Bike Friday > Black Friday

We took advantage of the 65F day and added 35 miles to our road bikes.  Two objectives:  look at the progress on the pedestrian bridge Urbandale has been building to connect with the Raccoon River Valley Trail.  It was supposed to be done at the end of September.  In October they were not finished.  The other objective was to share a pizza at The Other Place in Clive.  We have only been to the OP in Cedar Falls when I was attending college in the 1980s.  Being that it was our 27th wedding anniversary the OP seemed appropriate.

First stop was to drop off two pairs of pants at to get them properly hemmed.  Winter is coming and I'll need to stop wearing shorts.  Tailoring By Lechi on Grand in West Des Moines was that stop.  I'll return to pick them up on Friday.

From there we decided to hit the Jordan Creek Trail.  But what should happen??  A brewery jumped out in front of us!  Fox Brewery on 11th St.  We have never been here before but have consumed their products elsewhere.  Plenty of parking for bicycles which is a plus.  But the sign said they do not open until 4 pm and it was noon!!!  What is it about breweries opening their tap rooms so late??  Wineries open at 10 or 11 am.  But the people inside waved us in.  I have the Arctic Breakfast, a vanilla/almond porter.  Mary had a hard cider.  One and done.  I like this place and will return.  Friendly staff.

11th St leads straight to the Jordan Creek Trail.  The wind was strong from the south west and slowed us down a bit.  We stayed on the JTC until we reached 60th and then headed north to Clive and turned east on University to go to the OP.

The OP was packed but they found us a table.  It also was a bit warm but that may have been us from riding bicycles.  And the people in front of us talking to the hostess had bad BO.  Please bath and use deodorant.  Despite the warmth and smell our food was great.  We had the Maui, their new Hawaiian pizza.  I recommend it.  I decided to drink water just because I have had a lot of beer lately and need to properly hydrate.

When we left he headed to 123rd to make the north turn toward the Greenbelt.  Guess what?  The wind changed direction!  Now a NW wind.  Oh well, it will be a tailwind on the way home.  From the Greenbelt we were able to connect to the RRVT and investigate the new bridge.

The "TRAIL CLOSED" signs were gone.  The work on the bridge and trail is done!  The bridge starts at the RRVT and crosses Walnut Creek and  turns into a sidewalk with a few switchbacks that lead to the sidewalk on Hickman Rd.  Why is this a big deal?  It is dangerous to cross Hickman at 128th.  Now one can take this sidewalk and cross Walnut Creek.  Great for people that live north of Hickman.

Since we were in the recon mode we took the Greenbelt all the way back.  Yes, we did not take the detour.  We got to see the progress on the trail.  It is rideable but some sections are dirt.  There are still trees here.  Clive is moving part of the trail away from Walnut Creek and making the new section less curvy.  It appears that they are also working on water drainage as well.  Big rains have flooded this trail in the past.  Completion of work is scheduled for the Spring of 2018.