In Which We Ride Dowtown

Group image before the ride.

When you’re alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go … downtown. So I am starting with an homage to Petula Clark. If you’re old like me, you’re welcome for the earworm.

On Friday, Bike Club went for a ride, the first regular ride of the fall semester. There were five students on the ride, and although they all resisted my excellent advice that helmets are a good idea, it was a warm, pleasant afternoon for a quick, refreshing ride.

I suggested heading down to Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids for our ride, and the students like the idea. However, a passing gentleman who was looking for the music department snapped our pre-ride group picture and suggested the CEMAR trail.

Hmmm. But that newish trail doesn’t really go anywhere besides the Plaster Complex, so we stuck with our original Greene Square plan.

I was riding my hybrid bike, and was in the lead. We headed down the Hill.

I have a several advantages on downhills—my bicycle rolls with less resistance than the heavier bikes MMU owns, so the lightness of my bike is one advantage. Then there is the overall weight of the rider. Gravitational acceleration is a constant no matter the weight, but increased mass of a biker does help with more force that does more to overcome air resistance, or something like that. I don’t know, I’m a writer. But anyway, I have often observed, with many, many field trials that fat old men can zoom down a hill more efficiently than most other bikers.

And I presume the advantage comes more from “fat” than from “old,” although maybe old men can afford better bicycles, but that’s an untested assumption.

Anyway, I ended up well ahead of the students and found myself waiting now and then. Perhaps my helmet just made me more aerodynamic, too.

Riding along Cedar Lake. I got ahead and stop to make image of club riders as they approach. And no, the student on the left did not ride on the grass, I think she is coming over to check on me, as a young person who protects old people.

We rode along the west edge of Cedar Lake and then headed downtown. It was humid and warm, and I think I was the only rider with a water bottle, so when we got to Green Square, the agenda item was drinks at the water fountain by the trail. We then rode slowly through the park (I went through the splash pad, but I think most students went around. Well, they weren’t wearing helmets.)

Chatting after getting drinks and before heading back t campus.

On the way back to campus, two of the students were chatting. We had seen a woman who was not in our group take a minor tumble—nothing serious, and she had friends to aid her, although what went through my mind was “students, did you notice she has a helmet on?”

Anyway, one of the students was telling another something about what happens when she is with “old people.” I was right behind them, and did caution the student, jokingly, about what would be said next. It turns out the speaking student works with elderly people in a nursing home and feels obligated to protectively look after them.

Well, that seems nice. Says the old man.

Long shadows by Cedar Lake on our way back to campus.

Overall, it was a very agreeable ride. My Bike Club leader rejected the idea, for now, of riding up Mt. Trashmore, but we’ll see.

Finally, before the ride, we noted that a seat and seat post had been removed from one bicycle. Another bike is completely gone—bike seven may have been stolen, we presume. Blah. Earlier this semester, we lost a bike that had been left locked along the Cedar River Trail and was damaged beyond repair. Now, sadly, bad things are starting to happen to bikes right on campus.

That’s not an uplifting note to end on, I’m sure. But despite the unpleasant reminders of the darker side of human nature, the first club ride was very nice, and more MMU Bike Club rides are to come. Watch the MMU app for times, as the club will probably vary its rides so that students who were at athletic practices late on a Friday afternoon can participate.

And we may ride downtown again:

In Which I Climb a New Mountain

Bikes parked near start of trail up Mount Trashmore, in the background.

I wasn’t sure whether I would go—I’m very busy this fall—but the opening ceremony for biking and hiking trails on Mount Trashmore was rescheduled for today, after being delayed by high water on the Cedar River.

In the end, I did go. I’m glad I did. I wondered if the views from the top of a closed landfill would live up to the hype. I would say yes. And it was just too nice of a day—a warm fall day—to not bike downtown for the ceremony on the south side of the river.

In case I went, this morning I decided to take my good camera and ride my mountain bicycle to work.

I got done with morning meetings with students, and packed up to leave campus around 11:15. I wasn’t sure if I was leaving myself enough time. But I arrived at the site by maybe 11:50, so I had plenty of time. I chatted with Claire, a former student who is a radio personality in Cedar Rapids, and had time to take some pictures before the brief ribbon cutting took place.

The road up Mt. Trashmore.

Then it was time to get on the bike and ride up the hill. The road up is one of three trails on Mount Trashmore—there is the access road, open to walkers and bikers, a walkers-only path, and a single lane dirt track that is only for bicycles headed downhill. The Gazette called it a “roller coaster for bicycles,” which I think was pretty true.

Anyway, the climb does go on for a while, and is on sometimes loose gravel. I was very glad to be on the mountain bike.

After a climb and a bend, you arrive at the lookout, but you can continue up a bit to a dead end at the top of the hill. The view from both the top and the lookout were quite fine this pretty fall day.

Pavilion to look out on the city.

View from the top.

I parked The Fancy Beast bicycle and walked around some, enjoying the sights, taking pictures and recovering from the ride up the hill. I also had a decision to make: Take the road back down, or try a narrow dirt path with some bumps and switchbacks—a path designed for and only appropriate for mountain bikes.

 I’m not much of a daredevil, and the trail, which switched back and forth in view of the lookout, looked a little dicey. But I decided, what the heck. So I hopped on my bicycle and began the descent.

Watching bikers headed down single-lane dirt downhill mountain bike trail. And, below, the start of the trail, which I did ride down. Wheee!

My free shirt.

Well. It was a good test of my balance and brakes. I did skid on some of those treacherous turns, and rode on air briefly on some of the bumps. I think that my body had a lot less work to do, but nonetheless the downhill ride was probably as much of a workout for my heart as the uphill had been.

At the bottom, I enjoyed a nice cold water bottle and banana, and even picked up a free T-shirt the solid waste agency was giving away. It had been a very fun trip up the mountain, and I was glad I had been there and had climbed it. And glad I had decided to zoom down it.

As I rode back to campus, I was on the trail at Cedar Lake. As if the lake were a bit jealous of a riverside trash heap stealing the day, a group of Monarch butterflies suddenly appeared and began frolicking and drinking in flowers on the banks. Well, the biking day had already been full, but became just a little bit cooler.

Mt. Trashmore trails are only open when the landfill site is, and signs say you have to check in. I would encourage you to go try it on a nice day. And ride a mountain bike, even if you decide to stick to the road. Neither the gravel road up the hill nor the dirt path down it are road or hybrid bike places. But Mount Trashmore is still a nice ride—and one I’m sure I’ll do several times next summer for hill practice as I get ready for RAGBRAI.

Seen on the ride back--Monarchs at Cedar Lake.

In Which Tuesday Brings Some Wet Scenery

Dry Creek Tuesday morning--more like wet river.

It was a nice day for biking Tuesday, although very warm and humid during the afternoon ride home.

But it was also just a bit eerie. Days of rain have swollen the creek behind my house to modest river size. While I am grateful for the ride today, I am a bit apprehensive—the Cedar River is on the rise, as it every other waterway in this part of Iowa. While the pavement was nice and dry, the world looked like a slightly sad, damp place today.

Afternoon clouds at MMU.

And the rain is supposed to return tonight—I may have to drive in the morning.

The Linn County Mayor’s Bike Ride, which was to also be an MMU Bike Club ride, didn’t happen Monday due to a morning storm. But on Saturday, I replaced a worn tyre on my hybrid bike Clarence, and on Sunday I used it for a family ride to an apple orchard in Marion. It was in full “bus” mode, with a 2-year-old in the toddler seat and an older grandson on the Tag-A-Long.

And there was pie after that, so even in the wet season, there is some summer fun.

Here’s hoping that the open path to the Gulf of Mexico won’t stay so far ajar too much longer. This has been an odd year, with dry patches and extensive wet stretches—a year that you can believe in climate change because it’s too obvious to ignore.

Well, at least I did get to ride both Sunday and Tuesday. We’ll see what the rest of the week brings. Mt. Trashmore trails are set to open later this week—we’ll see if I can sample them, or if that even happens as most routes down there via bike may be closed by flooding.

Bike on campus Tuesday morning.