 |
| The candy cane. I was not present when Joe gave this to Mary and when we rode back to our house after the bridge I thought that something was falling out of pannier! |
It was a beautiful day in Des Moines, Iowa, to ride a bicycle. Not that we did a lot of miles but we spent it with friends and enjoyed the outdoors without coats or snow for the first Saturday of December. Two major events: Lady Hoegaarden's Birthday Bash on the Water Works Bridge and the 3rd Annual Beaverdale Bikes Holiday Bike Ride in the Beaverdale neighborhood that evening. Mary and rode over 28 miles on our commuters, mine a single speed.
 |
| Water Works Bridge. That's me up front in red standing behind Bill L in the Kyle's Bikes kit. Plenty of room to ride through. |
 |
| Spoon was the best dressed on the bridge. Failed to see him in Beaverdale. Perhaps he had too much fun! |
Homer said that he would be at Water Works Bridge at 1 pm for Lady Hoegaarden's birthday celebration. This is a popular stop for cyclists in the DSM Metro area. I admit that the bridge gets a bit congested but the only people that complain about it are uptight cyclists with sand up their bums. Funny, most of these people complain that the surface of the bridge is too rough for their bicycles. The people taking wedding photos, a large group, just smiled as they filed by our rampage of baggers. We were just celebrating life and enjoying the warmth and sun and each other. Soon enough we will be hibernating indoors at home when Winter arrives.
After an hour or so Mary and took off for home to prepare for the Beaverdale Christmas lights bike ride. Basically, we need to let the dog out and grab lights and extra clothing for the temperature drop after sunset. We planned to meet our Ragbrai crew (funny thing is that we ride the week of Ragbrai but rarely see Ragbrai proper) at the Triangle Tap. They were not there so we headed to Beaverdale instead. They were not there but were at Captain Roy's. we must have just missed them since only two bicycles were there when we rolled by. Mary and decided to make Reed's Hollow our HQ until the other arrived.
 |
| Holiday Cheer! |
Never been here before probably because Beaverdale is not really in our travel path. Nice place. Mary had a cider and I had Shiner's Holiday Cheer draft. First one of the season. Donnie then text and asked where everybody was and I went outside to Beaverdale Bikes to fetch him. Then the others arrived: Joe, Nick, Kevin and Mike. They had some moonshine made with Everclear that tasted like applesauce. Dangerous. I stayed with beer.
 |
| From the FaceBook event announcement. |
 |
| Amy and Don, Team Mystery Machine, our old teammates. |
 |
| Don and a good look at the lights. |
 |
| Action shot during the ride. |
Time to ride. The sidewalk was packed with bicycles! Must have been 200 people. Just saddle up and get in the flow. Many cyclists have decorated their bicycles and themselves. As for us, Mary had a candy cane that Joe placed on her panniers and I wore a Santa hat. The neighborhood outdid itself with lights! I failed to take any photos as not wanting to stop and lose my friends or cause a crash. I was amazed how many houses were ready for Christmas and had the Spirit. Home owners stood outside or in their doorways and waved at us.
Afterwards we regrouped at Saints for a post ride brew and food.Then the chilly ride home. I definitely plan to do this ride next year. Maybe we'll add lights to our bicycles.
How many warm weekends will we enjoy before Winter arrives? Few and fewer. We will adjust. Just hope for an early Spring.
Special thank you to the people I stole these images from. You are the best!
No comments:
Post a Comment