In Which the Wardrobe Changes with the Season

Thin clouds and morning sun turn C Avenue pond golden on morning bike ride, March 4.

Behind bike rack, new daffodils poking through the garden cover.

March in Iowa. The equinox isn’t until three weeks in, but the season can feel like spring—or winter—as the calendar flips from February to the lion month.

Ash Wednesday was March 2—a day to get some ashes, contemplate mortality, begin a season of fasting and then hop on a bike and ride home, with a notable change.

The first ride sans coat, hat, gloves. It was about 60, and a sweater was plenty warm enough by itself.

About 7:15 a.m., sky on morning ride March 2 at Collins Road.

Ready to ride home Ash Wednesday, March 2. Took the longer route home by Cedar Lake. My winter jacket is in my backpack--I needed it for the morning ride, but not the afternoon one. Note hybrid bike in background.

March 2--Cedar Lake is still covered in ice, but it's getting thin.

March can be a tricky month. We’re expected to have severe thunderstorms Saturday, and there is probably a better than even chance that snow is still in our future. In some extreme years, March feels like February 2.0. Not in most years, and luckily, this doesn’t seem to be one of those rough years.

Granted, I was back in winter gear after Wednesday, but winter gear this week merely meant jacket, hat, coat—not even warm boots, let alone long johns.

The ice on the streets is increasingly rare. The ground is largely bare, with just a few dirty piles of slowly receding snow, either where it was piled high or is in the shade. The melting snow has left ice on my commuting route, and many of my rides have been on The Fancy Beast, my trusty old winter beater mountain bike.

Saturday, Feb. 26. Leaving home in the afternoon to work on student newspaper at MMU. More snow on the ground and I'm riding The Fancy Beast.

Bike parked Feb. 26 between Regina Hall dorm and library. In sunny areas, snow is mostly gone.

March 1--Clarence, my hybrid bike, parked in Warde Hall rack.

Colder day Thursday, March 3, and light snow fell. A bit of snow on worn seat of The Fancy Beast (I already have a less worn seat to swap out, but have not done it yet).

Another image from March 3. Don't know if  you can tell, it's very light, but it's snowing as I shoot this image.

But today, and several days in the past week, I’ve started to ride the hybrid bike—days when I calculated warm socks were enough to protect my feet, that I didn’t need the winter boots.

March in Iowa. Winter may not be done with us yet, but there have been some spring rides. In the garden behind the bike rack I use at Warde Hall on the Mount Mercy University campus, I noticed today a few young daffodils staring to poke up from the thawing ground. Since my last blog post, I’ve ridden 66 miles. In the first four days of March, it was 33 miles. On the year so far, I am at 296 miles—one commute to work away from 300, 10 percent of my annual goal. Given the time of year, I think that’s OK.

And I’m enjoying the change in seasons.

I take the longer Cedar River Trail route to campus Feb. 26. Some snow, but trail it clear.

Riding on bike lane on 74th Street on the way to Cedar River Trail. Snow cover fading away late in February.

Morning sky on March 1.

In Which the Biker Loses and Regains Mittens

Pausing at a bridge on the Boyson Trail.

The streets were sometimes snowy this week, and one morning, I madethe decision that the weather wasn’t good for biking.

But despite the one-day break, I rolled through 32 miles this week, including some today, a very cold winter day.

A bit dicey on some streets Monday morning. The bit of sun that day improved the evening ride dramatically.

My bike, mountain this time, parked at Mount Mercy University.

I think this was Wednesday. I took longer trail route home, and briefly stopped down by Cedar Lake.

Today, I rode the hybrid, but only because I was riding with a grandson, and that’s the bike that has the Tab-A-Long attachment.

Most of my rides this week, after the exciting near fall last week, were on The Fancy Beast. On some cold days, that old mountain bike felt a little creaky. I think some bearings in the rear may be iffy—but then again, it rode more smoothly on warmer days, so perhaps some frozen moisture was most to blame.

In any case, the week was mostly a pretty, if chilly one. The highlight was the ride today when I took along a young grandson. The 6-year-old was enthusiastic about getting  a ride, even in the cold.

Maybe it helped that we had spent some time in the morning playing the backyard. He already knew that if he dressed for the weather it was not too cold to be outside.

Riding with a young child on a cold day is an adventure. We stopped at Walgreens to stare at movie ads in the rental box outside—not because we were going to rent a movie, but just because the boy wanted to check to see which movies he had seen and chat about them for a while.

Ready for ride Saturday afternoon.

Bike parked on bridge over Dry Creek on Boyson Trail Saturday.

Watching duck in Dry Creek.

And we stopped on a bridge where he could toss some sticks and snow into the open water of the creek below. I tried to discourage the snow. He was earing knitted gloves, and if he played too much in the snow, they would get wet and his hands would get cold.

Which is exactly what happened. So for brief intervals, I took off my own mitten and had him wear them to warm up his unhappy hands.

Which meant I was biking bare handed. In 18 degrees Fahrenheit.

That’s why the intervals were brief.

Anyway, I got him home and then rode home myself. I had toyed with the idea of going on a longer ride after dropping off the Tag-A-Long, but my face was complaining about the chill.

So I stayed home. Which is OK. More than 30 miles in a week isn’t all that bad in February, I’m thinking. Now, I have 103 miles for the month and 218 for the year so far.

Went to an art reception at Mount Mercy University for artist Gail Chavenelle. This is one of her sculptures.

Morning sky early in the week.

Clouds are pretty, but I'll take more mornings like this. Cold Friday morning.

Final look at Feb. 29 ride.

In Which a Slip Favors the Beast

Feb. 6 sky, corner of Blair's Ferry and C Avenue, riding to campus.

Feb. 10, morning sun in Dry Creek Valley, seen a few minutes into my bike ride. Pretty light.

It was sometimes warm, more often cold, in Iowa this week. Today, for example, when I left campus to bike home, the temperature was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Which, honestly, is not super cold if you’re dressed for it and it’s not windy. Sadly, today it was plenty windy and my ride home was into the north wind. I unlocked the bike from the rack at Regina Hall, across Mercy Drive from the library, where the newspaper office is. I had been helping students edit materials for next week’s paper.

Super cold is not always bad news, in one way. In a week like this, when there have been a few days warm enough to cause melting of our rapidly receding snow cover, the pavement can get wet and can, of course, freeze. However, if the melting is modest because it’s not that warm, what happens is the colder air will dry the pavement out, and instead of ice, you end up with nice, bare pavement.

Which, largely, we did. Friday started warmer, and the day grew colder in the afternoon. Wet pavement from overnight light precipitation dissipated, and the streets were largely dry when I rode home.

So, today, it was super cold overnight, but I didn’t plan to go to campus until the afternoon. It was “warm” by the time I left home, as in, it was above zero. With a windchill well below zero, but on the ride to campus, I was riding with the wind, which makes the chill far less of a factor.

The Fancy Beast, my mountain bike, parked Friday Feb. 11 at MMU. Had an early meeting with students in the library, so am at the Regina Hall bike rack, the nearest one to that building. Below, my bike is the one that's not leaned.

Anyway, so I don’t think my decision to ride with the hybrid bike today was all that crazy. Yet, I rethought the wisdom of that very early on the ride home.

It was shortly after 5, the light growing dim, but not yet dark. I had my lights on as I peddled across campus, exiting down the drive by Warde Hall—the gentlest slope on campus, and thus my standard exit point, no matter which route I use to ride on to campus.

Where the Warde Hall drive meets the street, there must have been some running water that was too deep to evaporate in the dry air. I didn’t really see it well. I was flying down a hill. I had slowed for the corner, but there were no cars on the street, so I didn’t slow as much as usual as I attempted the right turn from the drive to the street.

And that’s where I slipped.

The only times I’ve had falls in winter have been riding a hybrid bike. On my previous bike, over a decade ago, I took a bad tumble on F Avenue, hurt a knee and was in pain for months. Ironically, I went to Seattle that year, was barely able to walk, and yet that was the spring when my oldest son invited me to ride RAGBRAI for the first time, and I agreed.

Back to today. I turned. The bike hit the ice, it slipped and I lost my balance.

I was lucky. The bike slid sideways to the left, and hit dry pavement. There was a jolt, and I easily could have flipped to the left. But I did not. The front wheel badly wobbled, the bike thumped hard, and I kept control (barely) had kept on riding.

It was one second of terror in an otherwise cold, but satisfactory ride. I had been enjoying the hybrid bike, Clarence is a nice change of pace compared to The Fancy Beast. It’s a quicker bike, lighter with a slightly speedier cruising speed.

Speed, I decided, may be overrated. Although I had no other trouble with ice on the 7 or so miles I rode today, I frankly decided that the clunky old back mountain bike may serve me better until there is less freezing weather.

Fatter tires. Lower center of gravity. Slower rolling speed down hills. There is something to be said for being on a mountain bike when there may be some unseen ice on the winter streets.

Feb. 12--Hybrid bike, Clarence, at bike rack, MMU, above and below.

I didn’t ride Monday, but did ride six days this week (yes, I have been to campus seven days in a row—at times in the semester, that’s what a professor’s life is like).

I rode 44.76 miles. In summer, that might be a modest one-day ride, but it’s not bad for a week in winter. In February, less than halfway through the month, I’m at 70.99 miles so far, 186.29 for the year.

That feels pretty good. Despite the second of fear. May the miles continue to add up for me, and for you, too—and may we avoid those near or actual falls.
 

In Which I Regret the Choice of Shoes

On the sidewalk between Echo Hill school and the Lowe Park area, Marion, Iowa, at sunset.

Saturday, Feb. 5—At this point in January, I had zero bike miles done. February has been more rider friendly. I didn’t ride Friday—it was deeply, deeply cold in the morning with a slight chance of snow. And just after noon, for a short time, the world turned white as blowing snow pelted down.

The snow was quick, and maybe I was lucky to be walking back to my office so I could make some images of it. And the snow reinforced my lack of guilt in not riding on Friday. But despite taking that day off, I have a few miles in this month. And I rode a bit extra today, making a late afternoon journey to Lowe Park on the hybrid bike (I still won’t ride it to work due to some icy places on the route, but I gambled that the pavement would be largely clear on the ride today, a bet that proved to be well placed).

Statue of Sister Catherine, who founded the Sisters of Mercy, on the campus of Mount Mercy University Friday afternoon. Not regretting my decision to leave my bike at home.

 

Bike I usually ride in winter parked where I usually do not park it. Feb. 1--I arrive at Basile Hall just in time to deliver a guest lecture at an 8 a.m. class, so I did not go to my office first. In winter, I usually park my bike right outside my office door.

The Saturday ride was 12.19 miles, which gives me, with the earlier in the week commutes, 26.19 miles for February in its first five-day week, which I don’t feel is bad at all. So far, 141.58 miles for the year.

The ride today was a bit hurried. I was tied up earlier in the day, and tired, so my first agenda item for the afternoon was a nap. For an old man like me, naps are extremely important. It was 4 by the time I was awake and ready to ride, and it took a little time to get dressed (long underwear, thermal socks) and get water, so it as about 4:30 when I headed out.

These days, unlike a few weeks ago, 4:30 isn’t night yet, but it was cloudy, so I rode with some lights on.

And I faced the choice of shoes. I had already picked my route and my bicycle—my commutes for now will still be on the mountain bike, but today I wanted a bit of a break from The Fancy Beast, so I pulled Clarence out of the garage.

And had to pick shoes. Clarence has double-sided pedals, so I can wear biking shoes or anything else that I want to wear. On my winter commutes, I wear warm winter boots. Today was by far the warmest in February so far, with a temperature, in the 20s Fahrenheit. A grey, windy, cold 20s, but 20s are far better than the single-digits we had for much of the week.

My usual winter bike ride shoes--insulated winter boots.

What I wore today. Leather bike shows. Leather, when not insulated, conducts heat far too well, as I proved through painful personal experimentation today,

So, I decided the socks would be enough and I would wear my biking shoes for the first time in 2022.

I think I jumped the gun.

The ride out to Lowe Park was pleasant enough, and I was enjoying the crisp air, the snowy landscape, the occasional peeks of sun through the grey sky.

It's not the first time I rode this bike this year--I did use it to take two granddaughters on rides with the Tag-A-Long seat a week ago, but this was the first long ride of the year on the hybrid bike.

Passing by Bowman Woods Park next to Bowman Woods School on Boyson Road. Sledders doing a more mundane winter thing as a crazy old man cycles by. Winter sky.

Nearing Lowe Park, old bicycle with gnome. Garden decoration or warning to bikers to keep going before the gnomes attack?

But by the time I got done riding the length of the Lowe Park trail, my feet were preparing angry protest notes. “It’s colder than a big dog,” they wrote, or would, if their toes were fingers. “Where the heck are our boots, crazy old man?”

Sorry, toes, I left them at home. Lowe Park is north and east of my house, which means a good part of the ride home was into the face of a fierce south wind. The temperature didn’t drop, but with the sun fading over the horizon and the wind blowing on my face, I felt far, far colder on the way home.

Yet, to the credit of long underwear, my thin jacket that does cut wind, the biking hat one of my daughters got me for Christmas, only my face and my toes were displeased.

The toes especially. They gave up letter writing for a riotous tantrum, silent but effective.

Despite the pain top and, mostly, tippie toe bottom, I enjoyed the ride. It felt good to be on a lighter bike. It felt good to again visit Lowe Park. There was some ice here and there, and one short stretch where snow has blown across it, but it was pretty much all clear, bare pavement. Kudos, city of Marion.

And now, I’ve edited the excessive number of images I made. I’m watching the Winter Olympics as I write this, snug under an electric blanket, toes now happier in warm indoor slippers. I treated myself to a grilled cheese and ham sandwich, Fritos, an apple, and hot chocolate for supper, followed by Blue Moon for afters.

All in all, a good ride. And I promise, toes, the rest of my winter rides, on mountain or hybrid bike, will feature the warm boots. Lesson learned. Lots of images:

Sunset seen from walkway between elementary school and middle school.

Pretty sky seen on Irish Drive. But I'm also biking into a stiff south wind and it's very cold.

What most of the Lowe Park Trail was like, perfectly clear.

Near art building on Lowe Park Trail, an aggressive looking snow figure.

Clarence at east end of Lowe Park Trail.

The warmup feast after I get home. On desk with laptop, where I will edit these images.

Sunset seen on the ride.

My bike at sunset.

Small patch of prairie-like ground at sunset.

Snow on Lowe Park Trail. this was the exception, it didn't really cause me any problem, most of the trail was clear.

Some of the art near the art building at the east end of the Lowe Park Trail looking comely at sunset.

28 F is a bit warmer than it's been, but in fading light with a stiff wind, it can still feel cold. Just ask my toes.

Bike at the Lowe Park corn cyclone. This and next few images.

The statues at Lowe Park in fading winter light.

Detail of map, rotated. Sniper cat.