Country Views: A Road With A Chameleon Personality

Escape Route: Traffic on the Sergeant Road Trail

We've had a switch from hot, humid weather to a few days of cooler, less humid air here in Iowa and I was able to get out to enjoy it a bit on Wednesday. Days like these in August don't come around often, so I was blessed to be able to take advantage of the day.

I also needed to ride the fat Resolute tires I have here to review and I had a special place I wanted to take those tires to. This place, curiously, is not well ridden or even well known to locals, as far as I can tell. One person, maybe two, ride it on occasion other than myself, and typically I never see any other bicycle tire tracks out there. Once you've seen this road you might wonder why this is such a rare treat for the locals to partake in. Don't as me for the answer. I have no idea why local gravel cyclists don't flock to ride down this spectacular road. 

I was riding the pink MCD Black Mountain Cycles bike this time and with the weather being what it was, normal cycling garb was all that I needed to be wearing. Since this particular road I was going to ride was South of town, I headed out on the Sergeant Road bike path. I had the unique experience of having to pass a mower doing trail maintenance which was a bit sketchy, but once I got by it was smooth sailing out to the gravel.

Washburn Road. That's Hudson, Iowa's water tower over on the left horizon line.

Real American Gravel

I decided to make the approach to this particular road from the West side, which I typically don't do. However; I wanted to make sure I could actually ride this road as the Western side gets wet and can flood out much easier than the hilly, more well drained Eastern side of that road. This took me just East of Hudson, Iowa and then South of there a bit further. 

Just a bit further....

Petrie Road's Level B section. Yes....this is a road!

Well, maybe you guessed it before you saw the image above, but it is indeed Petrie Road. I've said this before, and I fully expect this to happen, but this 7/8ths of a mile of awesomeness is probably not long for public consumption. I fully expect this road to be gated and turned into a C Level Maintenance road soon. So far though, it has escaped that fate. Not that the local farmer adjacent to this road hasn't been trying to get it closed off. 

This is the same section of Petrie Road as shown in the previous image from 2016.

The local farmer that lives just to the South of this road has wanted this closed up since I spoke with the wife of the couple that farms the land there back during T.I.v12 in 2016. Since then, that Level B sign has disappeared, and the green street sign indicating this is Petrie Road has also mysteriously disappeared. Only the street sign pole remains. Hmm... 

And as you can see, zero maintenance has been done on that road since we did T.I.v12. It is fairly obvious that someone is wanting this to be declassified, and I am betting I know who that someone is. 

But anyway....

This road changes personality at least three times in less than a mile.

The thing that I love about this road is how different it is in feel and terrain as you travel it from one end to the other. On the East side it starts out as a typical gravel road. Then about an eighth of a mile in, it goes to dirt two-track, and then it crosses a low water crossing which is typically only wet during Spring run-off. This is all big rock and dirt. Then it goes up, two-track, sandy, and with embedded rock. Then it goes on with a big mud hole up top that very rarely is ever dry, descends down a silty two-track, and then about a quarter mile of flat, grass-filled and severely rutted out two-track which skirts several mud-pits and water filled ruts. 

Now I did that in reverse and about 50 yards in my front tire self-steered up a rut unexpectedly, since I could not see anything for the four foot high weeds, and I was dumped unceremoniously off my bike with another ridge from a rut hitting me mid-back and across the bottom of my shoulder blades. Fun times!

Coming out on the East side.

 

Back to your regularly scheduled gravel program!

I was okay and rode the rest of the way out to the Eastern exit of the Level B Section and on down Petrie Road to its other terminus at Ansborough Avenue. The gravel had been refreshed down here and it had been done very close to when I rode these roads. There were no good lines and the Resolutes had to do for getting me through it, which they do quite well. 

I did not see a deer this time but I was ambushed by a dog. The dog appeared out of a ditch and was silent until the mutt took off after me.  Fortunately this mutt's angle of pursuit was off and I was out in front of the pooch enough that I was able to crack off a nice "dog sprint". This was enough to break the dog's engagement and I was dog free! I did see another couple of dogs in a farm yard but they gave me nothing but a few barks as I cruised on by them.

The Pink MCD

It turned out all to the good and I made it back home in one piece. All the while I was wondering why folks around here don't take advantage of Petrie Road's varying personalities along that section of Level B road. One day, sooner than later, it won't be an option. Too bad for those who don't get down that way now. They are missing out on some good fun!