In Which Spring Comes and Goes

My trike parked at Troy Park in Robins. We were hosting a grandson that day and I rode to two parks for activities and a restaurant for lunch--adding up to 27 miles, one of my longer rides of February.

All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends, I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I've loved them all
“In My Life”—Beatles, Lennon and McCartney

Something about the second month of the year put me in a nostalgic mood. It was an unusual February in that, while that month is traditionally overlapping the coldest part of winter, this year it featured days of sharp contrast—some stretches that were too cold for an old man to bike or trike, some days where it was OK to bike with warm boots but triking was not practical and, finally, more than its share of warmer days that foreshadowed spring. It wasn’t just on the penultimate day of the month—one of the warmest—spring-like sunshine and warmth was sprinkled throughout the month.

Did the groundhog see his shadow? Some days, it seemed so. Some days it seemed not. Spring kept arriving early, then ducking out the back door for a sudden smoke break or something.

How else do I sum up February 2026? In January, I posted that I was seeking a name for my newest cycling vehicle, a recumbent tricycle. I’ll get to that topic again, soon, with an announcement.

February was, from a cycling point of view, a better month than January was. I rolled 267.35 miles, 72.45 miles on various bicycles and 194.9 on the trike. On Feb. 27, I rode 27.04 miles on the trike, which felt appropriate for a sunny, warm day. At the time, I thought it was my longest ride of the month but I was mistaken—I rode the trike for three rides that exceeded 25 miles in February, 25.14 miles Feb. 15 and 30.67 miles on Feb. 11.

Some images from two longer trike rides Feb. 11 and Feb. 15. This is Feb. 11, view of new fishing pier, I assume, on newly opened section of trail at Cedar Lake.

Feb. 11--Rest stop at Cedar Rapids Public Library, the main one downtown. Elementary art exhibit going on.

Lunch stop at Ellis Park on Feb. 11. I rode through the city on a trike with no name. For now.

Crossing Cedar River on Third Avenue bridge on my way north--watching young eagle.

New trail on east side of Cedar Lake. The sign says "closed," the many people using the trail said "it's actually open, don't believe every sign  you see." I rode on it Feb. 15.

I thought that I would set 30 miles as the next goal for March trike rides, forgetting that I had already exceeded 30 miles. Maybe 40 is the goal as I slowly ratchet up the distances.

On what? My wife is irritated by my habit of naming bicycles. I think of it as an homage to my mother, who had a habit of naming our family cars (although I don’t think all earned that honor—I don’t recalls that a trashy Ford station wagon we had for a few months ever earned a moniker, for example). Anyway, my oldest bike is The Fancy Beast, a mountain bike named because at the time I acquired it I had a less fancy old Schwinn mountain bike that I had called The Beast. My hybrid bike, which has a Tag-A-Long attachment and a bar to place a toddler seat on, is named Clarence—a direct call back to Clarissa, the 1959 VW chartreuse micro-bus that was the family car for the majority of the 1960s. My hybrid is the family bus, get it? The sleek road bike that I use for summer distance biking is Argent, because it’s a vaguely silver color.

I’ve never bothered to name the old red Schwinn tandem, but I don’t consider that to be one of “my” bikes, it’s more of a family fun bicycle.

Open coat on warm ride Feb. 16.

Trike in late afternoon light Feb. 16.

Warm February days make limestone trails unusable, mostly, at least to me. Not, apparently, to everyone. Part of Boyson Trail I didn't ride on Feb. 16.

Feb. 16--Warm enough today to wear biking sandals on trike ride.

Watching Connect CR bridge construction from detour, Feb. 5.

New bridge under construction over Cedar River, as part of expanding trail network in Cedar Rapids. Seen Feb. 5.

Start of detour around bridge construction Feb. 5.

Sunshine on The Fancy Beast, Feb. 4 ride.

Bike on trail on cool, grey day. Clarence on Feb. 25.

But the teal trike is definitely mine—and it’s my main cycling chariot these days. I asked on Facebook for some suggestions, and received several creative ideas. I’m sure none of the were serious—after all, this is not a serious issue to begin with. One friend suggested “Trixie.” Another “Lucky.” I’ve decided I’m not going to go with any stripper names. A family member suggested “Picasso” because it’s blue and I draw with it, which I thought was clever. Another person suggested “Day Tripper,” which was among the stronger ideas—a description of the trike’s use plus a nod to the Beatles.

Well, I like the Beatles reference. Which brings me to the name I have selected, both in honor of The Beatles and because a name connected to Buffy Anne Summers just feels whimsical and appropriate. The trike is a vehicle of my fourth quarter of life, and the switch to trike riding feels both fun and a fundamental reminder that life means coping with living in change.

So, the Beatles song the trike puts me in mind of is “In My Life.” The lyrics note that, among friends, “some are dead and some are living.” I’ll go with the living end of that spectrum, for now. And the trike is also a fair-weather vehicle, a summer cycle.

Meet “Sommer Livin.” Spelled badly, I know (again, this is me and I am a terrible speller). I’ll probably just refer to her (I don’t know why Clarence is a he and Sommer is a she, except Buffy, right?) as Sommer.

Sommer Livin, aka Sommer, parked at Ellis Park several weeks before being named.

In Which Tyres Bring Some Challenges

Jan. 29--Pretty late day light on Lindale Trail in Cedar Rapids.

Feb. 20--Pretty, frosty morning seen on morning bike ride to work, C Avenue Pond.

Feb. 18, pretty late light on Creek Trail behind Linn-Mar High School in Marion.

It’s been a little while since I reported on my two-wheeled journey through life. It was near the end of January the last time your correspondent wrote a blog post.

It’s been a busy time. Winter term turned to spring semester with no break; I attended a statewide student college media conference; my wife and I worked on jigsaw puzzles and got hooked on an old British TV mystery show (Midsummer Murders)—what with one thing and another, almost a month has passed.

Most of that month has been a sunny, dry and unusually warm February. In fact, today, Feb. 20, I posted images on Facebook of flowers blooming in my backyard gardens.

Anyway, while I have not done any long (over 50 miles) rides, I have been riding almost every day. There was even one day, Friday of last week, when it had snowed overnight, but I made the unusual choice to ride anyway. The snow was just a light dusting, and it was cold so the snow hadn’t melted and frozen into ice, but stayed a white powder. I thought I might be OK rolling across it on my mountain bike, and, as it turned out, I was correct.

Feb. 16--Snowy Friday and I'm not the only crazy bike commuter. I don't know whose it is, but a white bike beside my black mountain bike.

Feb. 15, pretty morning light as I arrive on campus.

I was lucky to have the mountain bike ready to ride. In January, the back tyre went flat. I didn’t find the cause, but changing the tube seemed to fix it. But, when I took the wheel off, I noted the brake shoes were so worn the metal under the rubber was starting to show.

So there was a slight delay until I could pick up some new shoes before I could ride that bike. Meanwhile, I was riding my road bike or my hybrid bike. The mountain bike is my usual winter bike, yet this February has barely counted as winter.

But I got the job done, and The Fancy Beast is rolling again. Meanwhile, I noticed that the outer layer has started to wear off of the front tyre of my road boke. For more than a week, I’ve left it parked as I have simply not found the time to get to a bike shop for a new tyre.

Feb. 4--New brake shoes installed on The Fancy Beast, after a few days, it's ready to ride again.

Jan. 28--One morning I just found this. I had ridden this bike the day before. Time change tubes.

Jan. 28, changing tube. Sadly, bike not ready to ride when I'm done--brake shoes too worn.

One reason the quest isn’t too urgent is the season. I make far less use of my road bike Argent when it’s winter—the Fancy Beast is my usual winter ride, and I’ve used Clarence, my hybrid bike, when I want a lighter steed. The road bike will be ready when the weather turns really warm and I aim for longer rides.

If I’m going to roll 50 miles, it would only be on my lightest, fastest bike. But at this time of year, other bikes serve me perfectly well.

Meanwhile spring is coming early. Your biker correspondent has been on the saddle nearly every day. As of Feb. 20, I’ve ridden 152.88 miles this month. That compares to 128.39 in all of January. So far this year, I’ve rolled 280.94 miles, which I think is OK given the time of year. More images from recent rides:

Jan. 29, Deer by trail.

Feb. 3--Bike at day's end (road bike shortly before I stopped riding it due to tyre wear).

Feb. 11--Snow has melted off county trails--on ride north to Robins.

Feb. 18--Creek on trail near Menards.

The Fancy Beast in the woods Feb. 20--finally dry enough to ride mountain bike trail off of Boyson Trail.

Feb. 4--On bridge on Boyson Trail.

Feb. 4--Warm weather brings bike and foot traffic to Lindale Trail.

Feb. 8, ride down to Cedar Lake.

In Which I Enjoy the Returning Light

March 1--I worked a bit late that night and am riding home at sunset--but this is the corner of Blairs Ferry and C Avenue, which means I'm almost there. Not as many rides are in the dark as the light is gaining on the dark at this time of year.

March can be a fickle month in Iowa—sometimes, the soft foreshadowing of spring, sometimes the clinging on of a cold winter, sometimes a bit of both or a bit of in between.

We’re only three days in, but they have not been a harsh three days. My late February rides were a little constrained by snow, an ice storm and cold rains. Yet, on balance, it was a good month, with nice enough days at the end to travel on my road bike rather than the winter beater mountain bike.

And, while we’re getting plenty of blustery winds, the deep cold of winter has only visited now and then. Rides have been doable—and many days, warm enough that I could skip the thermal long underwear.

Feb. 19--Sunday afternoon ride--last year's flowers seen at Cedar Lake, still icy (it's water, now).

Feb. 19--I climbed the hill at MMU on this ride, and saw this hawk on top of Warde Hall in the late afternoon light.

And the light is coming back. In January, most commutes even in the morning, were with lights. I often have to work a bit later in the office, but these days it’s well past 5 p.m. before I feel compelled to turn on the bike lights.

Last time I checked (Feb. 19), the gate on the Cedar River Trail headed north was closed. And I haven’t done any longer rides yet this year, nothing 40 miles or more. But I have started changing my biking routine a bit, mostly by seeking out hills. Whenever I ride my road bike, my rule these days is to climb at least one hill. Either I climb the Mount Mercy hill by one of the “hard” routes (it’s easiest to reach the campus via the gentle drive by Warde Hall, any other road or sidewalk approach involves a longer, steeper hill) or, if it’s a weekend and I’m not riding to work, I’ll climb the Brentwood Drive hill in my neighborhood.

Feb. 19--The end of my ride north, gate closed on Cedar River Trail. I know, I could have gone around it, but I was on my road bike and the ground was mushy, plus my heart wasn't set on a ride north--I just turned around and rode south as far as the Cedar River to get my miles in.

While I have no “long” rides yet, I’m adding hills to my routine in anticipation of summer. I know from experience that, if one is riding RAGBRAI, one does not regret any hills climbed earlier in the year for practice.

I finished February this year with 161.1 miles, compared to 147.85 in 2022. I have 25.1 miles in March on the third day of the month, and 317.02 miles for 2023. I realize there are bikers who have passed 1,000 miles this year, but I’m not in a race with them. I want to ride enough to please myself, and, as I advance in years, any month or year in which I can look back and say I rode more now than I did then, well, that’s a win.

I noted in my previous blog post that on Feb. 18 I saw a bike alone on the Grant Wood Trail and wondered a bit about it. This is Feb. 19 on the trail that runs along the levee towards the Sleeping Giant future bridge--and again, a bike with no biker. Hmmm.

My two longest recent rides. It may be May before I do any "long" ride, mostly because time is too precious during the spring semester, but I've gotten a few miles in. And some hill climbs.

In Which I Do Not Feel Lucky

From Des Moines Register, their map of 2021 RAGBRAI.

“You've Got To Ask Yourself One Question: 'Do I Feel Lucky? ' Well, Do Ya, Punk?”

Hello, internet, it’s been a while. It’s me, CR Biker, a committed bicycle rider who has not been in the saddle for weeks.

Side eye glance at grey, windy arctic day out window.

The weather app on my smartphone says it’s 1 degree below zero—for you non-USA Celsius users, that would be minus 18—at 1:25 p.m. If the sun can break through, we may reach 0 today, still rounds to -18 in the UK and the rest of the metric globe.

Our high temperature is not expected to break zero Fahrenheit until Tuesday. We’ll see some lows in the teens below zero, and I don’t mean wind chill, I just mean chill chill.

RAGBRAI 2019--riding into Chariton, greeted by the "coolnicorn." We needed it that hot July day. We don't need it today!

When I was a wee biker of 60 or so, I sometime would ride at temperatures close to 0 (again, Iowa zero, which is way, way below what some of you think of as zero) if there was no wind and the pavement was good. I would dress in layers and have at it.

I think my event horizon is shifting. As my body ages, I am much more sensitive to cold, which seems strange to me as I seem to be accumulating more natural insulation. Whatever. I might still ride a bicycle today on a day in the teens—above zero—with my winter layers on. It will be a while before it gets that warm here.

And I would ride only if pavement allows, and one complication of this extraordinary February in Iowa is that pavement does not allow. We’ve had frequent snow—are way above average in seasonal totals. We have a snowpack that’s starting to be measurable in feet. Recent snows have been at very low temperatures, which means the stuff blows around fiercely but at least does not pile up.

But those dustings fall on streets that are in terrible shape for riding. Main roads and well cleared sidewalks are OK, but the quiet residential streets I ride on are not passable for me, even on my mountain bike. The slick white ice shows no signs of abating and won’t until sunshine and temps near the melting point of water creep into the picture.

So, there you have it. An enforced biking pause, caused by the snow cops. I will ride in cold, although maybe not as extreme a cold as we are having now—but not on an all-snow route.

Sunrise on the road, the day in 2019 we rode to Fairfield.

Let’s look ahead. RAGBRAI has announced for 2021, and is mostly using the 2020 ride route that was not used last year.

And I do not think I will be there. I want to be, but I don’t yet feel that it is time.

Last year, I recall posting about remote, alone riding, and someone in the Social Distance Bike Club said that we would all be riding together in summer. I was posting in spring 2020, and he meant summer 2020, and even at the time, I thought “I don’t think so.”

Ten thousand bikers from all over the world gathering in Iowa—it’s a wonderful thing. When a pandemic is not raging.

Yes, I know, there are vaccines now. My wife has been vaccinated. I have not. I don’t know when I will be. And I don’t feel like paying a registration fee for a bike trip that I do love, but do not want to get sick for.

RAGBRAI, I wish you well. I also wish I could be there. But 2021 seems too soon, to me. Small towns in Iowa will be the last places inoculated, and some “Iowa nice” people are too not-nice to take a shot for the team.

I do want to be around other bikers again. Just not until it’s safe. Maybe it will be safe by July 2021—I hope so. Still, in the dark cold of February, I don’t find myself able to convince myself that’s yet a safe bet. This biking punk just does not feel lucky.

 

In Which I Enjoy Warm Rides Before the Storm

Data from today's ride--14.5 miles for Sunday. I'm sure I topped 30 miles for the two-day weekend.

We were lucky in Iowa this weekend. A winter storm is bearing down on the state, and Tuesday and Wednesday this week the wind will pick up and lots of white stuff will fall from the sky.

But this weekend was a preview of late March and early April. The late February sun warmed the melting snow cover and the temperatures flirted with 50.

On Saturday, I rode my road bike down to Lucky’s to meet with family members for lunch. Later, in the very late afternoon, I put the child seat on the hybrid bike and gave a grandson a ride to DQ in Hiawatha. It was full dark by the time we finished our treat, and he rode home in a car with his mom, but heading to DQ with a chatty 4-year-old was fun.

Today, I wrote a quiz for a Monday morning class, and around 4:30 p.m. left home to go print it. I took a rather indirect route, going over to the Cedar River Trail again, and circling Cedar Lake before I headed to the Mount Mercy campus to print the quiz.

Some sky views from the Cedar River Trail and Cedar Lake from the Sunday ride.

I may ride to work Monday, but I doubt this week will be as good for biking as the last week was.

Still, it was a nice to have a foreshadowing of spring, which is inevitably coming. One more week of February and a winter storm before we get there, though!

Cedar Lake, Feb. 23.

Deer watches as I ride down Cedar River Trail.

Rounding the south end of Cedar Lake.

Birds and water at north end of Cedar Lake.

Another view of duck. I think it's the same one, and I didn't reverse an image--duck swan in a circle.

Coming in for a landing on ice near water at Cedar Lake.