It was a beautiful day without as much wind as we've seen so far almost every day this month. There isn't a person I know who hadn't had about enough of the wind! To have such pretty spring days & yet have the winds drying things out even more is difficult. We had a touch of rain .09 last Sat. not even enough to moisten the ultra-dry earth. Red Flag warnings are almost a daily occurrence.
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| Leaving from Happy Trails~ |
With Silver City being my
to-go place for so long, it seemed strange to be back. I was excited to be able to ride the entire route to Malvern again. It was quiet in town & I was surprised to be the only car in the parking area.
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| Fields yet to be planted~ |
Things still look more like late winter than early spring. The fields are still brown & the leaves are yet to emerge from their buds. The trail surface was completely dry & very dusty.
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| The big Cottonwood~ |
It was almost eerie, how quiet it was rolling onto the new Trestle planks! They are so tight & smooth after the rough old boards of the original. I stopped to admire the big cottonwood, but the river is so low now, you can hardly pick it out in the background.
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| Shadow on the Silver Creek Trestle~ |
You can see in the photo above, the black boards of decking. I'm not sure what material was used, but it will probably outlast any other wood type product. The rails here, as on the White Horse Trestle, do have a
raw look with the rusted metal of the overhead structure.
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| Boehner Pond - lower than ever~ |
Shadow made the ride a breeze! I'm sticking with my goal of keeping the battery charged with constantly pedaling in the highest gear my knees feel comfortable with. After all, besides getting in my time out in nature, I appreciate getting all the exercise I can!
I didn't stop for long at the park, before going on to the Arch in Malvern. I wanted to try to match up this ride with a previous one on Smokey (self-pedaled).
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| Under the Arch - looking south~ |
The flower vines have yet to begun to turn green, but soon & hope I'll to see blooms!
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| Bicycle Tree - Malvern, IA |
The Bicycle tree always looks so colorful as you ride by! I made a short loop around town before heading back. I'd just ridden under the train underpass when I saw two riders stopped on the trail. Dan & Mari Jo! Dan was heading the way I was, Mari Jo had been going south. It was great to see them both & we had a nice chat before Dan left us. Mari Jo cut her ride short & we rode together back north to Silver City & enjoyed catching up!
Back at
Happy Trails, I loaded Shadow & started for home. I was only about a mile from town when I heard a strange noise. I looked in the rear-view mirror to see the bike handlebars had dropped & were turned sideways! Not good! I found the first farm driveway & pulled off to the side of the road.
The strap holding Shadow's front tire had broken completely off. The front of the bike had come down off the rail & was being held to the rack by the rear tire strap & the center post strap. It was so taunt - when I tried to lift the front end enough to get it back up on the tire rail it was impossible. When I tried to loosen the strap on the center post, it was so tight I couldn't get it to release & give me enough slack.
About this time, a Sherrif's officer in an unmarked car pulled alongside & asked if I needed assistance? Well, yes, a helping hand would be appreciated! He pulled in behind me. As I pulled up on the front of the bike, he managed to get the strap on the center post to release! Thankfully, the bike hadn't been damaged! He had parachute cord, I had bungee cords & between the two, we secured the front tire.
Butch has ordered all new attachments & straps. This carrier is rated for two 66 lb. bikes & until a week ago, had only carried Smokey at 32 lbs. We're attributing the break to the Iowa cold/heat cycle (material fatigue) & have ordered additional straps to double secure the bikes from now on!
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