The Covid Files #1 Rides of Isolation Heart Of Iowa trail

I have started a series of riding reports to document my social isolation on empty bicycle trails and rides throughout Iowa.  I did not possess the luxury or chains of working from home.  I am forced to go on vacation, made redundant, laid off, furloughed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  But I have a lot of sick days and PTO that I can burn and of yesterday, Mach 30, 2020, the ability to file for unemployment.  So if this time is on my dime I will make the most of it.

Generally I ride with my wife to her work and then continue to crank out 20 miles in the pre-dawn hours.  Dark empty solitude in total isolation on trails.  But today's featured ride was a reconnaissance of a ride I am planning in honor of a friend who passed away 7 months ago.  I took Joe, my eldest son, with me who was furloughed from work as well.  This ride disturbed his self isolation of sitting in front of a screen playing with his Xbox online.  It was a zero to 45 mile wake up.  He does occasionally ride the half hour to work.  But not now nor when it is cold.  I gave him a choice, easy or adventure, knowing that there was a disparity between our levels of fitness.  He chose the adventure.  Not the first time...

Drove to Berwick to check out the roads and drove to the start of the ride in Elkhart, Iowa.  Landed the Honda at the city park.  Eric Crabb and I once rode from Altoona to Elkhart and drank at the bar.  Appears to be two bars there now and a Dr Pepper machine selling cans of soda for 75 cents.  We then sent out on a cloudy chilly day with a north wind making itself known.  Joe benefited from his mother leaving a pair of gloves in the vehicle.  The promise of a warm day once again appeared to be empty.

No vino for me!

We took NE 46th St out of Elkhart.  Some rolling hills but nothing that would kill anyone.  At the end of the road we turned left on NE 150th Ave and stopped at the winery in White Oak, White Oak Cellar.  Mary and I rode here once from Bondurant.  The note on the door said that it would open at 3 pm and if we desired to make a purchase "call first."  I did think that on the way back I would call and ask for a red and slip a $20 under the door.  "Do you take PayPal?"  Roll on, nothing here now.

I had to stop and read the sign.  Jefferson Highway.

We were still on the Jefferson Highway Heritage Byway Loop of the Iowa Byways. Never heard of it?  Neither have I.  This route goes from Alexandria, LA to Beminji, MN  In Iowa,  Lamoni to Mason City.  Jefferson Highway

Heading north our next stop would be in Cambridge, Iowa, most noted in our cycling community as being part of the Century Loop on Ragbrai and the strip club that was there when the cyclists rolled through.  Now it is a town on the Heart of Iowa Nature Trail.  In town we sadly discovered that the convenience store was closed.  This may have happened a few years ago.  I rarely ride this trail because the surface is too soft for most of my bicycles.  Joe and once rode fatbikes on this trail.  Mary and I have been on this one twice.  Once wet and once when it was 110*F.  Surface was better when it was too hot around the time of Ragbrai.  One of these days...  However, the future looks bright, The Master-Plan-.  I know I know I know, gravel junkies and fatbikers need a place to ride, too.  Joe and I elected to take the paved county roads from Cambridge to Maxwell.

Ever lose your sense of direction?  We took county road E63 out of town.  After what seemed like forever we reached S14.  OK time to turn.  But the sign said "Nevada 8 Miles."  What?  Confusion and a total loss of sense of direction.  No sun yet.  I swear we were facing south.  Nope east.  Look at the sign behind us to determine what road we were on and pull out the paper map.  Turn right to go to Maxwell Joe said.  He was right.

The bridge west of Maxwell, Iowa.

The trail intersected S14 so we decided to give a chance.  Soft yet acceptable.  Speed dropped but it was great to be on a trail.  We stopped on the bridge just before town and ate  Labars and drank a beer.  Need to reduce weight.  The sun came out briefly and we could feel the warmth.  A red SUV pulled up and the driver pulled out a MTB for a ride on the trail.  Maxwell is larger than Cambridge.  It has a Dollar General, we joked that we should stop there to see if they had toilet paper, and a Casey's.  We bought pizza slices and water at the convenience store as well as three bottles of Fireball for later.

Highway 210 has a decent paved shoulder without rumble strips.  Since we had a late start and we could ride twice as fast on a paved surface we opted for the highway.  Empty highway.  Our destination was the cemetery in Collins, Iowa, to pay our respects to Eric Crabb.  The cemetery was visible from the intersection of 210 and the road into Collins so we headed east on a gravel road instead of going into the town.

Joe 

Found Eric's resting place, said a few words and dumped a bottle of what killed him on the spot.  This poison was his favorite.  I looked to the sky to ask if he would let known his thoughts about the Great Covid-19 Pandemic and when I looked down I saw a corn cob by the headstone.  So appropriate.  He would have had a field day with the toilet paper shortage!  I could not help but laugh
.

Highway 210 and a bottle of rum.  Raise the deposit on bottles to $20 and we could provide free healthcare for all or reduce alcoholism.

A friend saw this photo and thought a 4 wheeler was at the bottom!

It was getting late.  The wind and the trail surface took a lot of time.  Now we had the wind to our backs.  210 was our choice.  Let'er rip!!!  210 all the way to Cambridge and the left turn to White Oak...tailwind.  A few good views such as the derelict Skelly oil/fuel tank and the distant fire.  Traffic was light.  We did notice that most trucks were red for Iowa State University and few were black with Hawkeye stickers for the University of Iowa.  Since we were in Cyclone territory most of them were red.

In between Cambridge and White Oak a house displayed a wooden Cessna airplane as a yard decoration.  It was been out in the elements for decades judging by how weathered it is.  Still something cool to look at.  The rest of the ride was uneventful.

45 miles.  The road out of Cambridge add miles on the way to Collins.  We had 20 miles for the return trip.  Hard to judge traffic.  Could the covid be making traffic lighter here?  Was it because it was the middle of the day?  Would football Saturday make 210 really really busy?

The Crabb Ride.  Eric always talked about a bike ride to the Haverhill Social Club.  I would like to make this a reality.   Riding from Des Moines for the Crabb Ride taking the Gay Lea Wilson/Four Mile Creek Trail to Berwick, Iowa, would increase the mileage to at least 30 each way.  Way too long for a social ride.  The Haverhill Social Club would be another 20 miles from Collins.  Looking like a solitary pilgrimage or an overnighter.  Maybe a ride from Des Moines to Elkhart since it was an old haunt of his.