Where I Rode on My Summer Vacation

I decided that the best thing I could do to take advantage of my last weekday of being an unemployed bum would be to hop on the bike. A few minutes with Google Maps was all I needed to work out a route.

For the first few miles, I enjoyed the cool, hazy morning. Then I realized the haze was actually cleverly-disguised humidity, and that's why I was so sweaty on such a cool morning. My legs also felt less-strong than usual, which wasn't a particularly auspicious start.

I rode east through Cedar Rapids, into Marion, heading for the east edge of the metro area. My route covered some roads I have never been on before, with some very fancy houses. I'm not talking about suburban McMansions--these were the real thing, with manicured lawns, private ponds (in Iowa, they'd call them lakes), and at least one gazebo bigger than my living room.

After I crossed IA13, riding on Mt. Vernon Road, I realized I was riding into a headwind--that was a big part of why my legs weren't moving me as fast as I expected. Fortunately, starting a loop by riding into a headwind usually means a tailwind on a later part of the ride (this is something I usually end up doing wrong--I end up starting with a tailwind and finishing into a headwind, every bit as accidentally as getting it right this time was).

One of my favorite things about riding into Mt. Vernon along its very own road is seeing the roof of Cornell College's chapel in the distance. It's much more picturesque than a road sign saying "Mt. Vernon 2 Miles", but just about as accurate. The haze this morning gave it a soft, ghostly look--I really need to start carrying a camera on rides.

There was one "errand" I wanted to do in Mt. Vernon. After I finished that, I climbed the hill to the visitor's center on 1st St. The water fountain was still turned on, even a month after Labor Day. A full water bottle and an eaten apple later, I was headed north on Springville Road (no prizes for guessing where that leads).

The wind was at my back and the hills seemed to mostly be downward, so I covered the ten miles to Springville quickly. Traffic was light and the road was in great condition for biking--I recommend it. Because I wasn't looking into the sun anymore, the haze went from bright and shimmery to barely noticeable. The yellowing soybeans actually looked very pretty. Maybe it's because it's a colorful change of pace from the dark-green fields of midsummer. Even though I make plenty of Iowa jokes, I do enjoy riding through landscapes that look like Grant Wood paintings.

At Springville, I turned east, towards home. Right at the Linn/Jones county line, the road turned to gravel. It was well-packed, though. No problem. And certainly better than trying to ride along US-151 (4-lane, heavy traffic, 65mph limit, sketchy shoulders in places). As I turned this way and that, always turning square corners along the Iowa checkerboard, I found myself on progressively looser gravel. It was somewhere on Marion Airport Road that my legs started to complain.

Gravel is tough on a ride like this. It's rough, so you really want to use your legs as shock absorbers. The alternative is to use your backside--the small chunk of it actually touching the seat--to absorb bumps, and that's definitely not recommended by 4 out of 5 dentists. Its roughness also slows you down, so maintaining speed takes extra work. And it's loose, so power gets wasted rearranging rocks (mostly shooting them backwards, although one did entertainingly get tossed nearly straight up to land on my handlebars) instead of moving you forward.

So there I was, riding on a gravel road, nearly out of water, at least ten miles from home. A zig, a zag, and a few miles later, I was on another gravel road, entirely out of water, and riding past the Marion water tower. "Water, water, stored up there, nor any drop to drink," I thought. I considered trying to fill my bottle from the massive drainpipe jutting from the side, but decided that might not be the best of ideas. Besides, I could see my next turn, onto pavement.

By the time I turned onto pavement, I'd covered probably eight miles of gravel, most of it loose. My quads were getting ready to go on strike. My plan was to just head straight home. I almost stuck to that plan. I stopped at the Bowman Woods pool to eat the peanut-butter granola bar I'd brought with. Blood sugar wasn't the problem, but I hoped the combination of quick carbs and protein would appease my legs for another half-dozen miles. I stretched a bit, then got back on the road. Almost there.

As I rode through Marion and then along Boyson Road into Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha, I thought about seeing if any of the stay-at-home moms (and the SAHM-to-be) I know who live close to my route would be willing to fill up my water bottle. Actually, I know they would. I decided not to, though, because (a) I didn't really want to impose, (b) I didn't want to interrupt anything that might be going on, like naptimes, (c) if I stopped, it'd be that much harder to get going again, especially if I stopped and nobody was home and (d) I was probably not entirely rational, so stubbornness won out. But I did mentally wave and say hello as I rode past (so hello to J, D, and H).

I finally got to the trail, and headed home. I wasn't sure if I was up for the "sprint stretch", but I held 18+, and kicked it up to 20 before the turn. I was happy I could do it, but my legs screamed at me. Rough ending, but it really was an enjoyable ride.

And man, it felt good to get hydrated and stretch out a bit.

Important stats:
52.85 miles in 3:23:26 (about 4 hours counting breaks).
2 roadkill raccoons
1 roadkill possum
1 roadkill skunk
4 unidentifiable roadkills, one of which was feathered
1 non-roadkill woodchuck that just stared at me from a schoolyard