In Which 60 Miles Features Milkweed

Lindale Trail, morning ride. Milkweed in flower.

I haven’t seen many Monarch Butterflies this year. Not none, mind you, but not many.

Still, Milkweed is in bloom. It’s a fairly pretty flower, and when I was photographing some along the Lindale Trail during my morning ride, a butterfly showed up.

Not a Monarch, but still, pretty, and attracted by the Milkweed flowers.

Butterfly on Milkweed, Lindale Trail. Drinking, above, and flying off, below.

I rode 15.55 miles this morning. The immediately post breakfast trip included a loop out to the Lowe Park trail, and a bit of the Boyson Trail, at least to the Lindale Trail. That, and two hill climbs, got me the miles.

Two Lowe Park Trail images--bunny, above, and flowers in prairie planting near art building at east end of park.

In the middle of the day, we went to pick up grandchildren at swimming lessons, fed them lunch, and after they went home, took naps.

I woke up and posted some images, and then decided to take a bicycle ride. It was about 4 p.m. when I left home.

I knew time was limited, so I was deliberately going for speed. I went 11 miles, to Sokol Park, by 5 p.m. Then, since I was there anyway, I had the bright idea to call my wife with a suggestion. Our daughter was arguing a case in court today (she has a summer internship with the Johnson County Attorney’s office), and I thought it might be nice to treat her to supper out.

And Sokol Park is darn close to New Bo …

My wife liked the idea, but I knew my daughter would not get home until close to 6…so I continued south to Ely.

By the time I got there, I had ridden about 20 miles in the afternoon—so I had 35 for the day, and was close to 20 miles from home.

That’s when I started to think that today might be my second 60-mile day.

We met at Parlor City for a nice supper, and they drove home while I hit the trail again.

My supper, a nice break during a long bike ride. A Ruben at Parlor City in New Bo--about the best Ruben I've had in CR. And yes, that is a beer, too. Parlor City has quite a selection. Below--wife, daughter and grandson in post-dinner ussie before they head home. I  headed home, too, but by bicycle.

I took some images of Cedar Lake as the light faded, including Milkweed in the setting sun. No Monarchs or Monarch caterpillars to report today, but I’ll keep watching.

After that, to gain a few miles, I went north to Boyson Road before turning south again and heading home. I also took the longer “northern” route north of 74th Street.

Along the way, I had brief, pleasant chat with my sister-in-law Paulette. She is married to my sister, and my sister is a member of Team Joe for RAGBRAI.

Anyway, I got a little lost headed home along the northern route, as light faded. I’m not that familiar with the streets in that suburban part of Cedar Rapids.

But getting lost was OK. It was dark enough to run with lights, but not too dark, and I needed the miles.

By the time I got home, the bike computer said 44.68 miles for the afternoon ride. Add the 15.55 from the morning, and I rode 60.23 miles today.

And I lived to tell the story.

Cheating, a bit, with this one. It's from Monday--Mr. Nut Cheeks was watching me as I prepared to bike home from campus of Mount Mercy University.

Bike, second from left, parked in New Bo with others. Nice planter, too. Wife and daughter drove to meet me, these are stranger's bikes besides mine.

Around 7:30 p.m. or so, Bridge of Lions shines in late afternoon light.

Cedar Lake as sun dips. Several views. I circled the lake to ensure I would reach 60 miles.

Milkweed on the shore of Cedar Lake.

I've left the lake, but not by much. Paused when I hit the 50-mile mark for the day for a  "this is what I look like at 50 miles" selfie.

Sunset along Cedar River Trail. Bridge where trail crosses itself.

In Which We Eat, Ride, Eat, Ride

Team Joe Plus More view one: Wyatt, Katy, me, Theresa, Cate, Brigid and Eldon.

Pre-gaming for RAGABRAI: It starts with breakfast, and not just any breakfast, but a hearty breakfast at Riley’s Café, an eatery known for its “Shipwrecks,” very large 3-egg scrambles with lots of fixings. I had a spicy Spanish one with a pancake on the side.

It was 9 a.m. and Team Joe plus more was assembling. Two of my daughters and a son-in-law met me at home, and dropped off their children. Then we headed to the restaurant to meet Brigid, Cate and Eldon. The later three and I are team Joe, the others are planning to ride one day of RAGBRAI with us this summer.

After the breakfast, it was home again to grease chains, pump tires, fill water bottles, put on sunscreen and spritz with bug spray. And then we were off. Me and my kids left my house and met the other three at the Hiawatha trailhead.

North or south? North goes quickly out into pretty May countryside, but there isn’t much else there. South offers a wider variety of views, and more food options, so, since this was RABRAI prep, south was the chosen direction.

The day was warm, sunny and pleasant. There were plenty of bikers out enjoying the trail.

I was in the lead sometimes, Cate was at other times. I felt bad when Cate was leading because she got so far ahead. Until I realized: She’s got a new bike! A pretty snazzy one that is sort of a hybrid between a road bike and a hybrid—it has the road bike handles but wider hybrid tires. If I get a new bike, it’s every much what I would want. Yes, it’s true, I did suffer bike envy.

Team Joe Plus More view two. Same cast of characters. Less waffle table.

We got to the south edge of Cedar Rapids, but decided to turn back rather than go all the way to Ely. It was getting to be 1 in the afternoon, and we had left my wife with six young children to look after.

For lunch, we stopped in a Parlor City in the New Bo area. Lunch was, like breakfast, very filling.

After that, we headed north again. Me and my kids (and kid-in-law) peeled off at 42nd Street to take the Noelridge Park route back to my house.

And when we got there, the grandkids seemed busy and happy. Their only complaint was having to go home.

Tonight, Audrey and I walked up to HyVee Drug Store and she let me buy beer. There is pie in the oven, but I don’t think I’ll carry the RAGBRAI analogy that far—that pie will have to be breakfast. One beer has topped me off, and served as the capstone on a very satisfying day and pre-RAGBRAI ride. Between yesterday and today, I have ridden 64 miles—not a bad two-day total, although it will be one day’s ride on RAGBRAI!

And the iris Cate let me take from her garden two years ago is in bloom.

In Which I Have A Most Excellent Birthday Ride

End of the ride, the happy bikers. The older one on the right just turned 56 today.

I turned 56 today, and my wife said I could do pretty much what I wanted.

So I completely ignored the backlog of work for a whole day. The morning started with a gym workout, followed by a drive downtown to Kathy’s Pies to buy a birthday desert—apple pie. And then it was off to breakfast at Perkins. When we got home, we skyped with a daughter who lives in the UK.

The plan then was to ride our bikes and take a nap, but both of us decided that naps could come first. So it was a bit later that I got out Francis and my wife’s bike. I thought of riding The Beast so we would be on similar bikes, but we wanted to carry snacks and that’s just a lot easier with Francis. I pumped up tires and lubed chains and then we were on our way.

I had planned to take the trail south, but forgot my turn on F Avenue and we ended up down by Mount Mercy before we finally took J Avenue to the trail.

Art outside the museum.

We haven’t been on a lot of joint rides this year, but this was a very nice day—just a little warm, but with a nice breeze, and just enough clouds to keep the sun from feeling hot. We rode down to Cedar Lake and decided to keep going. We paused for selfies at the Museum of Art, and when we got to Sokol Park, we enjoyed nuts, raisins and animal crackers—a pretty good biking snack. We decided we weren’t done in yet, so we continued on the trail until we got to about 11 miles or so from the start—right at the bridge that crosses railroad tracks. There we took more pictures and headed back.

On the way back, we paused at Parlor City for some ice cream. I had not tried a Boston Shake before, but it (a sundae on top of a shake) seems like an excellent idea. I had hot fudge on chocolate. Maybe I will try caramel on strawberry next time.

We all scream. Well, not really. But we eat ice cream.

Before that, we had paused at the park at Cedar Lake to use the restrooms, where I rescued a damsel in distress. Her chain had slipped off, and she and her daughter were unable to get it back on. She was struggling with her bike chain with one hand and talking with some guy on her cell phone with the other.

I walked up. I’m no bike mechanic, but I’ve put chains back on enough times to be of some aid. It helps if you at least know how to make the chain slack by holding the rear derailleur.

So I sort of just dived in there.

“Some guy is helping me,” the woman exclaimed on the cell phone. I hadn't verbally communicated with her before that point, because she was yakking on her cell phone.

“Is he weird?” a male voice from the phone queried.

“You’re on speaker phone,” she said.

Then I added: “Yes. He’s very weird.”

Maybe it’s a good thing it didn't take me long to get the chain on again. I never met the man who belonged to that voice.

North shore of Cedar Lake, the wife pedals along. It was a very nice day.

Anyway, we decided chivalry deserves a reward, so we stopped for the ice cream later. Don’t worry blog pals—if I had not rescued Miss My-Chain-Came-Off, I’m sure my wife and I would have decided that not running over caterpillars on the trail would have also qualified as chivalry, so ice cream would have been in order anyway. Or if we had hit a caterpillar, and my wife thinks I hit at least one, we would have been drowning our sorrows. In any event, there was ice cream.

“This sort of negates the ride,” she said as she enjoyed her turtle sundae.

No, I don’t think it did. I think it completed a very nice birthday ride. We went home, I did some yard work as she prepared a spaghetti feast for me, then we watched “Tea With Mussolini” and enjoyed our Kathy’s pie.

It was definitely a nice biker’s birthday.

On the bridge before turning back. 

All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready To Go ….

Cate at Parlor City Pub.  We are in the cop corner.  And even saw a bike cop on the trail.

Well, not really. I have some final prep to do in the morning, including tagging all my stuff.

CR Biker will be on vacation next week, so no blog updates for a while. Despite the triple-digit heat, I'll be on RAGBRAI. Wish me luck, blog followers, but I am acclimated to the Iowa summer, and promise to drink lots of water and electrolyte solution and to be careful out there.

Did the final long prep ride Thursday with my sister Cate. We were exchanging data about our home town. She requested a tutorial on changing a flat (she has had her first flat in recent history, whereas I am a regular flatulent rider and have lots of tire-changing experience, alas). (And yes, I know, a fart joke is low humor, but I hope you chuckled.)

So I showed her how to put on a new tube and then we rode the Boyson Trail and then down to Prairie Park Fishery, neither of which she had been on before (well, I'm sure she has been on the older parts of the Boyson Trail, but not the new ones that opened this year).

My lunch, the "Jucy Lucy" with sweet potato fries.  Very good, but the menu warned "the first bite will be hot."  Maybe they meant literally hot, because it was just a very good burger, not really spicy.

For lunch, she offered to take me to the Parlor City Pub in the New Bohemia district. The pub is just one block off the trail, but I had not known of it before. I highly recommend it. I had an excellent burger and sweet potato fries, and plan to take Audrey there soon—partly because the food and atmosphere are fun, but also because it's next door to a book store I have not been in yet.

Cate's lunch.  She says the pulled pork had a nice tangy sauce and was very good.

Well, Thursday night I had pretty bad leg cramps. 40 miles with my sister did something bad. But leg cramps, while they can be really, really painful, are also really, really nothing in terms of long-term problems—I would much rather have the cramps than, say, a swollen and sore knee.

All in all, I look forward to RAGBRAI with some trepidation. You can never say you've done enough miles when you hit that road. I'm flying more solo this year, without a Microsoft cohort to keep me company and schlep my bags.

But, I think I'm ready.

Stay tuned, blog fans. CR Biker will not be updating for a while, but when I do, I'll tell you all about my hot time on RAGBRAI.

Old Blackie, now tuned for RAGBRAI, in bike rack at Parlor City, a biker bar in New Bohemia.  It's chained to Cate's bike.  Catty corner from Parlor City is a motorcycle bar.  We wisely chose the bicycle biker bar.