Country Views: Rolling With Roll

Escape Route: Burton Avenue with N.Y. Roll

 After what seemed like two straight weeks of chilly, super-windy, and often rainy weather with no Sun, we got a break last Thursday. N.Y. Roll actually texted me and asked me to go for a ride with him that afternoon. So, since it was in the 60's with a light Northwesterly breeze, I got kitted up and we took to the roads North of town. 

On this particular ride I used my old Raleigh Tamland Two since it has that sheep oil lube on the chain and I needed to get some gravel travel on that set up. I also dressed in Stolen Goat Gravel Shorts with an old Zoic liner, a base layer, a Bike Rags wool blend jersey, PCL arm warmers, and my Twin Six "Ritual" wind vest. No gloves and standard bike shoes! Ah! Warmer weather means no more clunky boots! 

N.Y. Roll showed up at my place on his fancy All City flat bar rig and we then took to the winding streets of Waterloo, eventually coming out on Burton Avenue headed North. It was bright and Sunny out. What a great day to be on the bike! 

We did have a bit of a check in our progress out of town though....

The blaring horn of the freight train was deafeningly loud.

Once we cleared the freight train, and the city, we found some messed up roads!

Of course, with all the wet and cold weather we've had lately, the roads got pretty messed up in spots. Ruts, standing water, and even some muddy patches were found out there. At one point we ran across a fresh gravel patch that slowed our progress down and sapped our legs of their strength. Fortunately that was a short lived and not repeated section! 

N.Y. Roll and St. Paul's Church.

It looks like Bremer County is replacing a bridge where the road becomes Kildeer Avenue just North of the county line.

As we got close to St. Paul's Church on Burton, there is a farm just South of there on the East side of the road with a dog that will come out and bark at you if he is out. His name is "Tony". So, if he comes out, a medium sized, brown/tan dog, by the way, just yell, "Go Home Tony!" in your "biggest voice" and he'll leave ya alone. 

Prairie fire!

Just a brilliant day for a bicycle ride.

N.Y. Roll suggested a couple of route options at the corner of Marquise Road and Burton Avenue. I said, "Whatever gets me back home by six!", so we went East toward Moline Road and headed back South. But not before we spotted a fire truck and a fire blazing in an old cornfield just North of the county line off the East side of the North-South road in Bremer County. Farmers often do ditch burns, or burn other stuff during this time of the year. Perhaps a grass fire got out of control? 

 

Shades of green are showing up in the ditches now.

Looks like another fire way down the road East here. Signs we saw of smoke gave it away.

 I actually rolled back up to my house right at 5:30pm, so I got a good 2 hours and fifteen minutes in on what was the nicest day in the last week. Here's hoping that we start stringing together more nice days than not real soon here. And thanks N.Y. Roll for the ride.