In Which A New Bridge Opens

Aug. 12--Bike parked by new bridge near Cedar Lake.

When did the new bike trail bridge over the creek that feeds Cedar Lake open?

I don’t know for sure, but the detour on the Cedar River Trail north of the lake has changed—coming from the lake, the route now goes down a road to a new street bridge that crosses the trail. I was taking the trail north at that point (I had ridden down to the lake via H Avenue), and before crossing the new street bridge, I turned right and crossed the new bike trail bridge over the creek.

It’s very nice, a foreshadowing of the new trails near Cedar Lake that aren’t open yet but are being constructed. I crossed the bridge on one of the longer rides of summer 2025—a 17-mile ramble that took me to the Mount Mercy University campus before I continued to Cedar Lake.

A bunch of images from Aug. 12 ride. As I rest at Cedar Lake mid-ride, I watch a Stork that was fishing in the lake.

Monarch butterfly on Thistle flower near Cedar Lake.

Aster, fall flower, on Mount Mercy University campus.

Pausing on MMU campus.

Cone Flower in garden near Basile Hall on MMU campus.

For various reasons, summer 2025, the first summer of my retirement, has not featured the usual summer distances of bike riding. I didn’t, for example, participate in RAGBRAI this year. I had a heart bypass operation in January and a follow-up procedure in July.

In August, four grandchildren from Minnesota were visiting for a week. That precluded any long bike rides that week for me—but the good news is that one of my bikes has a Tag-A-Long seat, and a 7-year-old grandson was very happy to put it to use. Sadly, other events and very hot afternoons constrained those rides a bit, but nonetheless, most days that week we headed out for at least a few very pleasant miles together.

July 26--Deer on Lindale Trail are pretty socialized to bikers. Fawn lets me get pretty close to make this image.

Bike on Lindale Trail July 26. Note milky sky, it's been a wet summer but also a hazy one; sometimes the haze, from Canadian forest fires, has limited biking.

Anyway, back to my lake sojourn on Aug. 12. I missed one day riding last week due to yardwork—mowing and clearing weeds. But in the past four days of the week, I used all of my bikes.

On Aug. 12, I rode Argent, my road bike, on the longest ride—the 17-mile cycle to campus and the lake.

On Aug. 13, I rode my mountain bike, The Fancy Beast. It’s been wet lately. I planned to ride the Boyson Trail, the paved and unpaved parts, on a day that would turn too warm for this old man to ride in the afternoon. So, I went on a late morning ride, which went well, but the mountain bike trails beside the Boyson Trail looked too muddy, so I stuck to the main trail. The ride was about 8 miles, but given the heavier bike and warmer day, felt like it was as much work as the 17-mile ride the day before.

July 29--another day, another deer. I know it's farther away,but I like this image of the Lindale Trail.

Reflecting ball in Lowe Park seen on July 27 bike ride.

I skipped riding, as mentioned, for the Aug. 14 yard work day. The forecast was for hot, humid weather after this day. It was too bad to avoid riding on Aug. 14, but it was good to get the yard work done, too.

On Aug. 15, the afternoon was forecast to feel like 100 degrees, which dictated a shorter morning ride. I was going to ride part of the unpaved Boyson Trail again, but it had a bit more time to dry out and I decided that Clarence, my hybrid bike, would be a good choice. It turned out to be a 10-mile ride where I headed up behind Linn-Mar High School on the Creek Trail and road part of the Boyson Trail, too.

My biking goals have become modest in 2025. I’m accepting, for now, of shorter rides, although I’m hoping the 17-mile ride, accomplished with no problems, is a sign of longer sojourns coming as soon as the weather improves. However, I’ve already decided it’s OK to take several days to ride my birthday later this month.

I turn 67 later this month. Maybe by next year, 68 miles in a day would be a doable goal. For now, I’ll just be happy to roll 67 miles over several days and be satisfied that I can keep rolling.

As of Aug. 19, I have 851.02 miles for the year. I’ve ridden 85.46 miles in August. July’s miles totaled 112.16.

Aug. 15--I have some Goldenrod planted in my garden--it's a great late-season flower that feeds pollinators as fall is setting in. This is not in my garden, however--Goldenrod by Boyson Trail seen during bike ride.