In Which Four Rides Exceed 20 Miles

March 24--Spring break has ended and classes at Mount Mercy University began this morning. When I saw the sun making this daffodil outside the library shine in the morning sun, I regretted not having a bicycle in a nearby bike rack. But that time isn't quite here yet, even if it is coming.

One week of bicycle riding plus a day. Monday of last week was the first ride that I took this year—due not to winter, but to a heart bypass operation I had in January.

Today, the next Monday, was ride four. That first ride 8 days ago was just over 2 miles, and today I cycled 8.2 miles. The ride today was notable for another reason, too—I rode from the Lindale Trail to the Boyson Trail, and returned the reverse way—to get from the Boyson Trail to the Lindale Trail, I had to climb a modest hill.

Granted, I climb a little hill on C Avenue to get from my house to the bike trail in the first place, but this trail hill feels like a more substantial, slightly steeper, climb. It is not a mountain, not a big hill at all—but still. I feel pretty good about biking 8 miles—a pretty big increase in my ride mileage—and adding an extra incline into those miles, too.

March 24--Some big utility project in Marion means the north end of the Boyson Trail is closed for now, and limestone area of the trail is quite rutted. I have not been on my mountain bike yet--my rides so far have been on the lighter road bike--but I did miss the mountain bike today. Still, most of my route today was paved, and even if the trail was rutted, I just slowed down and was careful and didn't have any problems.

I know 8 miles is a nothing ride to any serious biker but my theme for 2025 is simply to return to biking, to slowly build my stamina without injuring myself and to enjoy rolling across the planet again.

In the past, say fall of 2024, I rode a bicycle to work most days. I have not done that yet in 2025. Riding to work requires an early morning start and a commitment to bike back home when I am tired in the afternoon. Once I start, I still won’t be able to do it every day—I have cardiac rehab every Tuesday and Thursday and need to commute by vehicle on those days so I can drive to those appointments—so any bike commuting in spring semester will have to be Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

March 18--Second ride, a bit over 3 miles--my wife and I drove to a park in Robins next to a bike trail and did a bit of afternoon riding there. Still moving slowly, still a little shaky, but completed ride two.

It's also complicated by medical advice to avoid prolonged exposure to less than 40-degree air. I am not sure that guideline is really as important as it was in the weeks immediately following my surgery—but still, I’m waiting for somewhat better morning weather before I take that first ride to work.

On the other hand, the 8 miles I biked today is a bit more than a ride to and from work, by the most direct route, would take. My two-way commute via the shortest route adds up to a bit over 7 miles. And on riding to work there is the issue of climbing—there are more rises on the ride to work, no huge hill, but several places where I would need hill-climbing gear.

I’m working my way back to bike commuting. I’m not quite there yet, but I am getting close. Maybe that will be in next week’s biking report—it depends on warmer morning weather, but as March goes on, the chances of good biking weather do go up.

I hope wherever you are, if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, that you are starting to enjoy spring rides. Slowly, I am, too. So, for 2025 I have just over 21 miles—not a huge number, but much bigger than zero. I feel good about being back on two wheels and I look forward to adding more miles as time goes on.

March 21--Pretty spring day on Lindale Trail, which has been my go-to place for these first rides of 2025.

In Which I Have the Biking Luck of the Irish

My road bike, out of the garage for the first time in 2025. I've just aired the tyres, and making this image is a chance to catch my breath.

Saint Patrick’s Day 2025 started early for me—I had a 7:45 a.m. appointment with my cardiologist to check my meds and confer on how my recovery from heart bypass surgery that I had Jan. 10 is going.

The news was mixed but mostly good. One of my questions was: When can I start riding a bicycle outside? I have been exercising on an indoor bike, and I ride an exercise bike at cardiac rehab sessions twice a week, so I was feeling my body is ready.

Honestly, the biggest reason they’ve kept me off outdoor bikes isn’t the bike riding itself—which clearly I can do if I take it easy—it’s the risk of an accident or fall while my breastbone knits back together. And, the lesser question of how stable my repaired chest pump is.

Well, today was the day, two months and a week after surgery I heard the magic words that I wanted to hear:

“You can ride your bike,” the cardiologist said.

With several asterisks. I am not yet fully recovered—I get short of breath if I walk more than a block or so. I have a temporary handicapped parking permit for the university where I teach, because two of the buildings I teach in are beyond easy walking range for me.

Yet, I can walk some distance, as I proved today when my wife and I took four grandchildren down to watch the SaPaDaPaSo parade in downtown Cedar Rapids. (SaPaDaPaSo is the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Society’s self-titled name, it’s basically the St. Patrick’s Day parade).

One of several St. Patricks seen in the March 17 SaPaDaPaSo parade in Cedar Rapids.

It was a warm, breezy, and sunny spring day, requiring a jacket in the morning and sunscreen in the afternoon. The parade is popular, and our parking spot was six blocks from the route. Which meant I walked a mile going to and from—a mile that winded me and required me to use a slow pace, but I got the job done.

Encouraged by the morning medical meeting and my conquering of a mile on foot in early afternoon, I decided today was the day. About 4:30 p.m., I wheeled my road bike out of the garage. Airing up the tyres proved an exhausting ordeal—your correspondent has a healing heart and breastbone, and tires easily while pumping tyres. But like a mile walk, I got the job done.

Then I started out on my ride. I turned south on C Avenue, climbing the relatively mild hill that leads to the Lindale Trail—but there was a brisk south wind, so I was climbing both a hill hill and a wind hill. And getting quite winded, to be honest. So, I shifted down further than I normally would. I had not been on two wheels on an actual ride since December, and I felt a little wobbly at first, but bicycle riding is one of those skills that comes back quickly, and one of my superpowers is being able to balance while moving rather slowly, so I just inched my way up both (actual and breeze-induced) hills.

My plan was to pause and catch my breath when I reached the trail, but when I turned to go on the trail, it turned out the wind wasn’t entirely a south one—it was a south by southwest breeze, and it gave me a boost and room to relax and breath while still moving on the bicycle. I rested as planned, I just didn’t have to stop to do it.

I rode down to Lindale Avenue, about 1.3 miles from my house. There I turned around. I knew this first ride would be very short, and I had already had the long walk today, and I had been enjoined by my heart doctor to enjoy bike rides but make sure I did not tax my healing body too much.

Selfie I took before starting journey back home. Happy to be riding!

Although the breeze wasn’t quite as helpful as I headed back west, it was mostly a side breeze and the trail was mostly flat. I took it easy and enjoyed the day.

The woods beside the trail are still in their winter sleep, but spring comes from the ground up, and although the grass is mostly in its drab, brown winter hues, it did today have a touch of St. Patrick’s Day magic—a tinge of Irish green.

Well, I’m half Irish (my mother was Irish, my father Hungarian). I felt I had some Irish luck going for me today. It felt great to be riding, even if the ride was deliberately short.

The last time I rode, Dec. 10 of last year, I had a winter coat on. Today it was 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and although I did have a long-sleeved shirt on, no coat was required today despite the breeze.

It was a good day for a bike ride. Especially the first bike ride.

Above and below, the kind of afternoon it was. quite pretty. And below, I think you can see that the ground is just starting to hint at spring green.