In Which Before Snow I Take a Short Ride

Lindale Trail, about 4:30 p.m., Jan. 16. From the woods, below, a deer watches as I pass by on the trail.

Snow Saturday was followed by temperatures in the 30s, so I had some hope for biking this week.

Mother Nature had over plans. Cloudy, cool weather included bouts of freezing drizzle, making this a week for driving rather than riding.

Drove to campus Sunday to work on the newspaper--a bike in the rack by the library. Not my bike. Winter is hard.

By today, I thought “maybe,” but did not have time this morning (students gave speeches yesterday and I was up late finishing all the grading). And mid-day, something odd happened—a bright source of light appeared briefly in the milky Iowa winter sky, bathing us with visible star radiation. I drove home about 3:30 and felt a bit sad that I had not biked.

Snow person at the top of the hill.

I stopped to gas up the van—I’m picking up my wife at the airport tomorrow, if all goes well (knock on wood, and I feel for you, unpaid TSA agents). I also picked up some groceries. By the time I got home, it was still just a few minutes before 4. I had planned to feed the birds, so I filled the feeders in the back yard—and it was still light out.

The days are getting a bit longer.

I wheeled the mountain bike out of the garage. I didn’t plan a long ride, I have more grading tonight. I rode up to the Lindale Trail and went back and forth on the paved part of the trail. And then, because it was such a short ride, I went up the Hampden Hill, down the back side of the Crandall Hill and then back again.

Snow is expected tonight, with more in the next week. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to ride again, and I’m glad, even if it was short, that I did take a ride today.

Another view of snow figure at the top of the Bowman Woods hill.