Country Views: Coasting

Escape Route: Gates Park, Waterloo Iowa.

I awoke Tuesday to a Sunny day with dew on the grass and a light wind. I figured on getting outta the house for a bit on the Twin Six Standard Rando for a whirl on that new Shimano stuff I bolted to it recently. 

This time I decided to ride North of town. Those Southern roads have been gnarly and rough of late and maybe my fortunes would be better going North. I aimed to find out, so by 8:35am I was pedaling out of Waterloo from Gates Park. 

On the way up the hill on East Donald Street by the golf course I heard a knocking, and felt it in my right pedal, while hammering on the cranks to get going and get out of traffic. It was hard to pinpoint what it could be since I was more worried about passing cars here than figuring out a noise. Once I got going on gravel, I never heard or felt the noise again. My initial guess is that it is the PF-30 insert which screws together in this instance. It fit far too easily into the shell, in my opinion, so I am suspicious of this, but I have no other clues as of now.

The Moline farm, from which Moline Road takes its name.

One of Iowa's many vineyards. This is along Moline Road.

My main mission, other than to have a nice getaway out in the country, was to see how I might get along with this gearing situation with this crank set. I'm not used to such a wide spread between gears up front, and so I was seeing how I could utilize that and not lose momentum up a climb by shifting out of the big to little inner ring. 

 I love this time of year because the corn screens off the view and it feels like you are riding in a tunnel of corn.

I thought it was interesting how these pink flowers had climbed up onto the corn stalks.

So at first I just would shift out of the big ring. It's a 48T, by the way, and when it hits that 31T inner ring my legs would go "Wheeeee!" and I'd lose a lot of momentum trying to recover back to a gear I wasn't redlining at. Then I noticed that was usually a two-click on the right shifter deal. So, every time I had to shift out of the big ring, I'd have to double click two gears faster on the right. Gotcha!

There is a sheep herd on the corner of Gresham Road and Schenk Road.

It was a gorgeous day to be out riding.

So, I got to another climb. Click left shifter- boom! - click right twice really fast almost at the same time - boom! - and that worked! So, I think I can refine that and get my technique down better so it will be a smooth shift and exchange from the big ring to the small inner ring. 

The Red Winged Blackbirds are gathering and preparing to bug out for the year.

The John Deere tractor in the shed looks like an ominous predator in a cave waiting to pounce!

The ride was really enjoyable. This is that time in the seasons where I feel like Nature is just coasting for a bit. All the crops are mature, or very nearly so. The animals have all raised their young and are either moving to their Wintering grounds or getting prepared for Winter. 

Meanwhile the landscape seems frozen in time for a bit. With no noticeable growth, the 'sameness' of day-to-day observations might lead one to believe that time is standing still. The drone of insects- grasshoppers, crickets, and whatever creeping things that make noises- are creating a 24-7 din that becomes like white noise in your ears. It can draw you into a slumber. But things are not stagnant.

Airline Highway rolls off into the distance.

One more look back before entering back into town and back to the crazy stuff.

Fall is creeping in. The days are obviously shorter. The corn is showing signs of drying up. Soon the fields will start turning golden, then brown. The ditches will become less vibrant, and "green" will become less prevalent. 

It's been an odd year for me here. I am blessed to get out on rides and when I do, I am very, very thankful. The situations that crop up in Life can do that sometimes- make you more grateful and more apt to appreciate things, or it can make you bitter, fearful, and searching for a remedy. I choose to see this time as a blessing. I hope that you folks reading this are blessed as well. 

Thanks for reading.