In Which Three Rides Aren’t Quite Enough

Image of sky seen from Marion Library as I wait for other Bookworms June 2.

I didn’t exactly make my biking goal this weekend—in total, I rode about 45 miles.

The weekend started with the Bookworms on Bikes ride, meant to go from the Marion Library to the Iowa City Library, passing by the Hiawatha, Cedar Rapids, Ely, Solon, North Liberty and Coralville libraries on the way.

The weather forecast was a bit dicey, with a 40 percent chance of rain midmorning, with a greater chance later in the afternoon.

Still, a small band of us—Michael Miller, Laura Runkle and I—met before 7 a.m. at the Marion Library and headed off on the ride. We rode over to the Boyson Trail, then took the Lindale Trail to some roads behind Target to reach the Cedar River Trail and pass by the Hiawatha Public Library.

At that library, I checked the weather radar on my phone. It looked like a big band of rain was headed our way.

We continued south towards downtown Cedar Rapids. As we circled Cedar Lake, it started to sprinkle.

But, while it remained unusually cool, the sprinkles eased off as we pulled into the farmers market in downtown Cedar Rapids. The Linn County Trail Association was offering some free snacks for National Trails Day, and I was happy to grab an extra muffin. My co-riders grabbed some breakfast and then we conferred.

Nice man giving out information at LCTA booth. I am glad to say CR Biker joined the LCTA this year.

The radar picture continued to look bad, and we decided it was not worth it to attempt the ride to Ely, so the ride this year got cut off early.

We split up, and I headed to a popcorn stand—since I was going home early, I thought I could bring Audrey a treat she likes, so I got some kettle corn. And after I purchased it, realized I was riding my road bike, not the hybrid bike with the nice big bags in back. How would I carry the corn?

I emptied the right side of my small bike bag. There I had the snacks I brought for what was to be a more than 50 mile ride, and I stuffed them in my pockets (thank you, fashion trend that decreed old men would wear ridiculous cargo shorts). As it turned out, while I could not then zip the pocket closed, I could insert the popcorn snugly enough that it would remain on the bike as I rode.

Bike on the way home--stuffed with popcorn. Yes, I shot this while riding.

I returned home.

My ride totaled about 25 miles, but I reached 30 for the day when we took a bike ride after supper with a 2-year-old grandson who was staying with us overnight. Today was dedicated to a different set of grandkids, but this evening I managed to squeeze in a quick 15-mile ride up to the city park in Robins.

A few evening sprinkles, but grandson wanted a ride, so my wife and I took him on a 5-mile ride in our neighborhood after supper. C Avenue Pond reflects interesting evening sky June 2.

I also climbed the neighborhood hill several times.

All in all, I had hope to ride more than 45 miles this weekend, but still, 45 is 45.

And it never really did rain Saturday, not that morning nor later. The rain gods were teasing us. Images of Sunday ride:

On trail in Hiawatha, headed north. Late sunshine on trail.

Sun going town in countryside between Hiawatha and Robins.

I rode Cedar River Trail to the Cedar Valley Nature Trail only as far as side trail that leads to Robins park. Snake on that side trail--first snake sighting of the year!

Crossing creek as I exit Robins to return to Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

Heading south, sun dipping below horizon.

Top of Bowman Woods neighborhood hill--Venus in the sky.

In Which a Fruit Angel Appears at a Library

Crossing Lake Macbride on way to North Liberty on Bookworms on Bikes ride.

I forgot to look at my computer for a final tally, but I believe the Bookworms on Bikes ride added up to the low 50s somewhere—52 to 54 miles, all told.

It was a fine day, hot in the afternoon, for a RAGBRAI-like bike ride, and this ride lived up to that experience. I woke up early, had a nice breakfast, and was a bit slow getting out the door, so I was worried that I would miss the start of the ride. As luck would have it, I arrived at the Marion Library just at 7 a.m.

And I was early. After a few minutes, Michael Miller and Laura Runkle showed up. Mike is the ride organizer. We were a small crew, but Mike took a group picture with the library as a background to post on his Facebook group page, and we were off. We rode to the Boyson Trail, Lindale Trail, then the behind-Target route to get to the Cedar River Trail.

After a second library-group photo at the Hiawatha Public Library, we continued along the trail to downtown Cedar Rapids.

The first city farmer’s market was underway, and the Linn County Trail Association ran a bike parking booth at Greene Square. We parked, visited a vendor fair at the Presbyterian Church, and headed over to the Cedar Rapids downtown library for bookworm photo op number 3.

It was getting warm. We were facing a bit of a headwind, although not enough to be a problem. If anything, as hot as the day turned out, having a bit of a breeze was a net plus—it wasn’t enough to make biking too difficult, and the breeze helped cool us a bit.

A co-worker of Mike’s joined us on the trail south of the river, so we were a band of four bookworms.

We watered up at the Ely City Park. Ely was the first open library on the ride, and we had a pleasant chat with the librarian before moving on.

The ride form Ely to Solon was as expected—the scary part of the ride, on a narrow and busy county road.

Well, we made it to Solon. Then headed out to North Liberty—still riding on county roads, but this time with a nice paved shoulder. It was around noon, and the day was sunny and hot.

And the ride started to get hilly. After the first crossing of Lake Macbride, the road headed up a hill that was longer than it looked—it snaked through some bends, so when you thought you were at the top, you were mistaken. It was hot by now, and humid, and I was definitely the tail end of the ride. I was feeling pretty spent by the time we rolled into North Liberty.

In Iowa towns, libraries are important civic institutions—not just information equalizers by providing books to all, but also centers of activity. The earlier libraries had been closed, but starting in Ely, on a fine, hot summer Saturday, community libraries were busy hives of activity.

With at least one angel.

North Liberty was ready for us. Mike had contacted the libraries on the route, and North Liberty had a “welcome riders” sign out, some chilled water bottles ready and a plate of cereal and granola bars. That was good enough, but after we had been there for a few minutes, one of the front desk librarians went to a back room and returned with fresh fruit kabobs and little banana sandwiches.

Clearly, she was the fruit angel. On a hot summer bike ride, her appearance was almost mystical.

Just like that, the fruit angel appears. And the fruit was good.

Actually, as she explained, the library had just finished a stuffed-animal sleepover program, and these were leftover snacks that children had not consumed at the end of the event.

Anyway, the greeting at North Liberty was much appreciated. After that was a trail ride to Coralville.

This little bookworm-library ride has started small—only four bikers on this first ride. But RAGBRAI started small, too, and I hope it continues and that many more bikers will have the pleasure of meeting a fruit angel in North Liberty.

Coralville Library lobby.

After the Coralville Library, with the worst of the hills behind us and only a few miles to Iowa City, plus blessings in our bellies from the fruit angel, the final leg of the ride, despite the heat, passed pleasantly. When we got to the university area in Iowa City, a big art festival was in full swing, so we had to walk our bikes the last block to the Iowa City Public Library.

All in all, it was an interesting ride. Besides angelic library hosts bearing fruit kabobs, the ride included iconic Iowa events—from the farmers market in Cedar Rapids to the art fest in Iowa City. Seeing so many public libraries was a nice reminder of how important they still are to their communities. Even in the internet age, libraries matter.

So, may the Bookworms bike ride continue and grow in popularity. I don’t know what Mike has planned for the future, but I hope today’s ride was the start of something. More photos of the ride on my Facebook gallery.

Crossing Iowa River, above. End of ride, below. And then I rode back to UI Law School where I met my wife, daughter and grandson.

In Which First Summer Weekend Equals Almost 100

My sister Cate leads the way as we head north on the Cedar River Trail beside the Cedar River in the afternoon on Memorial Day, 2017.

I rode the first “long ride” of the summer this Memorial Day. I did think patriotic thankful thoughts when I passed many U.S. flag displays, and flew my own flag today—so I didn’t forget the fallen or the reason for the day.

Anyway, my sister Cate and I met before 9 a.m. today, and I helped her change the tube in her back wheel—the first of two bike repairs on this busy day. In payment, she took me to breakfast at Gumption, a new “farm to fork” restaurant near the corner of Boyson Road and C Avenue. They were busy, but the wait was not long and the food was good.

Breakfast was at Gumption in Cedar Rapids.

By about 10, we headed out, riding over to the Cedar River Trail in Hiawatha and heading south—going over part of the upcoming “Bookworms on Bikes” ride, which is slated for the upcoming first Saturday in June. We forgot to salute the Hiawatha Library, but did honor the libraries in Cedar Rapids, Ely and Solon, all of which we passed.

Anyway, early in the ride, we encountered a woman stopped just south of the rail overpass. She had been shifting gears to head up the hill on the trail there, and her chain had gotten off track and then stuck. Unsticking it turned, like changing Cate’s tube, into a two-person operation in which I think I was lead surgeon, but Cate was an important team member.

Luckily, Cate had a multi-tool with her, and I was able to use a small blade of it to help pry the stuck link loose, although I bloodied my pinkie on my left hand in the process. A very tiny honor wound on Memorial Day.

Anyway, after that unexpected stop we then proceeded. The day was fine, a little cool and windy, but pretty good biking weather. While we headed south and east, the wind was our friend, although we were well aware it wouldn’t always remain that way.

A pretty day to be on the trail. Headed south, almost out of Cedar Rapids, but not to Hoover Trail just yet. The wind is behind us and we are flying along.

There was plenty of traffic on the trail this fine first holiday of summer 2017. The Corridor Business Journal did a story this week about how bike trails in the area have led to new businesses. It’s a well done story, but I would like to note that many existing businesses that aren’t right on the trail also get part of the bike trail economic boost—businesses like Gumption, where we had breakfast, or Big Grove Brewery in Solon, where we enjoyed lunch.

I probably will be back to both establishments—I enjoyed both meals. But I had particular fondness for Big Grove Brewery. I had a chicken sandwich that was well prepared and spicy with “Korean” barbecue sauce on it. Cate ordered (and shared) a deviled egg appetizer, and then had a salad which she pronounced good. I had an IPA beer, she had a stout—and both were very smooth and tasty. Jon, I think you would have approved and listed them both on your beer app.

Inside Big Grove Brewery in Solon, waitress passes a saying that seems made for RAGBRAI.

So the brewery won the food prize of the day, although it had the advantage that we had been on our bikes for more than 30 miles when we got there (riding builds the appetite), and they also served nicely done craft beers. I don’t think it was exactly an even playing field for the restaurants.

My beer, a nice, tasty India Pale Ale. Cate enjoys a stout. Both were very good.

Deviled egg appetizers are half gone--how did that happen?

Although I did not notice it, Cate said the breakfast restaurant had cow pictures too. Cows were thus a theme of the day.

Unsolicited product placement. No hidden connection on this blog--I get no reward for saying this. But my advice is, open the door, go in and order stuff. You probably won't regret it.

Anyway, following lunch was the ride back. Into the wind—we had to work on our way home.

Our route to Ely was trail all the way, but we were on county roads from Ely to Solon. That part was a bit hairy, and because we had both been spooked by traffic, we decided the return journey from Solon to Ely would be partly on gravel roads instead. As luck would have it, we missed the turnoff onto the road we were seeking, and so ended up returning to Solon again on the busy county road.

I’m not sure what that foreshadows for the Bookworm ride this Saturday—I’m not 100 percent on what the route will be for that ride. Still, most of that ride is on trails.

Busy county road between Solon and Ely. A bit dicey for a bike ride! We were pretty happy to get to the end of the trail, below, in Ely.

After we headed north on the trail in Cedar Rapids, we cut over to go through Noelridge Park, eliminating the rail overpass hill. As we had more than 50 miles in our bike seats, we were feeling entitled to make the end of the ride a bit easier.

After we crossed Collins Road on F Avenue, we parted ways. As I headed north on C Avenue, my odometer topped 58 miles. Somehow, that would not do, so I circled the Rockwell Collins pond twice and then also did a little detour down the Lindale Trail—riding just the paved part to get a little more distance.

And I easily topped 60 miles for the day. I am not sure if Cate did—I had 3 more miles then here to begin with because of my morning ride to her house, and I don’t know if she did any extra loops, but I bet she rode over 55 miles today.

Looking west across Rockwell Collins pond. I circled it twice on the the way home since I had about 58 miles and decided I wanted 60. Corner of C Avenue and Blair's Ferry, below. Even a busy city street looked nice on this this opening day of summer in Cedar Rapids.

My computer's measure of my trip. Almost 61 miles today.

I now have a hot pad on my left knee, which is sending my brain nasty messages to remind it that there is supposed to be arthritis there. I’m very tired—I will probably go to bed early tonight without watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (in case you wonder, the only season I’ve not seen before is season 5, and I just watched the episode where Buffy finds out Dawn is not really her sister). Other than that, I feel I survived the first “long ride” of RAGBRAI training fairly well.

It rained Friday, but I rode 25 miles on Saturday, so that gives me 85 miles for the weekend. With additional rides Sunday (all of the three Sunday rides were on Argent with grandchildren riding the Tag-A-Long, so miles are a guess) the weekend gets close to a century. Probably not quite that—I doubt the three Sunday rides totaled more than 10 miles in all—but still, it was a great biking weekend.

Beyond the Memorial Day epic trek to Solon, the weekend featured many visits to the Rockwell Collins pond on C Avenue, where grandchildren and I enjoy watching the duck family. I also rode the Lindale and Boyson Road trails with the youngsters.

And the reason Saturday added up to 25 miles is that 22 miles were my first ride north to Lafayette and back. Along the way, I did the new loop in Robins that leads to the city park there. It’s a pleasant loop—not much distance, but it is a well paved, woodsy loop.

So I found some new eateries and some new bike paths. I think this was a well-used biking weekend!

The young ducks at pond on C Avenue. This image was from Saturday ride with a grandson, as is the next one, too.

New side trail loop in Robins off of Cedar Valley Nature Trail leads to loop through city park. It's not a long loop, but pleasant and paved.

Peony in Robins City Park.

On the short loop back to the Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

In Which We Think of Sunny Rides To Come

Sun on Rockwell-Collins pond this morning, clouds
are headed away.

Mike's logo for bookworm ride.

I’ll spare you the obvious Beatles song—but it was sure nice this morning to cycle in weather that, while cool, looked much more like spring.

As I write this, it’s a minor tragedy that I am indoors. A rainy Wednesday has given away to Sunshine Thursday, and a bicycle commuter says hooray!

Which puts me in mind of sunny, warm rides to come. The MMU Bike Club plans to ride this Friday, our first nice springtime ride. Join us, MMU! Meet at 4:30 at Lundy.

And the planned bookworm biker ride from Marion to Iowa City is still in the works. The Facebook group organized by Michael Miller for “Bookworms on Bikes” is now public! Check on it to get updates--the 50 miles or so ride should be late May or early June.

The news on RAGBRAI is good. I haven’t convinced Team Joe that this is a good “ride all the miles” year, but the band is back together and then some.

This year, Jon is coming out from San Francisco to ride—and he will be joined by his lovely wife Nalena Santiago in her first RAGBRAI.

And Last week, I put Clarence to good work, using toddler seat and Tag-A-Long to cart grandchildren to and around a playground. The weather is going to be nice this weekend, so we’ll see how much riding we do then—quite a lot, I hope!

Warm weather! Time to find the sunscreen and bug repellant and put them to good use!

Another pond view--ducks cross the reflected sun. And at the end of the ride, below, MMU daffodils.

In Which Coffee Is In the Drive With Books

Aug. 9 view of the front of the new Cedar Rapids Library--the entrance faces the art museum and park.

The new Cedar Rapids Library is nearing completion, and I can’t help but feel a bit of library fever. Back in the day—before June of 2008—I had sometimes biked to the old library, although not often.

I didn’t bike quite as much back then, and the library, down on the river, was not quite as easy to reach on two wheels.

Now, it’s right on the downtown Cedar River Trail. As you can see, it’s nearing completion. There are tantalizing stacks of books to be seen. Workers were scurrying around inside, apparently arranging doilies, when I stopped by on a Friday afternoon ride to check out the scene.

Bike rack with books in background.

I had not gone south on the trail much since pre-RAGBRAI rides. There is a big detour around the federal courthouse that isn’t well marked when you’re coming from the north—but I don’t really mind the detour, since it represents a project that will finally reconnect the trail where a new post-flood rail bridge was built.

2008—was the flood really in 2008? And have we waited t his long for Iowa’s second city to have a cool central library? I’m sure that there are lots of people who are still putting the pieces together after that flood. Sadly, the city has not put the pieces together for flood protection, although voters haven’t exactly helped in that.

Never mind. I’m getting detoured on this blog. Yeah, back to the library.

I am not always fond of modern architecture. The library has a “green” roof with a garden on it, which may be cool, but I’m leery of anybody with a drafting pencil who draws a flat roof in this climate. Architects—this is Iowa. Rain, snow, sleet, hail, heat—make roofs that can stand all that and won’t hold any standing water. Flat is fine for a California desert, but this is the Midwest, baby.

Anyway, roof rant aside, I’m getting pretty excited. I want to be able to park Francis and browse for books, and not just window shop. The front of the library is pretty cool, as you can see.

There is a bike rack on the trail side, my only objection is that it’s right by a drive, too, which could cause some issues.

But the drive is marked “books” and “coffee.” Really? What does that mean? I need the book and coffee lane, please.

Anyway, the ride was not too long. I turned around right after crossing the river. I don’t know how much time I’ll have for rides south, as the days grow shorter and summer comes to a close.

And it is great to see the new library be so tantalizingly close.

Coffee and books. Is this Heaven or Iowa? Except it's "book drop." They will have books in liquid form, too?

Mad Dogs and CR Biker in the Mid Day Sun

Egret in Cedar River today.  I volunteer to wade in the polluted waters too.  It was hot, hot, hot!

Come a little bit closer, you're my kind of bird, so cute and so tall.

A closeup. From the lion bridge, so we're zooming a lot.

How hot was it?  Well, I’ve never web-enabled my not-so-smart phone, and although my bike computer has a thermometer, I don’t know how to use it.  The actual temperature today was in the upper 90s, but the heat index, taking humidity into account for the mischief it does for human comfort, was in the three digits.

Did I ride?  Well, I can’t control the weather during RAGBRAI, so, yes, I did.

Slowly.  I’m usually slow anyway.  Today, I must have seemed glacial.  I snailed along the trail, taking my time, drinking my wine.  It was white and alcohol free wine, made exclusively of two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen (amounts not given by weight).

Anyway, I did about 30 miles total today in 3 rides, one of them in the hottest part of the afternoon.  Hit it, Noel:

The ride was hot, windy, and fine.  As was the case during RAGBRAI last year, I found myself surprisingly uncomfortable but otherwise OK in the heat.  This year, the techno bike jersey helps, so the ride was doable.  Good practice for any especially hot RAGBRAI days that I hope don’t happen because they would really suck.

The most uncomfortable part of by body was the wettest.  My head.  The helmet is good at building up a storage of liquid so that when you pause and take it off, you go EWWW.  Maybe I should shave my head for RAGBRAI?  Naw.  Sunburn.

The heat in my head had a poor impact on my brain, I think.  Anyway, I had ridden on the downtown trail, and was headed back toward campus to say hi to Audrey, when I was stopped by a train at the construction site of the new central library.  I could have gone north on streets, but that would have violated my strict “take it easy in the heat” biking rule, so I parked Old Blackie and was idle while the train snailed by (it seemed to be taking it easy in the heat, too—maybe the whole world was).

As I enjoyed the hundred-degree heat, I idly inspected the artist’s rendition of the new library.  It was amusing to me partly because it was exactly backward from my point of view, but OK.  Anyway, as I looked at the image, I started to have questions.

On a sign at the site of the new library, what the other side of it will look like.  Weirdos on the roof.  Depressed pedestrians.  A woman in yellow so confused she's air fishing at a piece of art that resembles a giant, mangled bike chain (clearly an homage to nearby trail).  A spooky sitter hiding behind the tree.  But, most spooky of all, what is that man/woman in the skirt/kilt next to the giant pile of art?

Why do so many people hang out on the roof of the library?

Why does that pedestrian look so depressed, shoulders hunched, watching the ground as he walks along?  Did the library not have his favorite Bill Bryson book or the second installment of “The Hunger Games?”

From a distance, a school girl.  But on second thought, a burly Scot in a kilt,
and he looks neither harmless nor happy.

And then there was her.  Or him.  At first glance, a school girl in a plaid shirt.  But a rather large, burly looking school girl, who the more I looked at her, she became “him.”  A rather muscular Scot kilt-wearing psychopathic murderer, looking for the next victim whose eardrums and brain s/he can shatter with his pipes of death.

No wonder Mr. Pedestrian is depressed.  With Jack the Mac Ripper nearby, he’s not expecting to get out alive.

Finally, the train moved on and so did I and the handful of other Mad Dog Englishmen bikers who were out on this scorching day.

Lunch With Bill and Builders

Bill in Ellis Park.

Monday’s bike ride was almost pure pleasure.  Almost.  There was a bit of a poignant note to it, too.

I rode to the north end of the Cedar River Trail beyond Hiawatha and Robins, and there was a sight to behold—actual construction/paving trucks on the actual trail.  The trail about 3 miles north of Robins has been closed all summer—not convenient for RAGBRAI training—for paving a few miles north to Central City.  It’s been frustrating seeing the serious-looking barriers and nothing else, and today was the first sight at the south end of the construction zone of actual work taking place.  My hope, of course, is that they started at the north end and are finishing the south end, but I suspect it will be some time before the trail is opened.

The last update on linncountrytrail.org was from May and said the project was ahead of schedule due to good weather, and the trail “could be opened before the end of summer.”

Well, I don’t want to sound whiney.  Along with, I’m sure, most Cedar Rapids bikers, I’m thrilled that more of the trail will be paved.  The ride south to Ely is nice, and it will be great to be able to head north, so a few months of inconvenience now are totally worth it.

A sight for sore eyes--the north end construction site.

And it was great to see the truck.  Construction is underway!  In fact, construction, for one reason or another, became the theme of this Monday ride.  I saw work going on to replace lights at the railroad crossing on 42^nd Street NE in Cedar Rapids, continued exterior work at the new federal courthouse, some construction barriers at Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium adjacent to the newly opened City Hall, and, of course, work at the Five Seasons Center or whatever it’s called now.

I had my trusty new Canon with me and present some building photos—not bothering to show all the sights, by the way.  There was more work going on than I bothered to edit and post.

Never noticed before, but the big company downtown
is not Quaker Oats, but "Quaker Oars." Do they
mold paddles from grain-based plastics?

Cranes seem to be a part of the Cedar Rapids skyscape these days.  My personal favorite is the new central library.  If I do RAGBRAI again in the future, I’ll still find time to relax in the library.  A big new library right adjacent to the bike trail—well, blog fans, how could it get better than that?

Anyway, when I turned south, I decided that Ellis Park would be my lunch spot for an early afternoon stop.  The odd thing about the ride to Ellis Park is that much of it is on an under-used west side river walkway, disconnected from a nearby under-used bike path, and then a slightly iffy jaunt down Ellis Boulevard before you get to the park.  I kind of wish the city would simply sign and paint the river walk for bike use, and there could easily be a nice, continuous bike trail linking the east side downtown trail at Sokol Park to a west side river trail that goes all the way to Ellis Park.

The poignant part of the ride?  If you’re biking to Ellis Park, then when you get onto the nice, new, levee-topping east side bike trail, what’s on your left is a partial wasteland of flood devastation.  There are a few houses, but mostly block after block that was swept away by the Cedar River.  Two years after the mighty flood, there is a lot of good that has been done in Cedar Rapids (see the library and courthouse), but a lot of scars, too.

New federal courthouse being finished, conveniently on the bike trail.
If I commit a federal crime, I'll be able to bike to my trial on the trail.

Bicycle parking at new federal courthouse, more convenient than car parking, I'd wager.

Voters have twice rejected funding for west-side protection.  I don’t know why.  Lack of trust, I suppose, but I voted “yes” both times.  Tax me and protect my city, please.

Well, enough of politics and back to our tale.

I arrived at Ellis Park on a gorgeous, warm but not hot, summer afternoon and ate lunch with Bill.  William Shakespeare.

There is a “Shakespeare Garden” in the park, a bit of faux historic kitsch.  It’s not quite as impressive as the tree museum in Storm Lake, Iowa, which is an idea maybe Cedar Rapids should repeat—only can we make it the historic moss or fungus museum?  I’m kidding, let’s stick with trees.

Work on RR lights at 42nd Street.

In Storm Lake, Iowa, they have trees in a park along the lake that come from seeds or shoots of trees that are somehow associated with historic figures or events.  It’s both weird and cool at the same time.  Like a Shakespeare Garden for no particular reason in Cedar Rapids.  How about a Vonnegut garden?  Let’s do it before Iowa City wakes up.

Anyway, the literary park within the park is a nice, a quit alcove for a biker’s brown-bag (actually, green lunch box) meal.  And, as I looked across the Cedar River, of course, there was a utility vehicle doing something along the power lines that follow a railroad right-of-way there.

I headed back, crossed the river on one of the one-ways north, re-linked to the trail, then turned around at Sokol Park and headed north on the east side trail.

A new furnace is being installed at my house Tuesday, so if I take a ride, it will have to be an early evening jaunt—so it might be a while before the bard and I break bread together again.  But Monday’s ride was beautiful.  And I’m getting excited just thinking about it.

They’re paving the trail!

Convention Center downtown, being rebuilt.