In Which My Attempts at a Rant Can’t Make It

Sign May 24 in downtown Cedar Rapids. Sarte plays must be a thing this summer.

Downtown Cedar Rapids, at the moment, sucks. The railroad passing through town and the city are redoing all the crossings, and the route through downtown in spring 2018 is fraught with gravel, badly marked and planned detours and an odd disconnect between the signs posted and reality—such as a section of trail being clearly open if you approach it from the west, but marked as closed if you approach it from the east.

And there is a farmers market Saturday, which I might try to bicycle to (downtown farmers markets are more accessible by bicycle than by car, in my opinion). But I’m not sure about getting there with all the awkward torn up reality of the Cedar River Trail through downtown.

You can cross the gravel walks riding a bicycle, but do so with care.

So, following Thursday’s 35-mile ride (link to gallery from that ride), which took me that way twice, I might be primed for a biker rant.

But, I just can’t. I can’t summon sufficient outrage or umbrage. The state of downtown is an annoyance, but it’s an annoyance in a background of a positively transforming bicycle landscape in Cedar Rapids.

As a recent story in The Gazette pointed out, in recent years, Iowa’s second city has become way more bicycle friendly.

And it’s not just all the bike trial projects. There’s nothing scientific about this, and I do have to watch for frequent rude and dangerous drivers, but the increasing network of bike lanes and trail projects seems to roughly correspond with more bike riders—and more bike riders correspond with a general background level of slightly less hostile drivers.

There’s a rule of thumb, I think. Drivers in the UK rarely hassle bikers because bicycles are “normal” transport and simply something one expects to encounter. A few rare bikers will enrage the minority of hot-headed drivers. But the more bikers you add, the more bicycle riders simply fade into the normal background. I don’t think we’re “there” yet in Cedar Rapids, I just seem maybe a few hopeful signs that we’re evolving in that direction.

I have not been honked or yelled at much this year, and I’m frequent riding on busier streets—taking the new bicycle lane on C Avenue Northeast as part of daily commute, for example.

As for the physical sad state of our main trail through downtown—I guess my attitude is, if it results in better trail-rail crossings in the long run, I’m not above putting up with some short-term inconvenience. I do wish that detours for bike trails were a bit more intentional and marked well (as I have noted before, I have long not been happy with the American style of being very attentive to auto detours whenever there is a street project, but at the same time leaving pedestrians and bikers on their own, in sharp contrast to my experiences in the U.K. where a detour sidewalk is part of the plan for every street project), but I’ll live with the project and let the city get on with it.

The real hazard in Cedar Rapids is not the irritating street work. It’s the geese. Beware of aquatic avian dinosaur parents!

Near Cedar Lake May 24--young geese with watchful parent. I stopped for a break during a long bike ride (below) and must wait for some dinosaur traffic before I get back to my bicycle.

In Which I Mostly Agree with a Bike Critic

Two view of the new Boyson Trail bridge shot June 7. The detour signs are still up, but I can't see why. The biker below, by the way, is a random stranger.

I was thinking of doing a ride to Cedar Lake this morning. Rather than go to the gym (it’s stuffy there, my wife had said), I decided that this cool morning deserved a more extended bike ride. So I started off doing 3 climbs of the Brentwood Drive hill, and then started to go south on C Avenue.

But, I realized I did not have my cell phone with me—I had started to pack for the gym this morning before my plans changed. And so I stopped at home again to grab the phone. As you know from recent posts, I’m a fan of having a phone on a bike ride.

And I was oriented the other way. Well, why not do climb number 4 and then head out to Marion?

So, I did. I thought maybe Boyson would be rough to cross this morning (it wasn’t, since it was about 7 a.m. and traffic hadn’t really picked up yet) and I was going to take the Geode bike boulevard out to Tower Terrace and the Lowe Park Trail.

The Lowe Park Trail walkers don’t seem used to bikes. Unlike the Cedar River Trail, for example, where bicycle traffic predominates and pedestrians tend to walk on the right, at Lowe Park they meander all over as if there were not bikes in the universe.

East end of Lowe Park trail--where natural prairie planting meets mowed grass. More of the stuff on the left and less of the boring stuff on the right, please. Yes, I know a park does need mowed lawns for outdoor recreation, and I don't mean eliminate all mowing, but there seemed an excess of mowed grassy areas where I rode this morning.

So, naturally I shouted at people that “this is a bike trail” and almost ran them down. Because that’s what we biker do.

No, no, no. I slowed, sounded a verbal warning, and tried to pass them safely. On a shared-use trail, the primarily safety responsibility is with the faster, heavier vehicle, and CR Biker, slow though he is, qualifies on both counts.

I was a little perturbed by a column in this morning’s Gazette, another anti-biker diatribe. But, read it and weep. She’s largely correct. Mr. Fat Tire on the Bridge of Lions was totally off base—there isn't (nor, in my mind, should there be) an exclusive bike trail in Cedar Rapids.

I would quibble on a few points. Mr. Fat Tire was using sidewalks on the Bridge of Lions, which bikers routinely do despite the share marks on the street there—for two reasons. One is habit—the trail has been around for many years and has used those walkways for years, the share marks are new this year, and most bikers aren’t used to the idea of riding in the street there. The other is more practical—there is no curb cut on the south end of the bridge for bikes to access and continue on the Cedar River Trail, which reinforces the bad habit of riding walkways on the bridge.

Still—yelling at walkers and proceeding at speed by them? Not cool, Mr. Fat Tire. CR Biker waggles his finger of shame at you.

Second quibble—the guest columnist says bikers should always walk their bikes if they have to use a sidewalk. Walking a bike is nowhere near as easy as walking without one, and it’s against a biker’s nature to walk if walking isn’t absolutely required by extreme conditions or the size of a crowd (think the town scrum on RAGBRAI). Telling bikers to walk a vehicle they by habit and inclination want to ride is to spit into the wind, a bit. However, if the street is bike friendly, I agree that bikers belong there—and when the street is not, a biker on the sidewalk very much has to be aware they are “borrowing” a place that is intended for walkers, and they should politely defer to walkers.

An additional point not made in her article—bikers always need to sound a polite verbal warning when passing a walker, because most bikes are so quiet you’re on top of a walker before they can hear you and react. No, “THIS IS A BIKE TRAIL” is not a polite verbal warning—I prefer an audible, loudly spoken but not shouted, “bike on your left.”

And most walkers seem to agree. I get a fair number of thanks in response.

Anyway, my blood boiled when I read the column. Not because a walker was complaining about bicycles—but because her complaint seems pretty valid. As a biker, I don’t appreciate my biking brothers or sisters giving us all a bad name. So once again, Mr. Fat Tire, CR Biker’s waggle of shame to you.

Back to this morning. I continued past the middle school and used the sidewalks (!) to ride to Echo Hill. In the middle school parking lot, a hot air balloon was being assembled—I wonder if they go it flying. Seemed a little breezy, to me. Anyway, I had to go slow to avoid running into a riding mower (no shouting nor pointless, unheard verbal warning, I just waited it out as a good biker should)—and that depressed me just a bit. The middle school grounds are surrounded by a vast sea of mowed grass, and that seems like an expensive waste, to me. Plant some milkweed and cone flowers, for goodness sake, and let flowers grow rather than mow.

Anyway, the ride was quite pleasant. I was later heading home and had done about 14 miles by the time I was near the Boyson Trail. What the heck, I thought. I had crossed the new Boyson Trail bridge Tuesday, so I knew despite the detour signs that it’s already open, and I liked the idea of getting in 20 miles.

Well, the second trail ride did the trick. I hit 20 miles. And didn’t yell at any walkers—because, frankly, I think that they should be welcome to use the trail, too.

Catalpa in bloom next to Boyson Trail at Thomas Park. At this time of year, I don't understand why every yard in Cedar Rapids doesn't have a Catalpa Tree--glad to say mine does, although it is young and has not yet bloomed. It is close to 6 feet tall, however, and I've seen Catalpa of its size start to flower, so maybe next spring ...

Two views from bridge at the south end of Boyson Trail. Two ducks on Indian Creek, and watching the sunrise from the bridge. A great day to bike, or walk, a trail!

In Which The Geese Gather for Their Party, Too

Thursday--Francis parked near library at MMU. Only bike rack on campus that is not buried in snow.

Well, I don’t know if I win any prizes for schmoozing, but I did have a good time at a bar Friday night, which is pretty unlikely for me.

I’d received an e-mail invitation from The Gazette to attend a “Pints and Politics” event at the New Bo Alehouse. My wife is in England right now, and there was free food—a biker goes where there are snacks.

It turned out Friday was a warm (upper 30s) and sunny day. It was also slightly breezy, which made it feel colder than it looked, but still …

I had considered driving, since I knew I was going to be out well after dark, but then again I was going to a bar and there would be alcohol. I do not recommend drunk biking any more than drunk driving, but I also knew I was not going to get drunk. In fact, I had just one beer that I nursed through three rounds of appetizers, which was my evil plan all along—but even if I have only one beer in my system, I still prefer the slower pace of biking to trying to drive a car. Call it “mellow biking.”

I’m an introvert, so I was not quite sure if the event would be fun. The ride there was nice, though—other than the Thursday parked bike photo, that’s when I shot the other images on this post. Still no eagle sightings, but I did see a whole big party of geese clustered on a small open patch of water on Cedar Lake.

Geese cluster around a small patch of open water on Cedar Lake. I left a bit early for the Gazette party and had time to circle the lake. Someone walking by thought I had a GoPro on my helmet, but it's just a light. The light came in handy later on during the dark ride home!

I got to the bar, circled it a couple of times. The bike racks are plentiful there, but also buried in snow. I ended up chaining Francis to a couple of chairs in an unused patio area.

The party was easy to find. I signed in, got my nametag, chatted briefly with some MMU colleagues who were there, and then sat at an empty table. Yes, I know, the introvert's usual mistake. But a few minutes later, a woman who was at the party alone joined me. It turned out she is the finance person at the University of Iowa nursing program, so we spent a pleasant time chatting about the nature of academia—speculating about how changes in state funding will impact colleges, talking about the resignation of the UI president, etc.

A man who was much more of a social butterfly than I am—which, by the way, is very easy to be since I’m more like a social caterpillar—also stopped by several times and rather noisily joined in the conversation. I think he actually livened things up. The Gazette had provided some political conversation prompts in the form of policy questions that were on each table—for example, should the minimum wage be raised and, if so, to what?

Those provided some lively conversation.

The appetizers were good, the conversation nice, the bar an interesting old bank building. It turned out to be a pleasant outing.

The Gazette's logo for the event.

I guess I was expecting a bit more in terms of actual Gazette experts weighing in—maybe a panel discussion and some Q and A. The setting, however, wasn't really conducive to that. Some Gazette journalists were circulating, but didn't make it around to my table. After a while, they tried asking some of the prompt questions, but I couldn't join in raising my hand because I could not near well enough to know what question was being asked.

That’s OK. It was the first time The Gazette tried this event, and I’m sure they’ll tweak it for next time.

The ride home was an adventure. I thought of taking a street route back, knowing that Cedar River Trail would be very dark in sections and the streets better lit. But, I also knew that the trail was, on average, much more clear of snow and ice than the streets are, so I opted for the road more plowed. It did occur to me, as I was riding slowly north of J Avenue in full black darkness, that if I hit some ice and were knocked unconscious, I would be there for some time. I was passed by one crazy biker going in the opposite direction, but otherwise the trail was mine alone.

I decided to leave it at 42nd Street and take the Wendy’s-Noeldridge Park route home. I had two concerns—did they plow the sidewalk at the park? Happily, yes. Did they plow the sidewalk behind the middle school? Sort of—probably before the latest batch of wind, because some sections had drifted shut and not been cleared since. Still, I only had to walk the bike a few yards through snow on that walk—otherwise that route home proved to be OK.

I got home by a bit after 7. It felt later, one of those days in which not much happened, but it seems like a long day anyway.

Today? I have a painting party at a Habitat for Humanity House south of the Cedar River. Google says it will take 45 minutes to bike there. I think they underestimate the time for two reasons: I’m slower than Google expects any biker to be at the best of times, and winter, when you have to watch it and deliberately ride slower anyway, is not the best of times.

But given how well the biking went Friday, you know how I’ll arrive at today’s MMU workday. On two wheels.

I had a little time to kill before going to the bar, so I rode to the lion's bridge. This is the view from the bridge looking back  at the downtown--it looks pretty stark, but this was a nice afternoon for a bike ride. I like the patterns of ice, too.