At least my ride is nothing like this,
My standard loop is just north of Iowa City around the Coralville Reservoir. "Coralville, IA???" you ask, we'll explain that in a second. It is a man-made lake formed by a flood control dam on the Iowa River.
Draining into the "Res" is another, smaller, man-made lake, Lake McBride. We'll take a peak at it also. It is my normal fishing place.
Today:Temps were in the low 80's F, mostly overcast, and windy. How windy was it?
I was paying for my gas and juice, the clerk says, "Uh, your helmet is blowing away." I turn around, and sure enough, my helmet is bouncing across the pavement between the pumps.
How did that happen? I set it right next to this garbage can....Oh, now I see.
Not a good start. OMEN???
Luckily it didn't get far.
First, we gotta sneak out of town. A new road around the west and north side of town helps us get out quickly. Here, the new road passes an old barn with cool windows.
Next we ride past the dairy. Did you ever wonder where the milk comes from?
A giant, bi-lingual, fiberglass cow............... of course.
Strangely realistic vein-y-ness
Almost free from the city traffic now, just over I-80, my least favorite local road.
The traffic seemed to be going about 35. HA HA suckers!
Ah, free at last.
At the top of the next rise, we will hang a right. This intersection will be the end of the loop and ride.
We might see some flags along the way, politics Iowa style.
This isn't the playhouse, I can't comment.
Here the road is curvy, hilly, and STICKY tar. Watch the blind corners and beware, there are many deer.
free advertising for the pork producers
An homage to Gypsy,
Hang a left turn and the road gets even better,
rolling hills...
...ravines...
...and creeks with wild flowers starting to bloom
after a few more miles of this, we hit Mehaffy Bridge Road.
This is not my normal route, but we'll take a peak to the right and hang a quick U-turn. To the right is Lake Mcbride. This is my usual fishing place.
Hang the U-Turn, and head back towards the bridge over the Coralville Reservoir.
The truck above is crossing over the bridge. Before we do that, we'll take another detour. This is a fun one. Where you take the posted speed limit, double it, you will be in for a peg-scraping good time. I even saw some gouges in the asphalt from crashes.
all blind corners, careful
right...
left...
down...
180 degree hairpin (this is about how far I like to take the beakster from pavement)
...and up.
and repeat a couple of times. Where do we end up??
I bet you weren't expecting a trip to the beach when you clicked this thread.
Now down to the beach.
Along the above road, we pass a frisbee golf course. Hippie golf that is. Disc golf is popular around here. It's free, casual (bring the dog and beer).
On the left side of the picture is the "hole", the funny looking basket with the chains. Throw your disc into the chains, land it in basket, and the hole is completed. The concrete pads are the "tees".
Here is the playground at the beach. When we take off we will ride along the right side of the "lake". We Started the loop on the left.
These beach-goers were having a rought time with their raft in the wind.
Mountain biking trails are here also. According to this, it may be legal to hunt mountain bikers
And the good news is we head back up the same lovely twisty road back towards the bridge. I love this dead end. 2 for 1!
Today, I stop and meet my wonderful girlfriend Amy and Olivia (black lab, the fastest color) for a hike.
Olivia, the greatest follower of rules.
hiking along...
thinking about a career as a cliff diver....
Looking across the lake towards the beach we left a few minutes ago. It is somewhere through the narrows in there.
Time for a snack? Try this on for some local tackiness.
After our hike, I continue on our loop. Here we are at the outflow at the base of the dam.
fishing...
In this picture, you can see the concrete slope of the "overflow spillway" in the distance.
The dam overflowed only once, in 1993. When it did, the flood washed all of the topsoil off creating this little gorge. A stroll through the gorge you discover a bounty of fossils.
And finally we find out the reason for the name "Coralville".
fossil coral
Now up to top of the dam. Looking down at the area we just came from. The far left of the picture is the dam outflow.
Turkey vultures. Not exactly the most beautiful birds.
After that picture, they took off right for me. Time to get moving. Another Omen???
We now ride across the dam and past another disc golf course.
A few more turns and valleys and we are back to the beginning of the loop again. Thanks for riding along. Here are some flowers that the little automatic digital camera had some problems with, I like it.
