The Covid Files: Riding The Comet

Father's Day, 2020.  Need to get out of the Metro to find an uncrowded trail.  So we loaded up our bikes and drove to Conrad, Iowa, for the Comet Trail.  Mary and I have been on this trail before and even overnighted in the town of Beaman, IA, which is the middle town of the trail.  During that journey we were unable to complete the trail to Gladbrook, IA, because of a large tree that fell and blocked the trail.  We did, however, at that time ride the other way to Conrad.  Also I have a fragment of a Ragbrai memory of Conrad and the trail standing by the big brown and yellow sign with Richard Sammy Beerman.  Brown and yellow seem to be the colors of the trails near here.

The new signs.  Mileage is on back.  Unfortunately, these have not been placed very far past Conrad.

This trail is actually two trails.  The Comet Trail begins in the west in Conrad and goes east past Beaman and turns into the Wolf Creek Trail for the last 2.6 miles at the Grundy/Tama County line.  Both trails flirt with Wolf Creek.  The trailbed is a former Chicago Northwestern Rail Road line.  Surface is crushed limestone, the Comet's section is much better than the WCT's.  Lots of canopy, benches and open country.  Some sections of the Wolf Creek Trail are asphalt.

We took a gravel bike and a touring bike.  First we had to hose the muck off of them from our Wisconsin adventure on a rainy Great River State Trail ridden the previous week.  Both bikes had touring tires.

We parked at the trailhead located at the city park and aquatic center in Conrad.  The pool was open.  The ride through town revealed that Conrad has many nice homes and seems to be a nice place to live and a lovely little town.  There was more to it than I previously knew.  The Casey's however, was the oasis for us on this trip as well as our last trip. 

A giraffe marks the spot of the wooden viewing platform.

The look out.

A muddy Wolf Creek from recent deluges.

Another view of Wolf Creek from the look out.

Stairs back to the trail.  My bike awaits!

Almost a mile into it a large scenic look out platform at the bottom of a set of stairs offers a view of Wolf Creek.  We then emerge onto the old rail bed and notice that Wolf Creek recently flooded the area due to recent intense rain.  Crops are standing in water while others have been knocked down.  On the opposite side of the trail evidence of standing water and black soil.  The trail surface was fine albeit somewhat moist.

Wolf Creek is at the treeline.  This small section of corn is ruined.  There are several such fields like this.

The trail in Conrad.  Notice the remnants of the flooding.

A wonderful shelter greets riders as they leave town.  Image a shelter as a bridge.  Picnic table on the north side and benches on the south side.  We were tempted to turn back and go to Casey's for refreshments to enjoy here!  A bench here and there and what were labeled "Memorial Quarter Mile" plaques on large bench stones marked the path.  Unfortunately, the nice new "Comet Trail" mileage markers seemed to have ended long before Beaman.

Is it a covered bridge?  Is it a shelter?  We don't know but would like to see more of these on every trail!

Perfect for social distancing!

Memorial Quarter Mile plaque and stone.  We saw one that was for the Class of 1942.

Beaman has a pub that serves food and drink but we did not stop here this trip.  Instead we had to remember how to ride through the town as the trail disappeared when we emerged into town. Using the old rule "where would have choo choo gone" we took to the south side of the elevator.  On the way back we took the north.  Needless to say the trail resumes on the other side of the grain elevator.

The surface is a bit mossy but a hard packed limestone surface.  It is a bit wet and slick in spots from recent rain and flooding.  There are a few holes in the trail but most are easy to avoid as people have placed sticks in them for lack of orange cones.

As with county highways it was apparent we left Grundy County as the trail surface immediately changed at Hwy T45.  Minor washouts and then we had to ford a 2 meter wide water runoff from a cornfield.  Not bad until we rolled over a rut in the center of it.  I was lucky and was in the middle of an upstroke when I rolled over it but Mary had a foot on a down stroke and got wet.  My front panniers probably got wet on the bottom.

  

Should have brought an amphibian bicycle! Or a fatbike.  

Several swinging benches were located on the trail instead of benches.  There was even a swing like this in Wolf Creek recreational Area.

A nicer section of the Wolf Creek Trail.  The "water crossing" is between Mary and the road.

A little later the trail surface turned into dual singletrack with branches from trees interfering every now and then.  We passed a farmhouse and saw an unnecessary "steep" sign for a gentle decline that curves to the right.  Gladbrook, the terminus town on the trail, was now in view.  Took the curve and realized that our progress was about to end.  A large section of trail was under water and the water was moving fast.  Looked up and saw the new bridge that could only have been 3 years old and Gladbrook itself.  DENIED!  A discussion of taking gravel roads into town was held but we decided to turn around.  Hopefully the third time is the charm.  On our previous trip we did ride through Gladbrook on on return to Des Moines.

The suspension bridge on the Comet Trail Spur to Wolf Creek Recreational Area.

Challenge accepted!.  Mary walked it but rode over it on the way back.

A sign that points the way...

But more adventures awaited us for the return.  Mary noticed a sign that pointed to a spur trail to a park.  That lead us to a wooden suspension bridge and the Wolf Creek Recreational Area, a campground among other things.  The trail spur was wet and muddy.  Evidence of Wolf Creeks excursion past its banks was extremely evident.  Low gear and no sudden moves until we reached the gravel road of the park itself.  Neither of us crashed.  It is within the 100 mile range of  our home if we ever were looking for a place to do true bicycling touring.  Split the 100 miles up so we don't kill ourselves.  NOTE:  Mary and did 100 miles to Beaman with a little padding of the miles and a diversion into Marshalltown, IA.

A nice trail.  We encountered two other cyclists during our ride.  Lots of bicycle tire tracks.  A hidden gem between Des Moines and Cedarloo just north of Marshalltown.  We ended up with 17 miles.  We would like to return in a drier season.

Still need to do this loop.  Of note is Union Grove park where Mary and I spent the night during our first trip through this area.  Also of note is Wolf Creek recreational Area is not on this map.

POSTSCRIPT

About an hour after publishing this flooding of Wolf Creek in Beaman, Iowa, was reported in the news.  Less than 24 hours of our ride the mighty creek jumped its banks again.  The following photo I "borrowed" from Roger Riley of WHO 13 News.  He was reporting live from the area on FaceBook.

We rode on the gravel, now under water to the right of the elevator on our way to Gladbrook.  On our return we rode on the other side (not shown).  It never crossed our mind that water would be up here the next morning.