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 an Old Bike Combines with a Lake Tour

Cedar Lake today.

Most of the images on this post are taken in late afternoon at Cedar Lake, one of the finest places in Cedar Rapids to view sunsets. I rode down there Monday and Thursday.

According to the forecast, our AWOL winter, which visited us in late fall but has been AWOL since, is returning at the end of this week with attitude. The snow blower got clogged and stuck last time I tried to use it—I may find out if it’s working again soon.

Well, we had this week. Yesterday, it was cold and I was in a hurry, so I drove, but I’ve been biking most of the week.

Three rides on four days of class in January is not bad.

On Monday, I rode the hybrid bike—my usual commuting bicycle—and took time to ride down to Cedar Lake in the afternoon on the way home.

Morning light Monday (above) Cedar Lake in the afternoon (below).

I repeated the lake ride again today, and it was even more gorgeous. We had rain at midday, but just briefly. I had ridden my oldest bike today (not counting the tandem which dates to the disco era), the mountain bike my oldest son got years ago during a Seattle summer internship.

Maybe it was because today was the final day of classes this week, maybe it was just the upbeat mood I was in, but I felt like the old mountain bike was flying this afternoon. I didn’t have the good camera with me, but images from the point-and-shoot still turned out pretty—the cold day yesterday meant that, in 50-degree weather, the lake was covered in thin ice. After the rain, the clouds had started to thin out, and at sundown, the lake was incredibly gorgeous.

Monday, there were just a few people at the lake. There was much more traffic there today—walkers and joggers enjoying a day that would have been at home in April.

Besides the lake looking so appealing, there were other pleasurable aspects of the ride. At the lake, as I completed my circuit and was about three-fourths of the way round the body of water, an eagle appeared from the east and quickly swooped to the west. It didn’t linger, and I regretted not having my good camera and long lens, but was fun to see.

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, actually a bird, eagle, having crossed the lake ahead of me, disappears in the western sky, probably headed to the Cedar River.

And later on, about halfway up the trail towards home, as the light was really starting to fade, just east of me on the rail line like that parallels the trail, a group of three deer were loitering, maybe 20 yards from me. I stopped, got out the camera, and snapped a few images, which seemed to bother them not at all.

Oh deer!

It was nearing dark as I rode down 42nd Street, headed to Noelridge Park to cross it and go behind the middle school. I paused briefly in the park to admire and shoot the wolf moon, later also snapping its reflection the C Avenue pond at Collins Aerospace.

Goodbye, faux spring. As a gardener who planted plenty of milkweed seeds and spring bulbs in the fall, I don’t mind having some winter this year, but I will miss the bike rides if the streets stay snowy and messy for a while. It will be nice when spring returns for a longer stay.

The moon in the park (top) and reflected in the pond (middle). Light fading in the night sky (below) as I wait to cross Blairs Ferry Road.

 

In Which Dark Skies Make for Pretty Rides

Dec. 3, above, pretty winter sky. Below, hybrid bike with snow on its tyre on campus, mountain bike on campus in December sunshine.

After a cold and snowy November, December has been mixed. There have been days of snow when I couldn’t ride, but all in all, for December, there has been some nice bike weather.

And, while I prefer for my way to be lit by the sun, the low light of winter evenings has its own charms.

Relatively warm weather in December has been nice for work commute rides using the mountain bike or the hybrid. Today, I finished grading for the semester around noon, and went to an afternoon movie (Frozen II, and I do recommend it) and then rode the hybrid bike down to Cedar Lake.

It was my first ride in a few days, and I felt a bit worn at end the end. But the golden light of the low winter sun was very pretty, as you can see:

In Which Rain is Followed by Riding

Clouds all week. Riding home Sunday evening after another rainstorm.

Recent rains have kept me off the bikes. It was wet this morning, and another storm blew through this afternoon.

But late in the afternoon, I went to the neighborhood bike shop to pick up some bikes for Mount Mercy University. The sky had storm clouds in it, but was dry. After driving home, I ate a quick grilled cheese sandwich.

MMU Bike Club leader helps me unload bicycles that were fixed at local bike shop.

And then I got  the road bike out. It was already 7:30, but I had about an hour of light left. Dim light—there were plenty of clouds—so I rode with lights. I rode up the Brentwood Drive hill, and then over to Lowe Park.

It was getting breezy and colder, and more rain was expected to roll in later tonight. There were some bare areas in the sky, but plenty of impressive looking clouds in the volatile sky.

The sun went down as I rode on the park trail, and then headed home, riding with lights in the gathering dark.

The weather is expected to get better, but other events will prevent me from riding to campus over the next couple of days, so I’m glad I got the ride in tonight. And as you can see below, it was a pretty post-rain ride.

Tower Terrace Road on my way out to Lowe Park.

New Park going in at Lowe Park.

Lowe Park sky.

Lowe Park sky.

Blackbird that was yelling at me as I made images.

Lights on on Tower Terrace Road as I head home. Below, images of the park from another camera.

In Which I Ride Off Into the Sunset

Art at Lowe Park frames setting sun.

It was very, very hot today. I went to church in the morning, and then played in the back yard with a grandson. After he went home, it was getting very hot and buggy, so next was nap time.

Then, my wife and I went to “The Black Panther” at the local second-run cheap movie theater. I’m a little late to that party, but it was a fine movie.

So it was after 8, and I had not biked today and wanted to get some miles in. So I got my road bike out, turned on the lights, and headed up to Lowe Park in Marion.

Honestly, while it was warm, the ride itself created a breeze, the sun was no longer bright, and it was past the hottest part of the day. Overall, I would say it was a good 13-mile ride, which I did in about an hour.

I hope to get more miles in tomorrow morning before the day gets fully hot. Sort of like a day of RAGBRAI.

On my way home on Boyson Road, pretty sky.

In Which We Have Early Spring, Followed by Snow

Biking to the gym last Sunday, I think. Or Saturday. Anyway, went over the Bowman Woods hill and used trail--which was a bit mushy, to be honest. Still, Dry Creek looks quite pretty in a sort of somber, late-February way.

March 1--snow! Glad I parked my bike inside.

March in Iowa: It rained yesterday, and so I rode in with my wife. Today, Ash Wednesday, it was damp in the morning and misty, but not too wet to ride, so I did.

And in mid-morning, I happened to glance out my window to see the lion of March was coming in with a wave of snow. For a few minutes, it looked pretty intense—but the warm ground would yield nothing, an when it cleared this afternoon, despite being windy and cold, there was no snow around anymore.

Biking was slightly a challenge due to said wind, and I almost wished for long underwear. Still, after driving yesterday, it was nice to be on the bike!

On the way home, along C Avenue, about 5:30 p.m. Clouds starting to break up, and sun peaks out.