In Which Singing Rings Out on Day One

Lowe Park, looking west from the east end. Sunny day, but to the south, clouds are coming.

A few minutes later, I've stopped at home and decided I can head north. I'm on may way west to Cedar River Trail, looking at grey south sky.

July 19, 2020—today was the day that the first riding day of RAGBRAI would have taken place, and did not. I don’t blame the RAGBRAI organizers—there is no way that you could draw tens of thousands of bikers from around the world together in crowded town scrums and campgrounds, and not have it be a super-spreader event.

But, this week, my sister and I, who normally ride RAGBRAI, are doing “not-RAGBRAI,” a biking stay-cation. We are attempting to ride close to the total number of miles one would cycle this week.

Sadly, there is no way we will get all the pie one would get on RAGBRAI, but sacrifices must be made.

How did day one of “not-RAGBRAI” go? Rather well. My sister was tied up (she was preaching in church this morning), so she joined me in the afternoon. I got on the road by a few minutes before 8—rather late, honestly, by RAGBRAI standards. My goal was to reach at least 60 miles today.

I began by riding towards the Lindale Trail, to cut back through the side trail back to Boyson Road, heading for Lowe Park. As I rode the Lowe Park trail, the sky, which had been mostly clear and blue, began to darken and look a bit threatening.

Well, there was a very low chance of a thunderstorm today, and it looked like we were going to lose the weather Lotto. I headed back towards home to use wifi to check the weather.

My wife was a bit surprised to have me show up as she was eating breakfast. I had planned to take my first restroom stop at the trailhead in Hiawatha, but instead used my own facilities. I checked the weather radar on my phone, and there were storms in Iowa, but they seemed to be passing to the south. “Maybe you should go north,” my wife said.

Bike parked at Center Point, above and below. I thought this would be the turnaround point, until I started thinking of going under the bridge ...

I had been unsure whether I would aim for Center Point or ride south on the Cedar River Trail. This decided me. North, it was. The sky continued to look interesting now and then, but more sunny than cloudy, and no raindrops fell on me today.

The morning was warm, but pleasant. A breeze picked up, and a few times in the morning ride, in shady areas of the trail, I found myself actually feeling a bit cool. I had to remind myself to drink enough, and decided that, since I was not wearing a watch (usually I drink at least once every 15 minutes on a ride), I would drink every 2.5 miles. I didn’t always do well adhering to that schedule, but it helped, I think.

I reached Center Point, and had about 30 miles on the ride by 11 a.m. I decided it was lunch time, so I grabbed the peanut butter sandwich from my “Hello Kitty” lunch box, and ate that, a banana and some cookies.

Time to continue the ride. It occurred to me that I had ridden under I-380 earlier this summer, and failed to record a video of the tunnel, so I decided to head a bit north before turning south. As I rode, “Under the Bridge,” an appropriate Red Hot Chili Peppers tune, was my earworm. My mind started to re-write the words to be about today’s ride, and so, of course, as I rode under the bridge I sang a “not-RAGBRAI,” Cedar Valley Nature Trail, version of Under the Bridge.

You will be pleased to note, despite the temptation for authenticity, that this blog’s rock star kept his shirt on for this song.

After that, I did turn south. As I neared Hiawatha, I got a text from my sister, and met her close to Hiawatha on the trail. We rode together down to Cedar Lake, were I paused to eat a bag of nuts. She decided to continue riding north with me as I headed towards home—I had enough miles by the time we got to the lake, I was confident I would top 60 on the way home.

Rock star on the trail. With a shirt on.

More official bike picture north of I-380 on Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

My sister's trike and my bike parked at Cedar Lake park. My final break stop on ride.

Cate developed some shoe problems and decided to cycle home, so we rode together to Council Street, were we parted ways.

I got home, showered, took a nap, and had a RAGBRAI-appropriate feast of pasta, veggies and fruit prepared by my lovely host in this town. I think I like this staying in a house rather than camping on RAGBRAI, especially my house.

Day one, done. I won’t get as many miles on day 2—I have a Monday morning meeting. But my sister, who started riding at mid-day today, did reach 50 miles.

My goal Monday is a bit more modest—I’ll not be unhappy if I get 40 miles in the afternoon. Still, 50 would be nice, too. There is a chance of rain some days this week (my wife helpfully noted that on real RAGBRAI, I would just ride in the rain, hint, hint). But it seems like the weather gods will cooperate—Saturday’s 100-degree heat index is not expected to return.

I hope a couple of daughters may be able to join our not-RAGBRAI ride later this week. We’ll see. But day one went well.