Fenders Ride

The perfect storm.  Discovered a new brewery through Face Book.  It is in Polk City.  Damn, that's a legit one day out and back bicycle ride from our home.  Mix in the forecast of a warm sunny day in early March, never mind the wind and we got plans!  Told the 16 year old daughter that she would be on her own for the afternoon.  She had to work anyway.

Saturday came and we waited until 11 am or so to roll out on fast bikes.  The first thing I did was strip off my jacket and gloves once on our back deck.  These would not be needed.  Mary stared at me in disgust.  "You'll need them.  I need them."  It was a sunny 55*F right now.  "Nope, taking these off now prevents me from stopping and taking them off 3 miles from now."  Is not the ideal clothing for cycling to make you feel as cold as you feel if it was 30* colder but you had more layers on?  Dead useless weight I did not want or need to carry.

Which route to take.  The easy and safest way to take would be the Neal Smith Trail.  Recent snow and ice and the fact that it is near the end of winter and the trail does not get plowed or cleared of snow and ice made us apprehensive about using the Neal Smith.  The trail is heavily shaded as well and it has been a long, long winter.   Reports have been few and the report of a massive ice patch in one section albeit a section we would not be using was disheartening.  See photo below.

Photo stolen from Bike Iowa's FB post

So we opted for a longer route that we mainly reserve for riding to the High Trestle or Firetrucker Brewery in Ankeny.  Basically get to Birdland Marina and head north on Penn and later Cornell and take that all the way to NE 60th and hang a Louie to NW 6th Dr and then a right and head north all the way through Saylor Township and finally hit Oralabor Rd in Ankeny.  Once there take the sidepaths all the way to the HTT and hang a left.  Another left at the Oasis, R38 or NW Sheldahl Rd,  and nice county road into Polk City.  Fenders is located next to Papa's Pizzeria on the square.  Fast and safe and traffic not bad.

Had the Oasis to ourselves!

We did not realize that the tailwind was pushing us until we stopped at the Oasis.  Should have known when I coasted at 20 mph for about 3/4 of a mile into the Oasis.  I thought the bikes would fall over from where we parked them.  This is a bad sign.  Riding home is gonna hurt!  Should have realized by the faces of the cyclists we encountered headed to Ankeny but I dismissed them as being old and out of shape.  The county road curves south so we felt the full force of the SE 20 to 35 mph wind.  At one point I thought that my front wheel was disintegrating but it was the wind.  Glad I do not have bladed spokes.

Dark Side Untappd Badge because Fenders' Night Tracks is a dark beer

Bar Explorer Untappd Badge

Fenders is a "Verified Venue" for Untappd

Finding the Source Untappd Badge

Ah...a well deserved beer or three!  We parked by the front door.  There were two Trek fatbikes there as well.  The first thing we noticed was the bicycle decor on the walls.  I regret not taking photos.  Nice touch!  We were able to belly up to the bar.  My first was the Night Tracks Black IPA.  Did the obligatory UNTAPPD check in and earned 5 badges for that first beer!  Mary had the cider from Wilson's Orchard, a guest tap.  I chastised her for not getting the local and her second was the Blonde Ale.  My second was the Bridge Road American Brown Ale.  And my third and last was the 8:13 American Pale Ale named after the time the owner/partner's daughter was born.  All these beers were great and I recommend that you visit Fenders.  We have to convince our friends to ride here with us.

Night Tracks

Bridge Road

8:13

So dude who was slinging the beer, I forgot to ask for his name or if he was the owner of co-owner or partner, is a cyclist.  He used to commute 17 miles one way to Meredith in downtown Des Moines.  Great to have a fellow rider behind the beer.  Even better to talk bicycles with someone in the know.  They have yet to install ornate tap handles but he said that they were thinking about using the downtube and seat tube of bicycles that had the braze ons for cages.  The threaded braze ons could be used to bolt on the name of the brew.  Cool idea.  We quizzed him about the NST but the fatbike couple gave us some intel.  They were visiting from Coon Rapids and pointed in all sorts of directions but said there was only one ice patch by a bridge.  They did mention something about a large tree being down but they were able to ride around that obstacle.  We were also told about a safer route to the NST.  But we opted for our regular route of taking 3rd St/415 to the trail connection.  Time to roll.

Food was on our mind.  When we pulled into Polk City we immediately noticed that the Subway was missing.  "That goddamn downtown Hy Vee struck again!" Mary who laughed.  We were later told that it was relocated to the new strip mall near the Casey's.  Makes sense, better traffic and visibility.  We would have ate at Papa's but we had pizza for breakfast.  Taco Casa was the chosen destination for food since I needed a photo of a taco and it was close to the Triangle Tap.  Satisfied we could make it there we said our good byes and rolled toward the trail.

Our break from the wind!

Early open on Saturday!

At the Sand Bar Grill

Not too far into this Mary said something about stopping at the marina and I said no but then I saw that the Sand Bar Grill was open so I said STOP.  I had their bleu cheese burger and Mary had an order of chicken strips and fries.  No Coast from Peace Tree for me.  We enjoyed our visit and wondered what friends we could get to ride here with us when the weather is better.  Bellies full, liver punished time to roll.

The Neal Smith was in great shape as far as winter was concerned.  Only one ice patch was encountered at Cherry Glenn campground and it was not bad as we could dodge the ice spots with ease.  Soon we encountered the tree that the Coon Rapids riders warned us about.  We were able to ride between the fallen tree and its stump without unclipping.  The wind, however, was bad.  Keep head down, ride in drops if necessary and grind it out.  Keep pushing on.  Read the trail markers and add two miles because that is the difference between the end of the trail and our home.  Yeah, 21 miles to go!!

Sycamore Access.  Construction about done on the road and the trail is open.  No detour!

Last stop was the Triangle Tap.  I feel bad that I have not taken very many opportunities to stop at this bicycle friendly watering hole.  Sure enough there were other cyclists here including Derrick Spoon, Iowa Weasel and George 'Old Man River.' were among the crowd.  Hard to stay for just one but we were exhausted and the temperature would prolly drop after the third round.  One Summer Shandy a piece for both of us.  Time to squeeze the last of the daylight and warmth for the trip home 6 miles maybe.  Remember who left their gloves and jacket behind??

44 miles.  Three beer stops.  Maybe seven badges from Untapped.  First trip on the NST for the new season and in reality for ages.  Even got to see some friends.  A day well spent!!

Author's Note:  It seems that these early season road bike adventures involve wind.  Our last outing on these bikes, Summerset Trail, was a day in which we fought the wind all the way down and then it switch while we ate and we had to fight it all the way home!