In Which I Find a West Side Route

Saw this woodpecker on an owl figure, carved from a stump of a tree, across the street from Mount Mercy University on an Aug. 8 bike ride.

Another image from that ride--just parked my bike in a nearby bike rack.

I’ve had some recent biking adventures: Riding some distance on a tandem with a grandson (“some distance,” to an old man, being over 10 miles), hitting the Sac and Fox Trail on my mountain bike after getting supplies at a bike shop to fix my road bike, and cracking one of the great mysteries of Cedar Rapids bike riding. That mystery: How can you get from the east side of the river, where I live and do most of my biking, to Morgan Creek Park on the west side without any scary rides on narrow roads with high speed limits?

I’m happy to report that, weeks before the second half of “the ride that is not RAGBRAI” by Team Joe, I’ve found a doable west side route. More on that coming.

But first, a flat tyre. It was very hot on Monday, Aug. 5, but my plan was to ride my bicycle to the office and get some work done for the upcoming fall semester. I had recently returned from Des Moines for the first half of the ride that is not RAGBRAI, and had some recent warm-day riding experience, although the heat was way more intense this Monday. Still, I did not anticipate a long ride and was deliberately going to take it slow.

I started out, but as I climbed the hill on C Avenue, the bike started to feel odd. Was I succumbing to the heat? I stopped, and felt the back tyre.

It was soft, squishy, not what one wants a bike tyre to be. It was losing air, so I walked the bike home and decided the universe was telling me it was just too darn hot that day to ride.

On Tuesday, a grandson was spending the day with me. It was still warm, but not as hot, so we mutually agreed to a ride using the tandem bicycle. We rode to the Lindale Trail, and then used the new Creekside Trail off the Boyson Trail to head north, ending up at Lowe Park where the grandson played and I sat and watched him play (not completely, there was some grandson-grandfather play time, but also some grandfather sitting time, which I am grateful for). After lunch, later that afternoon, we again got the tandem out and rode to the Freeze in Marion for some refreshment.

Deer doesn't care as grandson and I ride by on tandem bike. Or stop to make an image of indifference.

It was a good day and two nice rides. The first was longer, just over 10 miles, but the two together were close to 19 miles—quite a lot of miles, thank you, on that heavy, old tandem bike.

On Wednesday, I decided I wanted to ride the Sac and Fox at least once before summer ends, so I loaded up my road bike and my mountain bike in my old Kia van. I was taking the road bike down to Goldfinch Cyclery to get a new tyre and a couple of new tubes (taking the bike because I wanted them to verify I was getting the correct tyre and tubes), then I drove to the north end of the Sac and Fox Trail.

It was a perfect day for riding that trail. The heat of Monday was gone, and Wednesday was a beautiful day. Recent rains made some parts of the Sac and Fox a little rough, especially down by the river, but what the heck, I was on my mountain bike anyway. I rode over to the Prairie Park Fishery, rested, and snacked a while, and then headed back. On the return journey, rather than sticking strictly to the trail, I rode a couple of the side mountain bike trails that snake through some woods, with some pleasant open glens included, where I paused to make images.

Flyers were a theme of the ride. At the Prairie Park Fishery, a hummingbird briefly buzzed me, pausing as if it were trying to figure out the intruder in its world. It sped off before I had a chance to grab my camera. I had a similar photo failure on the Sac and Fox. I saw several Swallowtail butterflies, but only one Monarch. It, too, flew off before I could photograph it.

Still, as you can see, I did capture some of the pretty flyers. And, anyway, I had the pleasure of going for a leisurely ride along some pretty trails.

Swallowtail butterfly along Sac and Fox trail.

Blue Swallowtail.

Flowers in a sunny clearing along mountain bike trail off of the Sac and Fox Trail.

The kind of day it was, sunshine on Mountain Bike Trail.

Here and below--views along the Sac and Fox Trail.

I did a bit of bike maintenance on Thursday, fixing the flat on the road bike and replacing a broken bell on the tandem bike. After that, I rode to campus to test the new tyre (and also do some work), so I was ready for an adventure on Friday.

I had a plan. Recently, I had ridden my bike out to Morgan Creek Park, a very nice county park on the south side of town, west of the river. Getting there from where I am was a bit of a nightmare, at least on bicycle. Then, I rode to Ellis Park and then up Edgewood. I headed west, but ended up on narrow roads with 35 mph speed limits—not the sort of place CR Biker is comfortable rolling.

But, I knew that the Cherokee Trail on the south side of town provides a safe route to that park—the problem was, how do I get to the trail from the Cedar River? I tried to do a bit of planning pre-ride, wishing I had a big city map to help. Remember maps?

Bell on tandem broke, so I replaced it with bell from road bike and put the bell at right on road bike--shimming it with piece of the leaky inner tube I had removed from the road bike.

New bell on road bike.

Just changed tube and tyre and put wheel back on road bike. Bought two tubes so I can carry one with me on rides.

Anyway, the pdf versions online weren’t all that easy for me to read, but I got the idea that my plan was workable. Rather than riding to Ellis Park, if I cut south earlier, I should find a more bike-friend route to the Cherokee Trail.

Honestly, one of the reasons I was planning this adventure is my wife had given me a coupon for a free beer at Big Grove Brewery. She’s gone for a while—helping a son and daughter-in-law with a newly born grandson—and I decided I would use the coupon and try the new Cedar Rapids location of the brewery for lunch.

But the explore would come first. I headed south on the Cedar River Trail, crossing the river at Third Avenue. Then I headed west along the river—using bike lanes downtown, and a sidewalk trail after that. When the trail got to Ellis Boulevard, I turned the other way. One rides west to the park, but I headed east—which means, unlike the road to the park, I was on a stretch of Ellis Boulevard with a bike lane. I got to O Avenue, another street with a bike lane, and headed south.

O Avenue turned out to be a mixed blessing. The pavement is nice—the street seems to have been repaved in recent years. But, especially headed south, it’s a bit hilly. Still, I rode for several miles, before decided I had probably gone too far. I did my best to consult maps on my phone—and identified 11th Street as the place where I should turn west. I had to backtrack to get there, and not for the last time, as it turns out.

O Avenue--good pavement, nice bike lane, some ups and downs--still, way, way better than narrow roads with higher speed limits.

I took 11th for a while, then turned on another Avenue (I rode on both I and J, I used one on the way there, the other on the way back) to reach 13th Street, which I took until I ended up behind the Johnson Avenue HyVee store. Johnson Avenue is a very busy street on the south side of town, but is also a street that has a bike lane—so I turned west and rode for quite a way—until, unexpectedly, it was suddenly there, the Cherokee Trail!

From there, I followed the trail signs (part of the “trail” is just residential streets, but they are marked as bike routes and aren’t busy) to Cherry Hill Park.

That was as far as I was going on this explore. It was midafternoon now, I was hungry, and the coupon for the beer seemed to be gaining in importance. I knew from previous experience that the ride from Cherry Hill to Morgan Creek is an easy trip along a short stretch of trail and a longer stretch on bike lanes, so I knew the explore had been a success. After a short rest, I backtracked.

By the Cedar River on Friday ride--a hawk, I think, circling overhead several times. It decided I had too many calories.

Friday turned out to be just a little cool. Even in the afternoon, fire at Big Grove Brewery was pleasant.

And got confused at O. See, the problem is I have almost zero innate sense of direction, and since I had ridden along O too far and come back, both directions looked familiar. I was trying to ride towards the river, and I turned the wrong way. Fortunately, while directionally a numbskull, I can read numbers on side streets. Would they be going up as I approached the river? My logical brain said “no.”

Besides, I seemed to be going uphill more than down—and one would think, no matter where one is, if you’re headed towards a river, the elevations on your ride should generally be downhill.

So, a couple of blocks later, I turned around. And I really appreciated the difference heading towards the river made on O Avenue; I still had some ups and downs, but more downs, and I do like the downs on my bike rides.

Big Grove Brewery turned out to be a pleasant stop. Some staff from Mount Mercy, the university where I teach, were hanging out, and I joined them. I had a pulled pork sandwich, with came with a scoop of red cabbage slaw on it and a side of fries, both of which I enjoyed. I washed it down with the free beer, and free beer just always tastes great.

So, Team Joe., a question: On part 2 of our ride, will we aim for Morgan Creek Park and the new trail to nowhere that is there? It would be a mostly “street” ride, but with some nice trail parts. And there is always Big Grove Brewery to celebrate the ride at. The total ride would easily top 40 miles (mine was about 32, but again, I stopped at Cherry Hill Park), and would have more hills than our Des Moines rides, but no big hills.

We will see what the team thinks. I’ll have to find an excuse this fall to head out to Morgan Creek again, just to practice this new route. I’m slowly learning you, strange land west of the river.

As of Aug. 10, 134.5 miles for the month, 1,884.64 for the year. Maps of two of my rides:

In Which RAGBRAI Does Not Begin

Seen near 42nd Street on Cedar River Trail, Cone flower I saw during Thursday ride.

Of all the things this crappy COVID-19 year has robbed us of, honestly, RAGBRAI is not among my top concerns.

Not that I don’t miss it. I do. But the heat index in Iowa is around 105 today, so it’s an easy day to not contemplate a restless night in a hot, sticky tent. And while I like RAGBRAI, worries about family, my own health, school students, the political mess we are in that has led to massive failures to deal with reality—yeah, there is a lot besides RAGBRAI to regret in 2020.

Still, while I’m hiding from the world in my basement today, on Thursday and Friday I had some pleasant, if warm, rides. Taken together, the two rides added up to a pretty average RAGBRAI day.

On Thursday, I decided to ride for at least 40 miles on the road bike. No particular reason, it was just that I had about 4 hours available and wanted to reach that distance. I decided my main route would be north to Center Point, and I started off.

Heading north on Cedar Valley Nature Trail, traffic north of Robins.

The kind of day it was Thursday. Great day for a ride.

First, I headed south on C Avenue. My plan was to take the Noelridge Park route to the trail. But at Harding Middle School, some construction was going on, so I backtracked to Old Marion Road.

Where I ran into more construction, plus an ambulance stopped in the road. OK, so I went to the MMU campus, which I had not planned to go, but I made some garden images there, so that was good. And I finally reached the Cedar River Trial and rode north towards the Cedar Valley Nature Trail and Center Point.

Of course, on the way, I ran into a Linn County Conservation crew cutting brush—but I only had to wait a few minutes before they waved me on. As delays go, that was minor. And for whatever reason, I felt that I practically flew on this ride. One of my mile splits was over 15 mph—not fast for most bikers, I know, but for this big old biker, that was getting close to the velocity where I would fly off the face of the Earth into orbit.

Waiting for signal to pass tree-cutting crew. I wasn't unhappy to wait. Glad they do so much to maintain this trail.

I've been to Center Point and am on the way back. Pause to make image of this butterfly in the woods.

Call Thursday, at 40 ½ miles, a win—with a few miles tacked on that evening in a short ride with the 4-year-old grandson (and a few miles after dropping him off).

Friday—it was close to 10 a.m. before I ready to head out. For some reason, perhaps because (despite the dogs) I enjoyed my ride on the Grant Wood Trail earlier so much, I decided it was a day for the mountain bike and the Sac and Fox Trail.

And getting to the Prairie Park Fishery proved more challenging because—surprise!—road construction. I headed downtown to try to take the most direct route to the south end of the trail, and appreciated the new bike lanes on 3rd Avenue that I had not ridden before. (They may not be all that new, but they were new to me). It was when I tried to get from NewBo to Otis Road that my route took some twists and turns that were not planned.

On my way to south end of Sac and Fox via Otis Road and Prairie Park Fishery. Liking this 3rd Avenue bike lane--bikes are not next to parked cars nor traffic. Nice.

Oh well, I enjoyed the trail. It was a warmer day, but the trail is shady, which I appreciated. Due to recent high water, the south end of the trial near the Cedar River featured some muddy holes to avoid—and I was glad to be on riding The Fancy Beast with its wide mountain tyres.

I was considering whether I really wanted to go home from the north end of the trail. My choices were East Post Road (not good for biking) or the hill route back to Washington High School. I contemplated leaving the trail somewhere in the middle, but I don’t know the biking routes back home from the streets were that would place me, so I continued to the end and decided I could climb the mountain.

On Sac and Fox Trail. About a third of the way along 7-mile trail, at the point where the trail turns from east to north and where creek flows into the Cedar River. Two angles of The Fancy Beast parked for image-drink stop.

And I did. Only to find (surprise) that my roads home were blocked by construction projects. Roadwork doesn’t exactly make me happy, but it doesn’t make me unhappy, either. Despite the immediate inconvenience, there is the idea that the roads will be better in the future, and it’s a deal I’ll take.

All in all, I would be happier if I were on the way to the western edge of the state today. Still, I have my bikes and my health, and in this crazy year, those are things to be grateful for.

And, if you read this blog, you already know the road to Solon is open, but the local newspaper covered that story today, and also answered the question of why the Boyson Trail was closed (bridge removal was my guess and it turns out to be so).

A little inconvenience now, but better biking in the future. I’ll take it.

In Which Neither Beer Nor Mud Stand in the Way

Cate and I at the end of the ride. Photo by Paulette.

Granted, one of those things, in a moderate amount, is more help than hindrance. Beer has some carbs and alcohol thins the blood and helps prevent heart attacks. The mud? Totally not helpful, but it was also our own fault.

Cate posted this on Facebook. Our route makes a squiggle guy.

Today, my sister Cate and I did a RAGBRAI analogy ride. It was a decent analogy in that we rode 65 miles and survived to tell the tale. It was also a decent analogy in the foods we found and consumed along the way. It was a slightly poorer analogy in that most of the miles were trail miles, and RAGBRAI road riding involves many more rolling hills—but, as fate would have it, we climbed more hills than we expected to (the one hill on the trail we climbed four times), so that helps.

And, in case you’re tempted, don’t try to ride the Sac and Fox Trail. It does not exist in parts, but can leave you stranded in sticky, stinky mud flats where the trail used to be. Please trust me on this.

Despite mud on my spokes and having to carry my bike while in danger of falling in said mud, it was a great day for a ride—not humid, high around 80, sunny and beautiful. That certainly is no analogy at all for RAGBRAI as it was in 2012, but, knock on wood, let’s hope it works better for 2013.

Anyway, here is how the RAGBRAI ride went:

I had suggested to Cate that she meet me at my house at 8. That’s poetic, but a very late start for RAGBRAI, when most rides begin by 6 a.m. Still, since I knew the weather would be beautiful—no 100 or even 90-degree afternoon temps to avoid—the late start was OK.

We started out heading east to the Cedar River Trail, then turned south. An hour later, at our first break at the “baseball park,” Cate said her GPS showed an average speed of over 12 mph. Pretty good.

We proceeded south to Ely, and had a nice break at the Retreat, a coffee shop there. I enjoyed a frappe and a blueberry muffin, Cate had an orange and carrot smoothie and a cookie.

Early in the ride, Cate in my mirror, gorgeous day. "Looks like distracted biking." That's what she said.

Then we turned north. For the first few miles, it was a regrettable direction, as we headed directly into the breeze that had sped us south. However, the wind was not overly strong, and when we turned a little to the west a few miles into the trek, the side wind was not too bad. Shortly after we got back to the residential area of Cedar Rapids, we briefly stopped to aid a biker whose chain had slipped off the front cog and become stuck.

We didn’t know it, but clearly we would need the good karma while committing crimes later on.

Lunch at Parlor City in the New Bo area was a pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries for me, chicken “wings” for Cate.

Looking out Parlor City window at our bikes.

When we discussed plans for this ride, Cate was interested in trying the Prairie Park Fishery, where she had ridden but once last year (with me), and maybe trying the Sac and Fox. I had cautioned her that the Sac and Fox might not be open, but I had neglected to check online before the ride. I should have checked.

We had a pleasant, if rather truck-filled, trip down Otis Road to the Prairie Park Fishery, and then rode around the lake. Then, we took the new connecting trail to the Sac and Fox.

In defense of the trespass on a closed trail that ensued, let me note that we did not see any notice at the Cole Street south and west end of the trail stating it was closed. I suspect that there had been one, which was moved by someone (not us), because there was, inexplicably, a carpenter’s horse perpendicular to us as we entered the trail.

At first, the trail seemed fine. In fact, it was freshly scraped. There were some soft and wet spots, but this is a trail that is normally pretty “primitive,” and it did not seem to be anything beyond normal Sac and Fox conditions.

The Sac and Fox blocked by a felled tree. Did that stop us? No. Should it have? Yes.

We heard it before we saw it. About 2 miles into our S and F trail ride, we saw the grader, slowly working its way east. “Maybe,” I said, “we should turn around.”

But the grader pulled over and the operator gestured for us to pass by. If it was an evil plot to get rid of us, it almost succeeded.

We continued east along the leg of the trail beside the Cedar River. We crossed the first bridge with no problem, but soon the trail started to get a bit soft and damp. Then, really soft and damp. We passed through several muddy areas that left our tires caked, but didn’t stop us. Which is too bad.

Because when we came close to where Indian Creek flows into the Cedar River, the trail simply and totally disappeared into a mud flat—a sucky, slick, threatens-to-remove-your-shoes remains of a recent flood that has scarcely dried at all.

Mothers, don't let your babies grow up to be bikers in the mud.

Mud on my front brake.

I recall the first RAGBRAI I rode, when, on the last day, we entered Davenport heading down a black asphalt street. It was literally so hot that the street had started to melt, and it was a very odd feeling to worry about your bike sinking into hot tar as you rode along.

This was worse. My pedals began to bang on mud as my bike struggled to make headway. Finally, mud built up between the front wheel and fender to the point where the front wheel refused to turn.

Post crisis break, Cate shows off RAGBRAI fashion.

That was potential fall number one. Luckily I was going so slowly that it did not turn into a very messy, muddy spill, but merely ended up as an unexpected stop. Ahead of me, Cate also became mired and had to hop off her bike, but also managed to do so without tipping over.

Then it was trudge, squish, trudge, squish. I almost slipped and fell several times, but only “almost.” An “almost” fall is not a fall. Thank you, good karma.

Well, we made it through the mud flats to where the trail became recognizable again under a railroad bridge. We found sticks and partially de-mucked our poor bikes, hoping that they would at least be in a condition to ride. They were, although I had an odd new squeak in my pedals.

After a few yards, we came to a fork. The left went up a hill, the right was the trail route. I’ve been on the trail before, but never the left fork because it always looked like a simple utility access (there is a fenced transformer visible up on the hill). Today, we decided uphill looked like a better choice than heading downhill along the trail, hoping no bridges were out or more points washed out by mud flats.

As it turned out, the left fork led us to a marshy area with a very interesting hiking path that I have never been on before. I haven’t been on it yet, either, since there was also a road there, and we opted for the road. Pavement never felt so good.

We turned west, roughly in the direction of Cedar Rapids, but did not know where we were. We encountered a comely lass out for a jog, and inquired of her about our location. She didn’t know the name of the road we were on, but said that if we kept going the way we were headed we would come, eventually, to “that fishery place.”

That sounded promising, and in fact was accurate, as the mystery road turned out to be Otis Road, which is the street where “that fishery place,” Prairie Parks Fishery, is located. Our ride back was a bit longer in miles, but we very much appreciated being able to ride our muddy steeds rather than worm them trough muck. And we got a few hills in on that road, which improves the overall RAGBRAI analogy thing.

When we got there, we went back into the fishery for a break. We ate biking snacks we had brought with us (a granola bar and a banana, in my case), and I had some yucky electrolyte potion.

We scrapped our bikes a bit more, and then headed back west along Otis Road. Eventually, we rejoined the Cedar River Trail.

When we circled Cedar Lake, Cate noted that we had finished about 50 miles. It seemed like time for a break and a celebration, so we had Fat Tires at the new Sag Wagon bar and deli that is next to the lake. Seldom has cold Flat Tire tasted so good. I am sure I will visit the Sag Wagon again—we saw little evidence of the “deli” part, but at that point we were more beer thirsty than hungry anyway.

 Then it was off again. We rode to the Boyson Road Cedar Valley Nature Trail trailhead, then back south to Spring House restaurant. The idea was twofold--to reach our mileage target and also to return to an important caloric source.

RAGBRAI, right? So far, we had not yet eaten pie. They sell slices of Kathy's Pies at Spring House. For any of you blog readers not familiar with Cedar Rapids, "Kathy's Pies" is a local pie bakery that has a well-deserved reputation for yummy.

The Pecan was very good. I had mine warmed up with ice cream. Yum.

We both purchased slices for our respective spouses—Cate getting cherry for Paulette, me choosing apple for Audrey. Then we headed north on the trail to Cate’s house.

When we got there, her GPS said we had gone 65.33 miles. That was actually 65.33 for her, since she started recording miles before riding to my house, but since I was then going to then ride to my house myself, I am sure that I eventually topped 65 miles.

It was about 5:45 when I got home. The RAGBRAI ride took almost 10 hours. Our speed was not that bad, we were doing much faster than 6.5 miles per hour, but all those stops (and mud walks) add up. I’m sure we could have cut 30 minutes from our time by not doing the mud walk—but all in all, it was a decent analogy for RAGBRAI. One reason RAGBRAI rides start before 6 a.m. is so that they can finish by around 3, and we were not that far off of that pace.

And I’m alive. I’m sure my legs will feel even more sore, but they aren’t too bad right now. I’m glad I’m not hoping on the bike and riding 65 miles in the morning, but the ride did what it was meant to do.

It showed that we can handle a RAGBRAI amount of distance in a day. And that is good news indeed, mud notwithstanding. More photos here.

Last food stop--pie. Cate sat where President Bush had, of course.

In Which The Trail Goes Ever On

The connector trail between Prairie Parks Fishery and the Sac and Fox. This is the end near Sac and Fox--about to head back to Prairie Park Fishery.

Well, not forever. Longer than it used to.

We had a good day today—lunch with Katy and her kids, swimming and then a bike ride. I also got the lawn mowed, but have not put the lawn furniture back. Don’t tell my wife.

My sister summoned me to help her fix her bike, but she apparently fixed it before I was able to get other there, which is OK. Hope it’s working well.

Anyway, after the mid-day visit with daughter and grandchildren, and finishing the mowing, it was close to 5, but since this is Ben’s final day before heading back to Ames, we decided to go for one more bike ride. Since he had not been there before, I suggested we go down the Cedar River trail through downtown, and then head off to the Prairie Parks Fishery, a city park that is along Otis Road.

Otis Road is a nice ride because the street is right there next to the Cedar River. The river flooded earlier this summer, and some damage is evident—most notably, a closed boat launch before you get to the fishery park. But the road was fine, as was the park and its cute little lake trail.

And, surprise, surprise, the connection between that trail and the Sac and Fox trail has been completed. We didn’t try the Sac and Fox—no time and I don’t know what shape it’s in after the river floods plus Jon's road bike would not be the best choice for that trail—but it’s nice to see how easy it is now is to get from the fishery trail to the longer trail.

On the ride back home, we went on the east side of Cedar Lake, which took up past the “Sag Wagon,” a new restaurant. We didn’t stop, but their bike rack looked pretty full. I’ll have to try it some time.

All in all, the ride was a shade over 22 miles. I had a new light on my bike, but didn’t need it because it was still light when we got home. I’ll have to ride the hills tomorrow, and maybe check on the Sac and Fox sometime before RAGBRAI.

Two Longish Rides In A New Biking Shirt

My new MMU biking jersey.

Well, I’ve come over to the synthetic side.

I’ve not sexy and I know it.  I’ve an aging, slowly expanding, grey-haired, formerly middle-aged man heading into my twilight years.

But, I bike, which might extend my twilight years and at least guarantees I’ll enjoy them more—I bike because I like it.

Anyway, for years bikers such as David Ard and Will Kirkland and Bob Naujoks have been wearing these weird neon-colored things whenever I’ve encountered them on the trail—fibers not found in nature, colors too vibrant to be seen without safety shades.

Me, I’ve favored cotton Ts.  Until this year.

When Mount Mercy made biking jerseys available this year, I decided to go ahead and buy one.  This week, for the first time, I wore it, twice.

OMG.  OK, I look terrible.  I’ve avoided biking shirts because I have one of those bodies that loose clothing was invented for.  On the other hand, I’m long past the age where I care all that much about what I wear, and despite the form-fitting nature of the biking jersey, I’ve already helped picked out on of my Father’s Day gifts.  A second biking jersey.

Yes, blog fans, it’s taken CR biker a long time to learn what others have known for a while—mankind invented fibers not made by God just because they are more comfortable to wear in hot weather.  Those redonk (I’m using this word, Brigid, just in  your honor) shirts breath and take away moisture and feel so light and good compared to soggy, heavy cotton.

I went on a longish (over 50 miles) ride on Wednesday, but got a flat.  Thursday, I rode with a small MMU group—Sarah and a nice alum who I don’t know—to Ely, a ride of around 30 miles, when you factor in my added ride home.

For both rides, I wore my new MMU jersey.

I hope it doesn’t depress enrollment at MMU, seeing that logo on such a LARGE rolling billboard, but I like the shirt.

On another topic:  Final notes from Des Moines bike ride.

I didn’t blog about food, yet.  A topic near and dear to me, which might explain why polyester gets so stretched on me.  We ate at three places:  PJ’s, the Highway 66 Grill and the Uptown Café.  The final two were in Jefferson, PJ’s is on the way in some small town between Jefferson and Waukee.

I enjoyed them all.  The Highway 57 sandwich at the 66 was a huge pork fritter with Swiss cheese and Heinz 57 sauce.  Yum.  Breakfast was the Uptown was a grand way to prepare for a 20 mile headwind.  And I had a Reuben one day and an Italian sausage sandwich the other day at PJs.

Both days featured grand biking eating.  That, along with the scenery, is a good reason for a ride along the Raccoon River Trail.

Final notes:  Some photos from my Wednesday ride.  I did "the trails," riding to Prairie Parks Fishery and the Sac and Fox.  I think I might skip the Sac and Fox in the future because I got another flat tire.  It seems I get a flat every time I ride that trail. I love that trail, but not the flat tires!

View of Cedar River from my lunch table at Prairie Parks Fishery.

The lake at Prairie Parks Fishery.  View from the trail.  More bikers need to find this park.

Sac and Fox.  Despite soft sandy spots and flat tires, you can see why I really like this trail.

The frog statue at the end of Sac and Fox.