Pleasant Ride to Pleasantville

At the city park in Pleasantville.

We dialed it back a notched and planned a shorter ride for this Saturday.  Mary suggested Pleasantville which came out of the blue for me.  We had ridden there before.  Two Ragbrai's ago we had our first overnight there and slept in the park.  And quite possibly before we rode through there in the 1990s for Ragbrai proper.  But we never have cycled there and back on fast road bikes.  We knew it would be hilly but this late in June it was time to do hill work and avoid flat trails as much as possible.

Simple route and very similar to the route we took in 2016.  Take the MLK sidepath to E 30th and turn right.  This turns into Vandalia Rd.  Take this road all the way to the Runnels turn.  Once in Runnels, Iowa, take a left onto Iowa 316 and follow that to Iowa 5.  Like the name, five miles to the Pleasantville turn off.  Reverse for the trip home.  Back in 2016 we rode gravel to get to Pleasantville and came in from the north.  My son had a near catastrophic flat tire in mosquito infested territory and we were not in the mood for a repeat.  Skinny bikes do fine on a shoulder of a highway.

We left shortly after 7 am, maybe closer to 8 am.  It was already 77*F.  Forecast high was near 100*F.  A hot one.  Leave early and don't screw around.  Rain was predicted for late afternoon.  All the more reason to roll early and not doddle.

The route took us through an industrial and salvage part of town.  Vandalia Rd can be divided into two sections.  The first is an ugly area of rendering plants and other industrial places and a never ending source of junkyards for dead cars.  Lucky for us it was a quiet morning and traffic was quiet.  Once past the bypass it turns into a lovely but hilly Iowa countryside dotted by beautiful homes, yellow VW Beetles, farmsteads, green dinosaurs from Sinclair gas stations and a series of steep long hills.  Perfect for training.  Not so fun on loaded touring bicycles which we had left at home.  Time to enjoy the ride!

One of three dinosaurs we saw on the ride.  Two others are in Runnels.

The Dream Team taking a break in the shade.  On the way back this shade was gone.

There is a a beautiful plateau between the first set of hills.  The sign said it was Woodland Hills but in the back of my mind when we used to ride with the DMCC the area was called Adelphi after the large white church located there.  Also, the entrance for Yellow Banks State Park is here.  This is where we first encountered other cyclist of the day.   The Dream Team  was out in force today riding from Des Moines to Monroe, Iowa.  We caught up with four riders and rode into Runnels with them.  The had a rest stop at the Casey's in town and we saw more of them riding in and taking a break.  We were just over 16 miles into our ride.  After a Gatorade, Mary and I parted ways with the youths and adult chaperones and headed to 316 while they headed east on F70.

316 is a beautiful road although a bit rough at times.  It is located between a railway and the Des Moines River and flood plane.  Two years ago we saw a giant hare at the overlook.  Today just pelicans.  But I was excited to see the rail trestle that parallels the highway.  As far as traffic on a Saturday, it was light but some hilly twists make for limited sight areas.

Soon we found ourselves on highway 5.  There is a one foot paved shoulder to the right of the white line but there are rumbles.  The rumbles are not bad.  Just keep an eye and ear out for traffic from behind and you can ride on the other side of the stripe and avoid the rumbles.  Regardless, the turn is a welcome relief.  This is a four lane so cars have plenty of room.  No one honked or bitched.

Future destination.

We got in Pleasantville about 1030 am.  As calculated it was about 28 miles.  Frosty's, one of the pubs, was not open but Smokey Row has a coffee shop.  AC and wifi and espresso.  This was a nice stop.  I had a double espresso over ice and the rest of the cup filled with half and half.  I guess that would be an iced breve.  Mary took my suggestion and had an iced vanilla latte.  Across the street is the Checkerboard Restaurant.  They open at 11.  Mary and would like to ride and eat there sometime.

So we reversed the course and headed home.  About a mile away from 316 Mary had a flat and I circled back to help her since I had the tools.  We found a shade tree in someone's lawn on the highway and went to work.  I was a bit worried when I saw a dog in the area but he/she was not concerned about our presence.  As I finished, the owner of the home came out and asked if we were alright and he had two bottles of ice cold water for us.  We thanked him and guzzled the water.  despite all this riding in the heat I am not drinking enough.  A mile later we were at the turn.

We stopped at the Casey's in Runnels again.  Sure enough, The Dream Team was also pulling in.  Their excursion to Monroe was a 28 mile round trip.  Ours was a 24.  I had two slices of pizza which was one too many but I was hungry.  Off we rode to tackle the hills once again.

The first and the last hill.  Took this photo on the way to Pleasantville.  Glad I did because the DSM skyline became embedded in my mind knowing that when I saw it again it would be all down hill.

The hills seemed better.  The wind was more favorable and our new friends were two hills back.  If we could beat them to Adelphi we not see them again.  Mary thought they came up through SE Polk HS which road goes to Yellow Banks.  This is how I try to train.  Motivation of not getting passed by someone 35 years younger than me on a hilly.  We never saw them again.  And a sigh of relief was released when I saw the Des Moines skyline as I knew that our climbs were over.  Fly down this last hill and re-enter the industrial mess.


One last stop.  We needed to pick up a set of cleats for Mary's new sandals so we planned to stop at Fred's Bicycle Shop to get them.  But we left all our plastic cards at home so we had to go home first.  58 miles.  Mary ran inside and then we added two more miles going to Fred's and visiting Brad and Steph and their young son only a few months old.  And yes, look at bikes that I should not be looking at.

Great ride.  Strong on the hills in the heat.  Made it home before the epic rain that flooded our metro area.  Funny thing is, after finally getting home and cleaning up we grabbed slower bikes and rode to Court Avenue Brewing Co for their limited red ale.  And when we left some of the biggest rain drops we had ever seen since JoDee's wedding fell on us and then it stopped long enough for us to stop at the store and pick up supplies and ride the rest of the way home.  63 mile day.