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| Escape Route: Sergeant Road Trail |
I finally squeezed in a ride out in the country on Friday, which was a very weird day, in terms of weather. Thursday would have been the plum day to get out, but I had to do ride support in the late morning in Waverly for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, which kind of poked a big hole in between both ends of my time to ride. So, I saw the weather was supposed to be okay on Friday and with a cancellation of a previous commitment, I had plenty of time for a country ramble.
The weather wasn't hot, but it was more humid than it had been on Thursday, and it wasn't Sunny, like Thursday either. It was grey, overcast, and windy out of the South. You could almost see the humidity riding that Southern breeze!
I decided to ride the Black Mountain Cycles MCD for this one. My reviewing duties are almost all done now, with the exception of a couple of minor things, so I am hoping to get more time on some neglected members of my fleet.
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| The trail was seal coated down by Hudson, Iowa. |
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| Watters Road looking West. |
I decided to go completely off-script for me and ride the Sergeant Road Trail all the way to Hudson. I had thought to get down to 110th Street in Tama County, but when I got to Hudson I got a wild hair and went West out of that town on Watters Road, then North on Hollis Road and then West again on Strayer Road.
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| Some fine looking horses here. |
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| Barns For Jason #1: Papa Barn, Mama Barn, and Baby Barn! |
I saw I was going to pass by the Zion Lutheran Cemetery, so I decided to stop for an image. It was then when I heard the rear brake squawking because the pads were dragging slightly on the rotors. These are Avid BB-7's, by the way. I kind of pride myself on being able to make those brakes be quiet, so I decided to take a quick look.
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| Barns For Jason #2 |
Out came the hex keys and I couldn't seem to get the caliper outboard enough to make the outboard pad clear the rotor. I tried backing out the adjuster to no avail. I was about to "just live with it", but then I thought about it more and took another look. Then I noticed something.
Was I seeing a bit of light underneath the bolt holding the adapter at the rear? Why yes....I was! The adapter bolt which goes through the tab on the frame and threads into the adapter to keep it tight to the frame had vibrated loose! I tightened it up, and checked the forwrad bolt as well. It too was a bit loose. There ya go! Quiet brakes!
Remember readers: Always check the tightness of the fasteners on your bicycles regularly!
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| Zion Lutheran Church. This used to be a gravel road four years ago. |
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| Headed West into Grundy County |
As I crossed Black Hawk - Grundy Road, I was reminded of the time when that North-South road was once gravel. Last time I rode it as a gravel road was in 2021. I do not know why the County paved it, but there is one more five or six mile stretch of gravel gone now. In my opinion, it is a major step in the wrong direction.
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| I ended up having to ride this "cheater road" for a mile! |
The whole paved Grundy County line thing really threw off my route out here. I used to go up the county line to cross HWY 20 and onward to the North without dealing with much pavement. But now I have to go another mile West, or so I was thinking, to X Avenue, cross HWY 20 on an overpass, and then jig-a-jog over West a tiny bit at the old county road to Dike and back North again....
Well, except this is a paved County road going North! Dang it! So, I just decided to ride this a mile North and take the next right on gravel, which I did. By this time I was a bit out of my reckoning, having not ridden around here much for a long time.
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| Barns For Jason #3 |
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| Barns For Jason #4 |
I kind of like getting a bit lost at times. I really don't mind this feeling, and it comes along too little anymore since I generally ride in the same areas. I ended up stopping when I reached the Black Hawk County line and I decided on my path back into town then, which ended up being West 27th Street into UNI and then along University Avenue all the way back on bike path to my neighborhood.
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| West 27th Street looking East. |
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| The bike path along University Avenue in Cedar Falls is ridiculously dangerous. |
This week, ironically, RAGBRAI comes through Cedar Falls. I rode through there and along the main bicycle route on University Avenue. I sure hope the residents of Cedar Falls treat the guests coming through for RAGBRAI with a lot more respect and care than they showed me on Friday. My head was on a swivel, and good thing, because I about got taken out by at least three vehicles with drivers who had no intentions of stopping to allow me to clear a driveway or intersection they were turning left into.
I think I'll be making it a point not to go into Cedar Falls on that death trap of a bike path anytime soon!
I ended up with 34 miles, with probably over half of this total being paved, but to get West of Cedar Falls isn't easy to do without a ton of pavement. Anyway, at least it was a different ride and the country bits were great. The urban part? I can do without going through Cedar Falls anytime soon!
4 comments:
Maybe an Unpopular opinion, but paving Grundy County Road south from the HWY 20 off to Zannetta road was the correct thing to do. I would not be shocked if Watters road becomes chip sealed in the next few years then goes pavement. From a car and truck point of view it helps alleviate track in Holland and Hudson. Not that it is traffic jam, but it helps disperse cars and allows Reinbeck to access hWY 20 easier.
Ugh... I hate it when gravel turns to pavement.
@N.Y. Roll - I find this response rather ironic coming from a man who doesn't advocate for long distance, bike paths to be paved in rural areas. ;>)
@MG - I agree. This represents more than just a gravel road disappearing. It brings higher speed traffic, higher volumes of traffic, and induces more urban spread. None of which we "need" anywhere in the Mid-West.
It also, in the long view, takes away from urban renewal of older neighborhoods as the spread of more "urban friendly" amenities, like paved roads, induces more folks to seek "living in the country", versus being a part of a community seeking to reverse urban issues which are affecting inner cities negatively.
The irony being that once a community moves to a once rural area it brings along with it all the things these folks wanted to move to the country to get away from, eventually. It may take years, but it will happen.
Wouldn't it make more sense to renew/revitalize what you have already taken out of the land and not take even more land out of nature/agricultural production? Doesn't paving roads and putting in more infrastructure to support modern residences cause more harm to nature?
As long as money is to be made, I think the answer to those questions is "It doesn't matter."
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