In Which There Is New Pavement

Near Thomas Park--Trail Closed sign, but more pavement beyond it.

There is mixed biking news from my small corner of the cycling planet: One of my favorite trails will be closed for a time this summer. The Cedar Valley Nature Trail, which one can ride from Hiawatha to the suburbs of Waterloo, will be closed now and then between Center Point and Urbana.

True, I don’t ride to Urbana all that often—maybe 2 or 3 times a year—and the run to Center Point is enough of a ride for me most days. But no longish ride to Waterloo this summer, it looks like. There are good things coming—the trail is being closed for improvements that will yield a paved route all the way to Urbana, which I will like.

Meanwhile, the Lindale-Boyson trail complex remains not accessible. The Lindale Trail in Marion has been closed for months due to a large bridge project. In addition, derecho damage tree removal and a paving project related to plans to tie this trail to one leading to central Cedar Rapids means the nearest, and in the past, most-used, bike trail is not accessible to me.

Other end of the pavement, my bike Clarence at the T intersection where paving ends near Menards.

Another view of Trail Closed sign, showing location just north of bridge by Thomas Park.

Gravel at end of the paving seems rougher than limestone surface was--are they planning to pave here, too? I hope ....

After riding to the south end of the trail by Menards, I take street route back home. Using sidewalk on busy street, I pass over the trail on the bridge. Someday, I'll get to ride on the paving beyond the closed sign.

The first nice summer day when I have time, I’ll have to ride down to Solon just to enjoy a long ride.

Recent rides have featured some fun treks with grandchildren. Now that the back wheel of Clarence, my hybrid bike, is fixed, I’ve been using the Tag-A-Long seat. We were watching three children while their parents went to a race out of town, and Sunday, a granddaughter and I pedaled over to their house to let the dogs out. Then we met the rest of the crowd at a park, where another granddaughter got a ride.

Later, my 5-year-old biking buddy rode. And Wednesday, on the day he graduated from preschool, we spent part of the afternoon biking to a park and then to his house. After dropping him off, I left the Tag-A-Long at home and rode out for a cool, cloudy solo ride. I headed over to Marion and cycled through some neighborhoods, taking a roundabout to cross the busiest road and end up by McDonald's.

Tossing stick into C Avenue Pond during Wednesday afternoon ride (above). Below, same grandson, images from Sunday ride including geese by C Avenue Pond.

We never rent one, but grandson loves to "window shop" a video kiosk during bike rides.

 No, a Big Mac was not the goal—the MD is near the school track, which is accessible to the south end of the Boyson Trail via a foot bridge. I cycled across the bridge and ended up on the newly paved end of the trail. The trail, for now, ends at Thomas Park. At the other end, it terminates in a T with some rough gravel near Menards. But riding concrete where I was  used to limestone was a dreamy experience. There is a little rise by a Frisbee golf course—I used to think of it as “the hill” on this trail, in quotes, because honestly it wasn’t all that much when one was riding on limestone. It merely required a bit more care because not-flat limestone means watching for ruts.

On paving, I simply glided over “the hill” without changing gears, cruising like I was on a flat. I’m sure in wind I would be shifting, but still…

It was a nice foretaste of better rides to come. It’s not pleasant to have trails I enjoyed in the past closed, but the expansion of biking infrastructure in the years before I retire will, I hope foreshadow my using bike tyres a lot once I reach that stage in life.

And paved trails are the best. It will make parks easier to get to while dragging grandchildren on the Tag-A-Long!