others, the trail seemed in much better shape than I was used to. In particular, while there were a few damp, muddy places, there were no hidden sand traps, as in the past. And while there is a rough gravel area, it’s rather packed gravel, not loose, as it was in the past.

I don’t know for sure, but it seemed to me today that whoever maintains this trail is paying more attention and doing a better job than I’ve seen before—so thanks, unseen powers that maintain the Sac and Fox.

Or maybe seen—guy on tractor?

Anyway, while it was warm, it was not too hot, and while it was humid and misty under the trees, it was not really wet.

I was snapping pictures as I went. More of my images here. I took the good camera on this trail inspecting ride, and saw quite a bit. Flowers are in bloom, wildlife is abundant, and even if I missed that big pretty yellow butterfly that got away before I could make its image, I did see a monarch who posed for me twice, which I appreciate.

Sac and Fox—I hope to visit you again soon. No flat tyres on my mountain bike, and lots of fond memories. If you go on this trail, I would say use at least a hybrid bike, and a mountain bike is a good move. And remember—bathe in Bug Soother.

But it’s a wonderful trail. Wow—Trail’s Fantastic.

Deer near trail.

At the city park at the north end of the trial, there’s a frog statue that someone decorates. Today, Mr. Frog was wearing graduation attire. I snapped some selfies with it, and considered my next move. Originally, I had planned to ride back the way I came, but I was tired, the day was getting hot, and I decided on a bolder plan.

I headed north on East Post Road. Which is a very busy street. Fortunately, for much of it there is a paved half shoulder, so I was not in the way of traffic. When that shoulder gave out, there was a sandy shoulder, which luckily I could ride on with my mountain bike.

I got back to Marion and rode over to Menard's to catch the trail leading to the Boyson Trail and home.

I had left home a bit after 8, and returned by 12:30. It was a 30-mile ride, done in 4 hours, which is pretty slow, but not quite as slow as it seems. I had stopped for many pictures and had ridden particularly slowly on the side trail with the boardwalk. And the Sac and Fox is not a quick ride anyway—while I can go more than 10 mph on pavement on the Fancy Beast, I’m sure I was riding more slowly on the gravel-dirt-crushed limestone of this trail as it winds along the creek and river.

It was not the longest training ride of the summer so far, but I think it was the best.

Frog statue at trail's end, with his graduation outfit.

In Which 44 Miles Is Slightly Damp

Bridge of Lions, headed south,but wondering about that sky ...

It rained overnight, and there was a good chance of rain again today, but it was expected later in the afternoon.

So, after a morning trip to Anamosa to see a grandson’s racing club at elementary school complete the last mile of a marathon run one mile at a time, I was ready to hit the road—or bike trail.

It was about 10:30 a.m. by the time I left home on my road bike, and my goal was to be back by 2:30 for both lunch and nap purposes (sleep is very important to CR Biker, and naps are golden).

I rode over to the Cedar River Trail. Since my last longer ride had been to Center Point, I headed south. While I was still north of the river, I encountered a tiny injured bird on the trail. It was not too hurt to fly a little, and pathetically would soar up about 6 feet before landing back on the trail, taking a breather and then again failing to fly off.

I grabbed a leaf, gently picked up the bird and place it in the woods beside the trail. I don’t know if there was any hope for it, but then again, despite an apparently injured wing it could fly a little, so maybe with some rest time in a hidden place it could recover.

Birds became a bit of a theme of the bike ride. I saw a pretty small pure sky blue bird, an oriole and a yellow bird, as well as the “regular” crowd of robins, crows, hostile geese and cardinals.

The sky was also interesting during the ride. While not as hot as it has been, which was nice, the threat of rain seemed not far off, as the sky was filled with storm clouds between patches of blue.

I passed south through Cedar Rapids and went on to Ely. The trail used to end there, but now continues for a mile or so south of town.

End of the trail just south of Ely.

After a photo shoot at Seven Sisters Road, I started the return ride, although I stopped briefly at the park in Ely and watered up.

And then, on the way back north, the clouds opened up. I had just crossed the Bridge of Lions—and, oddly, the sun was shining, but droplets of water began to pelt me. As I neared the Federal Courthouse, the drops became larger and colder, and I worried I would hit some real rain.

Luckily, it was not to be. The isolated shower moved on. As I rode through downtown and by Cedar Lake, the wet pavement make it clear there had been more rain here, but fortunately not while I was riding.

Pond in Ely at park--with sky. Bridge of Lions on way back north, with sky about to start raining on me.

Besides the trail down to Ely, I had done the little spur over to the future bike bride. And when I got near home, I did the paved part of the Lindale Trail, so ensure the ride would total 40 miles.

Then I went home, ate a quick lunch, had a quick shower and by shortly after 3 was snoozing away in our back bedroom. Around 5, I heard voices and came awake.

A grandson was searching the house. I heard a cute little voice say “where is grandpa?” He eventually found me. We played, had supper and I suggested a bike ride to a park.

Unlike the longer earlier ride, I didn’t “Map my Ride” this one—but the grandson, my wife, daughter and I went to the playground at Noelridge Park, and from experience I know the round trip is 4 miles.

So 44 miles of biking, preceded by a birthday marathon finish by one grandson, then the bike ride featuring a bird rescue and ending with a playground break with a lovable 2-year-old.

As you can see, the sky was interesting to look at today. And it was a good day for biking, despite the occasional sprinkles.

Views of Cedar Lake--Catalpa in bloom and, of course, the sky.

In Which a Moonlight Ride Tops 50 Miles

Looking west across pond on C Avenue at start of ride. Sun going down in clouds.

So I did it—went for a second ride in the evening. It was very buggy, full of gnats wherever there were trees, but it was cooling off nicely. An almost full moon was rising as the sun was setting. I rode over to the Cedar River Trail one more time, heading down to Cedar Lake.

4

42nd Street--Moon over Cedar Rapids.

The air was still, and both the pond on C Avenue and Cedar Lake seemed almost as smooth as glass. The moon was pretty reflected in the waters, and I tried to take some pictures.

Three early evening views of Cedar Lake.

Anyway, with the morning and evening rides, I went 51 miles today, a good day’s practice.

On the way home, as it grows dark, final view of C Avenue pond.

In Which 37 Miles Proves Quite Enough

Drifts of cottonwood seeds on top of neighborhood hill this morning--summer snow of Iowa.

For the morning, it was enough, anyway. If I get a chance this evening, I may ride once more to ensure I break 40 miles and possibly approach 50 miles for the day, but my 37-mile morning ride was quite hot by the time I was finished, and I was a little late for a Memorial Day family feast, which was a bit awkward.

You know how bikers get on their bikes. Or perhaps you don’t. When I have a post-ride obligation, I try to set a turn-around time for myself in advance so that I’ll have plenty of time to get on with my life. But, today, as I too often do, I over-estimated how quickly the ride home would go. To be fair, I started the ride with a hill loop in my neighborhood, and so I knew the ride home would be a bit shorter and flatter than the ride out was.

But it would also be during a much hotter part of the day, I would be tired and dehydrated, and it would turned out I simply would not go more than 15 miles in about 50 minutes.

Door sign on restroom at depot in Center Point. The heat was on today--normal high temperatures in late May are in the 70s, but today we approached triple digits. The heat was indeed on.

I should have known.

Anyway, despite the minor faux pas, it was a very satisfying training ride—even with the heat. I started about 8:30 in the morning (I had planned a start time of about 7:30—but then again, sometimes CR Biker is one of Those Guys). After riding the Brentwood hill three times, I headed over to the Cedar River Trail. In my previous longish ride, I had gone south.

So, today was the first ride north to Lafayette and beyond. I ended up in Center Point, where I took a break, ate a snack (typo humor--I accidentally typed I "ate a snake" but corrected this one--doubtless I have left a few more for my sisters to find) and headed back home.

The return ride got to be a bit of a grind. The wind, which has been absent in Iowa, decided it would put in an appearance. It was mostly a side wind, but still slowed me. The wind was a bit awkward—on a warm day, wind can help cool you, but when it’s humid enough and hot enough, it has the opposite impact. Today, on balance, I think the wind was mostly OK, but it got less OK as the temperature warmed well past 90 on the last few miles.

During return ride, sunny stretch of Cedar River Trail, and honestly I did not often have the trail to myself. I just thought this caught the feeling of 10:30 a.m. on a hot Memorial Day.

Still, 37 miles is a respectable early summer total for a three-hour morning training ride. I tried to shoot some trail traffic images during the ride because plenty of bikers were out today, but none of those worked out, which probably means I was not messing with my camera when other bikers were really close to me—on balance, I suppose, a positive thing.

I did not forget that, besides being the unofficial start of summer, today is also Memorial Day, and I did think of the debt we all owe to the military men and women who gave their all.

So I shot the image of the flag flying on my front stoop as I arrived home, a bit late, I’m afraid. We’ll see what the evening brings.

My wife was up before me and put the flag out this morning. My front porch about 11:30. I was due home by 11.

In Which I Ride Off Into the Sunset

Art at Lowe Park frames setting sun.

It was very, very hot today. I went to church in the morning, and then played in the back yard with a grandson. After he went home, it was getting very hot and buggy, so next was nap time.

Then, my wife and I went to “The Black Panther” at the local second-run cheap movie theater. I’m a little late to that party, but it was a fine movie.

So it was after 8, and I had not biked today and wanted to get some miles in. So I got my road bike out, turned on the lights, and headed up to Lowe Park in Marion.

Honestly, while it was warm, the ride itself created a breeze, the sun was no longer bright, and it was past the hottest part of the day. Overall, I would say it was a good 13-mile ride, which I did in about an hour.

I hope to get more miles in tomorrow morning before the day gets fully hot. Sort of like a day of RAGBRAI.

On my way home on Boyson Road, pretty sky.

In Which I Ride a Hot Ride, Scout a Poor Shortcut

Crowd at farmer's market. Warm day for first one.

Seven Sisters Road, you did not seem to be a friend of mine.

The first farmers market of the season in downtown Cedar Rapids was today, a very hot summer day.

But it wasn’t too bad when I started out before 9 a.m. The ride downtown was fairly pleasant. Lots of bikers were out today.

My wife and I had thought of biking down as a family with two daughters and a grandson, but decided, wisely, I think, that the day would prove too warm for that kind of ride—so, instead, most of the family drove while I rode.

With grandson at farmers market.

The farmer’s market was warm and crowded, but fun. We got some candy at a shop downtown, and also visited the Cedar Rapids Public Library.

The ride home was much warmer, but not terrible. It was, for such a hot day, a decent ride.

And the biking news gets even bigger. We had checked on bikes at Cranky’s, a shop in Marion that is going out of business. We found a hybrid ladies bike that Audrey liked, but it was on hold for another customer. Well, today we got the call that the other customer backed out, so we went ahead and picked up the new bike. My wife rode it home and noted that it was quite light compared to her other bike.

Also, in the early evening, we decided to drive down to Solon to check on an idea for the Bookworms on Bikes ride. The county road form Ely to Solon is the most dicey part of the 50-mile ride from the Marion Public Library to the Iowa City Public Library (passing libraries in Hiawatha, Cedar Rapids, Ely, Solon, North Liberty and Coralville). It is a narrow, windy stretch with little shoulder. I looked at the map and noted two gravel roads would provide an alternative, so we checked them out.

I’m afraid my idea is probably not good. Seven Sisters Road curves into Polk Road on a rather nasty hill. Besides that, both Seven Sisters and Polk seem to be rather loose gravel—maybe OK for a mountain bike, but not a hybrid or road bike.

The one minor bonus is, based on my car odometer, the gravel route is about one mile shorter than the paved route.

Polk road. This is actually a nicer stretch, there is a nasty hill with plenty of loose gravel. I do not think this will work as a biking route.

Despite that, 4 miles of dicey gravel is probably at least 3 miles too many. I think the Bookworms should stick to the main road for now—and by next year's ride, maybe the next stretch of trail will be ready.

In Which My Attempts at a Rant Can’t Make It

Sign May 24 in downtown Cedar Rapids. Sarte plays must be a thing this summer.

Downtown Cedar Rapids, at the moment, sucks. The railroad passing through town and the city are redoing all the crossings, and the route through downtown in spring 2018 is fraught with gravel, badly marked and planned detours and an odd disconnect between the signs posted and reality—such as a section of trail being clearly open if you approach it from the west, but marked as closed if you approach it from the east.

And there is a farmers market Saturday, which I might try to bicycle to (downtown farmers markets are more accessible by bicycle than by car, in my opinion). But I’m not sure about getting there with all the awkward torn up reality of the Cedar River Trail through downtown.

You can cross the gravel walks riding a bicycle, but do so with care.

So, following Thursday’s 35-mile ride (link to gallery from that ride), which took me that way twice, I might be primed for a biker rant.

But, I just can’t. I can’t summon sufficient outrage or umbrage. The state of downtown is an annoyance, but it’s an annoyance in a background of a positively transforming bicycle landscape in Cedar Rapids.

As a recent story in The Gazette pointed out, in recent years, Iowa’s second city has become way more bicycle friendly.

And it’s not just all the bike trial projects. There’s nothing scientific about this, and I do have to watch for frequent rude and dangerous drivers, but the increasing network of bike lanes and trail projects seems to roughly correspond with more bike riders—and more bike riders correspond with a general background level of slightly less hostile drivers.

There’s a rule of thumb, I think. Drivers in the UK rarely hassle bikers because bicycles are “normal” transport and simply something one expects to encounter. A few rare bikers will enrage the minority of hot-headed drivers. But the more bikers you add, the more bicycle riders simply fade into the normal background. I don’t think we’re “there” yet in Cedar Rapids, I just seem maybe a few hopeful signs that we’re evolving in that direction.

I have not been honked or yelled at much this year, and I’m frequent riding on busier streets—taking the new bicycle lane on C Avenue Northeast as part of daily commute, for example.

As for the physical sad state of our main trail through downtown—I guess my attitude is, if it results in better trail-rail crossings in the long run, I’m not above putting up with some short-term inconvenience. I do wish that detours for bike trails were a bit more intentional and marked well (as I have noted before, I have long not been happy with the American style of being very attentive to auto detours whenever there is a street project, but at the same time leaving pedestrians and bikers on their own, in sharp contrast to my experiences in the U.K. where a detour sidewalk is part of the plan for every street project), but I’ll live with the project and let the city get on with it.

The real hazard in Cedar Rapids is not the irritating street work. It’s the geese. Beware of aquatic avian dinosaur parents!

Near Cedar Lake May 24--young geese with watchful parent. I stopped for a break during a long bike ride (below) and must wait for some dinosaur traffic before I get back to my bicycle.

In Which I See Strange Critters on the Summer Trail

Goose on the watch for dangerous bikers near Cedar Lake.

I was hoping to go 40 miles today, but it took a bit longer than I expected to get going this morning. Instead of leaving home by 8, it was pushing 9 by the time I left home, and I was due back by around noon.

It was muggy and warm. I started by riding the Brentwood hill a couple of times, and then headed over to the Cedar River Trail. I stopped about an hour into the ride at the park there, and shot some images of Goose families that were hanging around, occasionally honking in an unfriendly manner.

After  snack and refreshing my water supply, I was off again.

Downtown is a bit weird these days, with detour signs and trail closed warnings that are sometimes serious, sometimes just some odd public works humor. It seemed to take a while to work my way through downtown, but things improved after I got near the federal courthouse.

I crossed at the Bridge of Lions, and passed some city workers painting lines on the trail. A bit farther on, a man passed me, and then encountered a young deer by the trail. The deer, instead of immediately heading into the woods, appeared to parallel and pace the biker before jumping around on the trail and finally bounding off into the trees.

Deer jumping on Cedar River Trail.

It was about 10:40 by the time I reached the city park past the private pond. There, I ate some nuts and an apple, watered up again, and then headed for home.

The critter encounters weren’t completely over yet. As I passed along Cedar Lake for the second time, headed north this time, I noticed a rather large turtle just sitting in the grass beside the trail. I made some images of the turtle before heading on.

In the end, I rode 35 miles, which is not a bad ride. This weekend will feature some genuine heat. I think the practice ride today went well, and soon I’ll have a change to get used to some hot rides.

Flowers, peony and phlox on trail.

Turtle near Cedar Lake.

In Which I Top 20 on a Warm Summer-Like Day

On the Boyson Trail early in the evening. Buggy, but pretty night.

Muggy and warm—I am hoping to get some serious miles in soon, top 40 in a day, for example. I didn’t quite meet that goal today, which was kind of my first day of summer riding, because I was busy during the day doing other things—picking out plants in the morning, picking up grandchildren from school in the afternoon.

So I don’t feel too bad about the rides I was able to fit in. I rode just over 8 miles in the morning, and 12 miles in the evening, so I did manage 20 miles today.

It was a good day for RAGBRAI training—a warm, muggy day, but not really too hot for biking. The morning ride was on the mountain bike, and I still have to figure out how to really get the seat where I want it. I rode it because I was going to the gym and decided to do a ride on the nearby Boyson and Lindale trails. Because most of those trails are crushed limestone and we’ve had wet weather recently, I anticipated the trails might be mushy.

And they were, in part, but honestly they were in better shape than I expected.

Climbing hill on Lindale Trail.

By the afternoon, I was brave enough to hit the same trials on my hybrid bike. The afternoon ride started with meeting my daughter and grandson, and riding to some parks. Then, after dropping the daughter and grandson off for the night, we rode over to the Boyson Trail. We didn’t ride as much of the trial as I had in morning, partly because my wife has a computer on her bike and came up with the goal of our reaching 12 miles for our evening ride, which we were not that far from.

Today was a good start to summer rides, but I hope to get some real distance in yet this week.

In Which it’s Suddenly Iowa Summer

My commuting route has changed a little because Cedar Rapids put in a sidewalk all the way past Collins Road on C Avenue and added crossing lights at Collins Road. As they redid a stretch of C Avenue, they also planted trees along the sidewalk. This is one of those trees. Nice.

Well, not really. Spring flowers are still in bloom—although I’ve had plenty of early ones, regular peonies are still budding, and lilies are yet to be seen.

But the final crush and rush of school are finally subsiding. I still have lots of end-of-year details to iron out, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and there will be time for some serious bike miles. I rode 18 today, the day I finished my spring grading (with 4 ½ hours to spare, I’ll have you know), and I hope to have my first 40-mile day soon.

Cedar Lake during finals week--I'm riding my bike to a department meeting at a downtown restaurant.

Anyway, while I am enjoying the newly warm temperatures, I’ve also put some Bug Soother in my bike bag. That’s the one downside of summer rides in Iowa.

But when I look up and see the hillsides green or smell the locust trees—well, I’ll gladly use some sunscreen and insect spray. It’s the bike time of year!

Meeting venue. No bike rack, but eatery may still be worth another summer visit.

In Which I Like the Low Light

Pink post-sunset light in the sky at Cedar Lake on Friday. Take care riding around the lake--geese are not happy with visitors when they have babies with them.

It’s been a damp week in Iowa, although it seems to be drying out at the end. Despite the rains, I’ve been mostly able to bike, thanks to most storms hitting in the evenings.

And with the warmth and wet, it suddenly is warm mid-spring, with sounds of singing frogs and the air filled with flying insects.

As the light vanquishes darkness at this time of year, I’ve been enjoying the serenity of some bike rides during the dark times. On Thursday morning, I biked to the gym and took a short trail ride on the way home. It was foggy early in the morning, dim and cool, and I liked the quiet of that hazy, dank world.

Fog on the Lindale Trail Thursday morning (above). Later the same morning, clouds reflected in pond on C Avenue (below).

Today, Friday, I attended an annual banquet at work, and then rode home as the daylight failed.

Despite the encroaching dark, there were still lots of bikers and walkers on the trail. I had walked around Cedar Lake with my wife before the dinner, and took a spin around the lake just after sunset before heading home.

Friday early evening at Cedar Lake.

That trip home was a bit more involved than I realized, since I didn’t know the trail is closed, and when I got to that closure, I had a bit of backtracking before finding a street route home.

Still, I liked the twilight ride. Like the morning foggy ride, the evening ride was muted, a bit cool, mostly peaceful except when a mama goose took exception to my existence.

I’m glad warm weather is here, and that in a few weeks school will end so I can start putting in some daytime sunny training miles. But this week, the theme was enjoying bike rides in the satisfying low-light times.

Saw this hawk on the bike ride in to work Friday morning, Clouds starting to blow away.