In Which Deer Gaze at a Biker

Computer data from computer and linked cell phone app on today's ride.

The ride today was cool but nice. It started about 2:45 in the afternoon and didn’t end until after 6, but it was just a tad over 31 miles.

My average speed was 9.6 mph—pretty slow, but I’ll take it. The Wahoo computer says I once was going 22 mph. There weren’t big hills, but some downhill grades. There was more than 1,000 feet of climb on this ride.

I ended the ride rather tired, but I still felt good about getting in more than 30 miles on a winter day.

Seen at Greene Square, mural on parking garage and some Christmas lights in the park.

Earlier in the day, I had met some family members for a walk around Cedar Lake—and by luck, there were several eagles hanging around. I had brought the good camera with me, and I got a few images.

Eagle over Cedar Lake midday today.

Maybe I was hoping to see them again (I had the good camera with me just in case). It wasn't the only reason I rode the route I did—with rain yesterday, I wanted to ride on paved trails. I have recently gone out to Lowe Park, and before that went north past Lafayette. Thus, since I wanted a ride on a paved trail, the eagles weren’t the only reason I headed south on the Cedar River Trail.

The eagles were a no show for the bike ride. But I did enjoy a mural on the parking garage at Greene Square, celebrating the coming national trail that is planned to use this route.

I rode on, down to the site of the Connect bridge, and then turned back to cross the river. A pleasant surprise awaited me at the end of the Bridge of Lions—the closed trail section there has been opened. I rode the new segment of trail and headed south to the small city park at the edge of town.

It had been cloudy and dim, and was now starting to get dark. I rested for a few minutes at the park, and turned on all my lights for the ride home.

Views of two trails. The sky (above) on the levee trail on the north side of the river, and the new trail beside the new levee on the south side (below).

Riding the dusky trail in early dark was a bit spooky, and at one point fairly early on the ride home, I was a bit startled to come upon two does, standing by the trail. They just stood there, stared at me, apparently as startled by me as I was by them.

That was the only spooky thing that happened on the way home, but to be truthful, I did sing Christmas songs along the darker parts of the trail, to give any deer a heads-up, just in case. Just so you know if you wondered at any odd sounds you may have heard along the Cedar River Trail early this evening.

Monday is not looking good for a ride—it should snow. So today’s ride was probably the last one of 2019. It was nice to make it a 30-mile one! Some views of the ride home:

A bit of blue in the fading light by the Cedar River Trail.

Grain plant across the river.

Downtown lights in Hiawatha.

Christmas lights about a mile from home.

In Which the Cool Night Sky Honks at Me

Above and below--data from my Wahoo bike computer and linked phone app on today's ride.

We’ve had a run of warm weather this Christmas week, which is set to come to a temporary end as rain and winter temperatures are moving in. Saturday is supposed to feature a cool rain all day which may end with a bit of snow.

Today was cooler than it’s been for a while, but it was still much warmer than usual. My wife got me an electric leaf blower for Christmas. I had always been anti-blower—a rake is quiet and provides more exercise—but she was of the opinion that heart attacks are something I should avoid, and I guess I kind of go along with that sentiment.

Anyway, starting about 11 a.m., we spent the middle of the day “raking” the backyard with the new blower. In about 3 hours, we got it done. She actually did most of the blowing while I used our yardy cart to transport leaf piles to the woods behind our fence.

The main thing is we got the job done in about 3 hours. I have to admit, it would have been a much longer job with strictly rake power, and while I still wielded rakes and lifted a lot of leaves, I don’t think it was nearly as physically taxing. with the aid of the blower.

Still, we both, after a quick lunch, took longish naps—I went to sleep a bit after 2 and didn’t wake up until 4 p.m.

My plan all along was to take a bike ride today. I went in the backyard to retrieve a jacket I had left there earlier when the chores of the day had warmed me up. By after 4, it was notably cooler. I next wheeled my road bike out of the garage, lit the lights (it was getting to be nearly sundown) and headed out towards the Lowe Park Trail.

Along the way, I made some images. There are three great spots to watch the sunset that I know of. One is the campus of MMU, which features a central green space overlooking woodsy hills, which has a nice view of the afternoon sky. But the best local sunset spot, in my opinion, is Cedar Lake, where one can look west from the east shore and enjoy the sunset sky reflected in the water. Well, not when the water is all frozen, but it’s still a good sunset watching place.

And the other great spot is Lowe Park, which features expanses of flat land that display a pretty sky very nicely.

Christmas lights on fence seen on the way to Lowe Park. These are either on Geode or Third  Street (Geode becomes Third Street when it crosses 29th Avenue in Marion).

On this short, late bike ride, I took my good camera, planning to make images of the pretty sky of Lowe Park. I was entertained by flying flocks of geese--at one point, two flocks intersected and intermingled in some twilight flight of theirs, making quite a noise. It was a pretty ride in which the sky was often honking at me.

And the sky did not disappoint. I’ll up a whole bunch of images after these words.

Seen on Tower Terrace Road on ride to Lowe Park.

The trail at Lowe Park might be a bit dicey to ride in the dark. I was a bit concerned, because of two significant dips I knew of, and I didn’t particularly want to hit them while flying along at 12 mph or more. Turns out, both of the dips have been recently repaired and the trail was actually quite nice, even in fading light. Good on you, city of Marion.

More images from the pretty sunset and post-sunset ride, starting with a pond on Irish Drive and then going on to the sky at Lowe Park. These are in time order, so you will note the sky getting darker. The final image is on the way home from the Trail along Geode, Christmas lights and Venus:

In Which the Eve of the Eve Features 25 Miles

The time is wrong--it was after 2 p.m. when I finished although 11:13 could be the start time. Data on today's ride on the bike computer (above). Below, I wear gloves to ride this time of year, but usually winter gloves, not biking gloves.

Warm, dry weather continues. We’ll have a tender Tennessee Christmas in Iowa this year (I know there’s more snow in Colorado).

Today featured milky sunshine and breezy weather. The morning was frosty and the pavement wet, but by 11, I decided to head out on a bike ride. The goal today was to rake the backyard, but it was so nice out I decided the yard will still be there later—the siren call of the bicycle trail was too strong to resist.

So I got out my road bike, Argent, and headed over to the trail. Along the way, in Hiawatha, I noticed a house with a sleigh set to be pulled by bicycles.

Bike-themed Christmas decorations.

Would ET guide the sleight tonight? “ET with your digit so bright, won’t you make bikes fly tonight …”

I decided to head north, since I don’t often go that way this time of year. Typically, the county does not snow plow bike trail north of town, and honestly, I don’t expect them to—but with the weather so warm, I figured the trail would be clear.

And it was.

Seen along the Cedar River Trail north of Hiawatha today (above and below). I saw a blue jay, but it proved too quick for me to capture its image.

It was midday on a Monday. There were some bikers and runners out on this unusually warm winter day, but the trail was pretty quiet.

I set an easy pace, and rolled up north to Lafayette. I went about a mile north, to the busy county road one encounters north of Lafayette, and there turned back.

I enjoyed the ride. It was only 25 miles, although that’s a good distance at this time of year. I got back by 3 (the time on the bike computer is several hours off), and after a quick bite, I took a long nap.

Not a bad way to spend the eve of Christmas Eve. May all your rides be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases feature pleasant 25-mile bicycle rides.

It's the brown time of year, but still plenty that's pretty to see. Milkweed seeds (above) and grass (below) along the Cedar River Trail north of Hiawatha.

In Which We Count Warm Pre-Christmas Rides

Saturday, selfie on the bike before we leave for pre-party ride.

Winter Solstice—shortest day of the year. The family Sheller clan gathering was gathering that day, two miles away at my sister’s house.

And it was sunny and warm, even if the nearest star is at its lowest winter angle.

I was in the backyard in the morning—first I filled the bird feeders, then I lurked to make images. My wife opened a window and suggested that I contact my daughter who lives nearby. She was planning to go to the family party with us, and my wife suggested that I ask a grandson, her son, if he wanted a ride on my bike before the party.

I called my daughter. She agreed. It was a bit past 11 when they arrived. I got the bicycle ready by inflating tyres, oiling the chain and installing the child seat. The 4-year-old is definitely at the upper end of size for this seat—not too heavy, but getting too tall to fit into it. Nonetheless, he welcomed the chance to ride.

We loaded up and headed out. First, we rode south, going around the pond at Collins Aerospace and then down C Avenue past Collins Road. We cut over to Harding Middle School and then crossed Noelridge Park, on the way to the Cedar River Trail.

My grandson was into numbers on the ride. He wanted to see how high he can count—he needed some help to transition from thirty to forty rather than skipping up to sixty, but with a little coaching, counted all the way to 100. He also tallied things seen on the ride—five squirrels, for example. I don’t recall the dog count, but lower than the squirrels. Two red trucks. One firetruck (not counted as a “red” truck, those were pickup trucks).

After the party, he said he was going to ride home in the van with grandma and mom, so I took the seat off the bike and stowed it in the van. And he changed his mind, so I reassembled the bicycle and he rode home on the bike. Luckily, taking the seat on or off the bike is very easy, just screwing in one nut that has a handle on it for that purpose.

That was Saturday. Sunday was another busy day—church, shopping, lunch out, getting a haircut (the grandson had declared a while ago that his next haircut would take place with grandpa—we had to get our hair cut together. Today we made it so.)

Light was fading when it was time for the grandson to go home—but he wanted to roll there, so we got the bike out and turned on the lights.

The ride on this pretty day was shorter, but enjoyable. We headed down Boyson Road, rolled around a neighborhood for a while looking at lights, and then headed to his apartment. After leaving him off, I took an early evening ride east to the “Christmas house” that is in my sister’s neighborhood.

A man was outside fooling with his lights. I paused to make an image, and we chatted. He noted that Santa comes out every night to hand out candy canes. I asked him how long he has had the extensive display of lights. “Nineteen years,” he said.

An impressive number on a weekend of pleasant, unusually warm for this time of year, number-oriented bicycle rides.

The "Christmas house" in northeastern Cedar Rapids.

In Which I Hit the Dusty Trail

Sundown, Indian Creek seen from bridge on Boyson Trail.

On this day, my wife and I have been married for 37 years. It’s almost scary to me that a person born the day that we said “I do” would today likely have children in middle school, but there it is.

She fixed French toast for breakfast and we went to Red Lobster for lunch. We went to a school and listened to a grandchild recite some poems and then came home and took naps. It’s been a good day.

When I got up from the nap, my wife was still asleep. We had discussed whether I would go on an afternoon bicycle ride, and she encouraged me to go. I’m not expert on marriage, but I believe one key to one that lasts is respecting each other as separate people, and my wife is a treasure partly because she usually says “go” when the question is whether I should ride.

From MapMyRide on my phone.

She gets some time to herself that way, too, so it’s a win-win.

I decided today to ride the mountain bike. During Tuesday’s ride, my feet got rather uncomfortably cold—my bike shoes are not exactly insulated. I wanted to ride with boots today. I could have done so with any of my bicycles—the ones with clips have two-sided pedals that allow for riding with regular shoes, too.

But for today’s ride, I was toying with the idea of riding down the Lindale Trail to the Boyson Trail. That limestone trail is a bit rutted right now, given recent mushy conditions. I thought it would be cold enough today that the trail would be frozen and hard—it was—but also a bit too rough for the road bike or the hybrid bike.

And so I wheeled the Fancy Beast out of my garage around 3:30 this afternoon. And, when I got to the trail, it was indeed good to have the wide mountain bike tyres. It was another cool winter ride, but the insulated boots did keep me more comfortable.

The ride was a bit shorter today, but it was still pleasant. Day 2 of Christmas break. On Day 3, I’ll cycle to campus to get some work done—maybe using the road bike, since it should be warmer tomorrow. That way all three bikes get used this week.

Two more views from this afternoon's ride--trail (above) creek (below).

In Which Dark Skies Make for Pretty Rides

Dec. 3, above, pretty winter sky. Below, hybrid bike with snow on its tyre on campus, mountain bike on campus in December sunshine.

After a cold and snowy November, December has been mixed. There have been days of snow when I couldn’t ride, but all in all, for December, there has been some nice bike weather.

And, while I prefer for my way to be lit by the sun, the low light of winter evenings has its own charms.

Relatively warm weather in December has been nice for work commute rides using the mountain bike or the hybrid. Today, I finished grading for the semester around noon, and went to an afternoon movie (Frozen II, and I do recommend it) and then rode the hybrid bike down to Cedar Lake.

It was my first ride in a few days, and I felt a bit worn at end the end. But the golden light of the low winter sun was very pretty, as you can see: