In Which There is an Unpleasant Crunch

Pretty spring skies seen on bike rides this week.

Biking in early spring in Iowa—sometimes in sun, sometimes in wind, sometimes with ice pellets snapping and stinging on your skin.

It’s been a week of contrasts. Several nights have featured light sprinkles, with occasional icy spots in the morning.

Good thing I had a mountain bike. But why the past tense?

I don’t recall the exact reason, but on Wednesday night was I was in a hurry to get home. I flew along on the mountain bike, which I rode that day due to an icy morning. By evening, the pavement was all dry and I was ready to fly.

I got about 2/3 of the way home, and was behind Kenwood School. On the ride home, I go down a little incline, make a sharp right turn and head up a small hill. I had gained speed on the downhill, rounded the corner and was pumping up the hill.

I was moving pretty well, and, frankly, feeling pretty good. I didn’t even hit a bump or anything, but all of a sudden I heard That Sound. It’s hard to describe, kind of a slow crunch. It’s not a snap, it’s almost a groan.

And I knew what that unpleasant sound probably was. I looked down at the rare wheel and immediately saw the wobble.

Spoke broke.

Broken spoke on Wednesday.

Aw well. The rest of the ride home was slower—I didn’t want to put strain on a suddenly weakened back wheel. Near home, I paused to make an image of the pretty sunset.

Well, today I rode the hybrid bike. It was OK, except super windy and cold on the way home. A bit of snow was in the air, and whipped by a powerful wind, the snow stung my face as it smacked into me.

The ride home was slow as I rode the “wind hill.”

Well, it’s been a week of contrasts, but still a week of bike riding, too. And, despite some chilly winds, pretty spring skies.

Wednesday sunset.

In Which Summer Heat Lasts Till the Wobble Appears

Cloud shadows in the morning Sept. 21.

The light is fading away from the Northern Hemisphere. Time to check the lights.

Despite the fading morning and afternoon suns, summer heat and drought has been the theme of recent biking in Iowa. That finally changed this week. While it wasn’t by any means a gully washer, some rain fell Monday into Tuesday, and suddenly the humid 90s have been replaces by cool 70s.

I felt I was melting at the start of this week. Now I wear a sweater for morning rides.

This morning was a bit frustrating. I was all set to leave home early and get to work well before 8—but I noticed an odd wobble as I got close to the Rockwell-Collins crossing. I thought something was wrong with my front wheel due to the wobble, but it seemed true. Then I looked back at the rear wheel.

Wobble. Wobble. Wobble. If felt like it came from the front, but in fact it was the back wheel that was bippity bopping as I rode. “Looks like a broken spoke” I thought to myself, and when I stopped, hopped off the bike and checked, sure enough, myself was correct.

Well, I was much closer to home than work, so I turned back and swapped bikes.

It meant I didn’t get in early, as I had hoped to. But I did, at least, get to ride a bit more in a pleasantly cool morning, which is nice to experience after our long, hot September.

Here are a bunch of images of recent rides showing the beauty of the fall skies, whether hot or seasonal in temperature.

Early sun at Blairs Ferry Road (above) and Rockwell-Collins pond (below).

Ones above are last week-this is this morning, Sept. 27.

Cedar Lake.

Morning shadow.

Cedar Lake.

In Which We Travel 16 Miles To See Trains

Grandson and I on 16-mile ride today. He's on Tag-A-Long seat (and no, we are not about to be hit--took photo as we were stopped at street light).

I’ve still struggling with an ear infection, which is not doing good things for my bike riding. The first round of antibiotics knocked it down briefly, but it came back, and now I’m on drug 2.0.

Let’s hope this one works. In the meantime, speak loudly to me as if I were an old, hard of hearing person. It’s generally true anyway, just more so now.

Still, even as time gets more constrained (it’s August and school is looming), I have had some nice rides. When we can, my wife and I have done some evening rides, including a recent one out to Lowe Park in Marion.

On ride earlier this week--Monday night, I think. My wife and I went out to Lowe Park. Sky looked pretty nice.

I had not been riding much this week, partly because we’ve hosted four grandchildren for consecutive overnights, and we’ve just been busy doing other things. Fun things, such as visiting a nearby gorge to view fossils, but not biking things.

Today, I had the chance to put in a few miles. While his sisters went to taekwondo lessons, my oldest grandson and I took Clarence out for a spin with the Tag-A-Long attached.

We pedaled down to Cedar Lake so he could view trains, and then rode over to Marion to meet his sisters and mother for lunch. In all, we rode about 16 miles. And later, I went to collect my bike, adding enough to fairly claim I rode about 20 miles today.

Two views from evening ride home Aug. 10. Buck on Lindale Trail, above. Sky as I turn from Boyson Trail to Lindale Trail, below.

In Which October Features Great Skies, Critters

Morning ride earlier this week, sun just coming up a bit after 7 turning C Avenue pond golden.

Cooling off now in the upper Midwest—I heard they had snow in South Dakota and are even talking blizzard in parts of Iowa west of here.

Not here. Maybe frost. Cool nights are starting to settle in, and this was the week I had to wear a jacket to ride one morning. But cool doesn’t bother me—in fact it make biking more pleasant—so I don’t mind.

As our hemisphere shies away from the sun, the mornings have become time to ride with lights, but also times of very pretty skies.

Later that same morning, Tuesday I think although I am not sure--sky as I arrive at top of MMU hill, Rohde Plasa.

And I think critters are starting to note the changing season—large water birds in odd places, like an egret this morning in the small Rockwell-Collins pond on C Avenue. Dinosaurs are on the move as the seasons shift.

Wednesday afternoon? Deer by C Avenue bridge in the evening.

Friday morning, C Avenue pond. Don't see big water birds there often. I am zoomed in, but this bird is pretty close--maybe 15 yards away at sidewalk-C Avenue end of pond.

Cedar Lake Friday about 5 p.m. Bird above was walking around (below).

I’ve been pretty sick the past two weeks, but still have been able to bike. I’m finally starting to feel just a little better, so here’s hoping next week also features some pleasant, cool fall biking!

In Which The Computer Computes For No Reason

Wednesday at about 4:45 p.m., I'm walking across campus to begin my bike ride home on a cool, but no longer bone-chilling cold, day. Very pretty. But can it fight? (Sorry, I don't know why 'The Dirty Dozen' suddenly came by for a visit.)

I got out my bike Wednesday morning, pumped up the tyres (trying to go back to the British spelling as I stated I would in an earlier blog post) and oiled the chain.

Was there something about tire pressure or chain lube that my bike computer craved? It’s been somnolent since RAGBRAI, a ridiculous expensive bike watch that now is an hour off, since I don’t know how to change it for daylight savings time.

And yet, when I began to pedal south towards work, suddenly numbers flashed up on the little screen. It was, for unknown reasons, registering my speed and miles.

Well, the computer has sometimes woken up for just a few seconds, so I didn't think much of it. But as I passed the halfway mark on my journey, it was still registering numbers, as you can see.

I am headed up a slight incline and turning a corner—that speed is slow even for me, but I chose to take the photograph when I was going slowly so the danger to life and limb was reduced. My earlier post said biking is relatively safe—but not when you do crazy stuff like this, so if I crazy stuff, at least I can do it when Francis is rolling slowly. I topped 19 mph just minutes before headed down a hill before this slow stretch and rode about 11 to 12 mph on straight stretches of the commute.

Well, it’s warming up in Iowa and staying dry. Today I didn't even bother with the long underwear—it was well over 20 and not very windy in the morning, I would have been sweating if I hadn't cut a layer. The commute Wednesday night and this morning were both in dim light, although the light was failing at night but growing in the morning. I barely noticed that the computer, which has sprung to life so inexplicably, is back to wrong-time watch mode once again.

It worked for the whole 4.5-mile ride to work. And then died once again. Do I have to air and lube before every ride?

Because the sky, in both afternoon and morning, was spectacular—just enough high thin clouds to give the yellow and pink low sun something to work with.

It has turned gorgeous in Iowa—at least as gorgeous as it can be before the crocus bloom again—and it’s been a good mid week to be a biker once again.

In Which I Praise the Fall Sky

Moon morning of Oct. 8--cool, nice morning for an eclipse.

Grotto at MMU. Can't really bike here, but it shows how nice a fall day midday can be. On a walk Oct. 8 at MMU, we took a bit of a detour just to pass through the grotto.

Fall is biking season, for sure. Crisp air, blue skies, no more summer heat—of course, parts of fall can be wet and dreary, which is not fun, but so far Fall 2014 has been textbook perfect for bike commuting.

There has been some rain and some winds, but frankly wind  is OK. It can be a problem on a long cross-country ride, but when your commute is only 4 miles, even a pretty stiff headwinds is not such a big deal.

It’s just a nice season to be outside.

On the MMU walk.

Most of these photos aren’t actually from biking. I did take the sunrise over the Rockwell-Collins pond this week—I know it’s not that different from an earlier picture, but I like it anyway. The moon is early (around 6 a.m.) from Oct. 8, when the moon passed through the Earth’s shadow. Otherwise, these are pictures of the Mount Mercy University Campus, several during a fitness walk Oct. 8.

Flag at MMU during walk.

There is something nice about the fall sky—interesting clouds, deep blues, a nice light angle from the southern journeying sun. Summer light can be more overwhelming, and winter is a bit too faded with long shadows midday.

Spring is nice, but your attention is more drawn down, to the first flowers. And in Iowa, fall is often dryer than spring, which makes it a bit more of a sky-viewing season.

So, welcome bikers, to the best commuting season of all.

The pond at Rockwell-Collins in the morning. Tuesday, I think.

In Which An Interesting Sky Is Still OK

Walking across the MMU campus in the afternoon, heading for my bike ride home--this is the sky. Very interesting. Luckily, I stayed mostly dry.

There was rain in the air today, which made it not a great tragedy that I had a flat yesterday. I would have hitched a ride with Audrey anyway, which is what I did this morning.

But I grabbed the bike pump. And at lunch time, I swapped the punctured tube in my front tire with a new tube. I don’t think that the tube had been punctured with any object. A hole had formed where the valve as attached to the tube—why, I don’t know, but in a few minutes I had the tube changed.

After an afternoon video editing session with a student, I headed back to Warde Hall to pack up and head home. You can see how interesting the sky looked. But, despite a few drops in the air, I thought I might have a chance to make it home without being soaked.

As it turned out, the gamble paid off. A few sprinkles but no real rain, and certainly no lightening. And when I got home, more daffodils were blooming in my front yard. The only slight off note?

I totally forgot to climb the hill. I’ll have to do that tomorrow.

Daffodils at home. Friendly, sunny flowers.

The Pleasure of Partly Unplanned Routes

New sign at Lindale Trail before the ride I didn't take on Sunday.  No more from this trail!

On Sunday, on the way home from the gym, I decided to ride along the Lindale Trail and photograph some new signs that mark the distances.  I texted Audrey, and it turned out she was at the C Avenue Park with Katy and her kids.  So I make a quick change and headed up to the park.

I picked up the child seat on my way to the park, and gave Tristan a ride to our house.  We then headed out to lunch.

I didn’t do the trail on Sunday, but that’s OK, it will still be there when I get there.  The unexpected route feature a nice interlude with grandkids, and that’s a welcome destination.

This morning, I headed out a little after 7—and had a class at 9:30.  It was a bit damp, since it had sprinkled overnight, but I found the siren call of the trail to be too loud, so, since I had time, I rode the Cedar River Trail.

As usual, the November morning sky put on a show.  The clouds were just starting to break as the sun was low in the southeast.  The sun shining through some gaps created a great nice spotlight effect.

Well, the route I didn’t expect turned out to be very pleasant.  For some reason, on this cool damp Monday before Thanksgiving, there was absolutely no other traffic on the trail.  Which is OK with me!

The spotlight sky this morning, seen on the Cedar River Trail in Hiawatha.

The Road That I Used To Travel

The usual road home is blocked by an accident.

Sky before my ride seen at MMU.

I was biking home Friday at dusk—around 4:30, and when I turned to head north on Eastern, my usual route, I saw that there had been a traffic accident at the corner of Eastern and 29th Street.

Bummer.  I hope nobody was hurt.

Anyway, I proceeded along 27th to Lindale and turned north there, and ended up riding home on E Avenue in front of Kenwood School.  When I first started biking to work, this was my usual route, until I discovered the utility of the route that runs on quiet streets behind Kenwood School.

It’s odd how stuck on a route you can be when you regularly go from point A to point B.  You find a way that works and you’re comfortable with it for months or even years, and then an accident or road construction forces you to find another way.  Later, you have to decide if the old habitual route was best, or if you like the new one.

Because it avoids the school traffic and crosses two busy streets at better spots, I’ve taken to the new route.  It felt a bit weird riding the old one, like I was in a time machine going backwards.  The weather was nice and ride was fine, it just felt a bit “wrong,” like sitting in the wrong pew in church.

Which, I think, is a good idea, now and then.  Get out of your comfort zone and see the world or your bicycle route with new eyes from a new perspective.

I should do this now and then when there is no accident.

Most bugs are gone, but on a warmish afternoon, a few are around.  Saw this guy on the central campus of MMU as I was headed across campus to go get my bike and head home.