VTBR Ride Report: Weather Related Failure - Part 2

Note: This is the conclusion of Guitar Ted's Virtual Turkey Burn Ride report. Tomorrow others submissions will begin to be posted with the first received posts until all are worked through which were sent in by the deadline.  

The beginning of the afternoon ride.

Take Two:

I had a great lunch of roasted Italian sausage, roasted vegetables, and a slice of Mrs. Guitar Ted's Kentucky Butter Cake. Then I switched out jerseys, jackets, and socks before heading back out again right at 1:00pm. I also managed to find my Wahoo, so I was able to track mileage a bit more accurately on my second leg. 

The plan was to skip the Green Belt with all the stop-and-go nonesense and see if maybe heading Northwestward to Cedar Falls and looping around Big Woods Lake might prove to be a better way to go. I was hoping it would take less time, as I had about 3.5 hours of good light left before it would get gloomy.  Then maybe it would cloud up for the oncoming storm. If the clouds got thick before Sunset I'd be in the dark sooner. 

So I headed back out on bike path, alleys, and streets before hopping on the bike path by Northland Oil. Some yayhoos had a big motor home parked in the street there at this point which was blocking the road and view ahead. I shook my head as I rolled on by the guys milling about the vehicle.

Not much going on here!

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Cedar Falls, Iowa.

When I reached downtown Cedar Falls and the amphitheater/community space at the corner of State Street and Second I turned toward the river on the dedicated bike path to get to the path which reaches around the back end of the area, goes underneath the highway, and along the riverside. But before I got to the top of the little hill I met an SUV with a woman driver who was going down the path toward the set up area for a community gathering later celebrating the beginning of the holiday season. I suppose she thought she was being smart and efficient since she wouldn't have to park in the street with the plebeians and haul whatever she had over where it needed to be? Maybe.  

Either way she shouldn't have been on the bike path driving an SUV, and by her look of trying not to see me as she whizzed by, it was obvious she knew. Oh....she knew. 

Ducks gliding across Big Woods Lake

Heading into George Wyth State Park

There was an uncanny amount of cars coming into and out of the City composting area which the bike path comes near to at one point. It stank of something horrible burning as well. Yuck! I was glad to leave this area, but I was also going to have to come back through it one more time. My plan was to loop around Big Woods Lake on the bike path to get some more mileage, then head back to the house on the North/East side of the Cedar River. 

This would take me through George Wyth State Park. I was hoping to find the little gazebo along the river and stop to rest and drink water. On the way in I saw a few folks running.. I suppose it was their way of burning the turkey. I was foiled in my plan to stop at the gazebo because I had to stop to cross a dead fall....

More carnage as a result of Tuesday's windstorm. 

 

Go ride in the woods to get out of the wind, they say. It'll be fine!

I ran across a couple big blow-downs and several branches on the trail in George Wyth. Just a good reminder here to stay out of the woods in this area when the winds are gusty and strong. You never know when some dead tree, branch, or limb will come crashing down on you. This is why I do not ride anywhere near trees - or out in the open country, obviously - when it is very windy here. 

My path homeward took me by many small lakes, backwaters of the Cedar River, and the river itself. 

 

The Cedar River near Tibbits Park

Reality Sets In: 

I was getting pretty fatigued by this point. I was happy with my mileage and it looked like I was going to top 40 miles on the day. This doesn't sound like much, but the Green Belt was slower going and I was running out of time and energy to do anything more in the afternoon. It was barely 30 degrees, so being cold also burns up energy as well as the riding. 

Pogies saved my hands from freezing, and perhaps if I had set up the old On One Inbred for this riding I may have spent less energy on pedaling and would still have been able to use pogies since the Inbred has flat bars. But I used what I used and the Ti Muk is surprisingly light. Anyway, I was doing the best I could at the time. I also knew I was not going to get my metric century in if this weather was coming. 

Big game hunting in Exchange Park. This cement elephant is a remnant of an old theme park. 

 

Along the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo, Iowa.

I was thinking I may as well head over to the Collective and hang the signs telling people we'd be closed Saturday due to the weather. Kind of like my Virtual Turkey Burn Ride, it would be shut down by the arrival of Winter. Fall was going away, and a new season is upon us now. 

Saturday morning @ 9:00am.

Turns Out "They" Were Right: 

I ended up with 42 miles. It started snowing Friday evening, and by Saturday morning it was clear that I was going to be socked in and the VTBR for me was over. Shut down by weather. 

I'm not too bummed about it. I got the Blackborow DS out and plunked around a bit on Sunday, but whatever mileage I got will not approach the metric goal. It's okay. I did well by riding most of the day on Friday and turkey was burned. This was the goal anyway.

Now for gearing up for some fat biking in snow. The forecast appears to be saying we will stay cold for the near term. This snow is more than enough to play around in, (14+ inches!), so I look forward to hitting up some trails and riding in Winter conditions for a bit. We have not had a good Winter for this in several years. 

That is a wrap on my Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Report. Following will be a few reports I have received and there should be several more coming in. As of this writing I have two in and I know of at least three others who said they were doing this challenge and were posting images over the weekend of their riding. 

Stay tuned for those reports all week long. If enough come in I may have to extend the reportage through the weekend and into next week. Thanks to all who either are doing the full challenge, or to anyone who was inspired by this just to get out and ride. I appreciate all of you.