Geezer Ride '17: Recon And Announcements

No rest for the wicked, they say, and so I have had to jump from Trans Iowa right in to figuring out the next Geezer Ride. That I have done. Here is the recon report and some details that you will need to make note of if you plan on joining me this Saturday on this free, no-drop, casual gravel road ride of approximately 40 miles.

Black Hawk County has freshly graveled everything around Hudson. Hopefully that clears up by next weekend!!

The Route: I had intended to use the "Four County Tour" route from last Fall, but it is too long. I developed a route using some historical significance, easy terrain, and a venue at the halfway mark that I think will be appreciated by the beginner gravel rider.

• The beginning will trace, as close as is humanly possible these days, the old Pioneer trail from Waterloo to Eldora via what is now called Eldora Road. This trail had its beginnings as an old Native American route.
• There will be a LOT of flat terrain with gentle rollers thrown in. This is a pretty easy route.
• There will be a stop at the Broad Street Brewery in Reinbeck.
• There will be a stretch of Level B Road of three miles in length. A throwback to how ALL Iowa roads were at the beginning of the 20th Century. 
• There will be one other Level B, the unique, and local to Waterloo/Hudson, Petrie Road.

As of now I am thinking that the ride will start and stop at Prairie Grove Park at the Southern end of Waterloo since there is a big parking lot there that we can leave cars at for an extended period without ticking anyone off. I had thought about parking in Hudson, but there isn't really a good place to do that which I am aware of. At any rate, Prairie Grove Park is not far off the designated route and some folks may want to cycle down from Waterloo or Cedar Falls for the extra miles.

As your host, I felt it incumbent upon me to test the quality of the beer at the Broad Street Brewery. It passed the test!

The Broad Street Brewery also does not open until 2:00pm Saturday afternoon. So, we cannot do the early morning start I have traditionally done for this event. That means it looks like we will get going about 12:00 noon, which will still probably get us there too early but we shall see. It's only 19 miles or so from the start. We won't be in a big hurry, that's for sure. If the brewery idea gets passed on by the majority of the group, (which would be a shame, the beer is really good there), then there is a Casey's just off the route that we can utilize.

This Level B Road stretch is 3 miles long.

The route is a little over 42 miles in length, and I am sure we can be back around 5:00-6:00 pm easily enough. Again, there aren't many hills and if the wind is not contrary, like it was for me Saturday, we should be fine coming back.

Okay, so that should cover it except to say that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU! If you come and do not have a bail out plan in case of failure of any sort, it is on you to figure out how to get back home or to your car. The weatherman says there is a slight chance for a shower, but otherwise it should be pleasant. Questions? Hit me up in the comment section.