Getting out of town, or how much gear can we fit into a Volkswagon?

     Diane and I have planned this trip for months. Our grandson, Ben has agreed to move into our house and keep the cats from going ballistic while we're gone, so we're excited to get on the road.  We're going to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which we did not get to last year, and then travel north into Utah to visit Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks and as many more NPs as we can get to before we run out of time.  (There are six in Utah, so the possibility exists that Westy could come home with SEVEN new park stickers.)

      Right now the problem is getting all our gear for camping, cycling, hiking and backpacking crammed into our VW Westfalia camper.  Westy is about the same size as the average minivan, and getting all of that stuff, plus the usual creature comforts -- clothing, bedding, food, water, maps and guidebooks -- inside is requiring us to utilize every single square inch of space in his  generally well-designed interior.  It's noon and we're supposed to be leaving in the morning.  We aren't even half packed.
      Keep checking this blog, and also look at Diane's (theyarnachronicles.blogspot.com) as well.  We'll keep adding details as we go along.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bike Night!

Daughter-in-law Garnette Kuznia has put together another bike night, Thursday, July 15, 2010, where Minneapolis residents are encouraged to ride their bikes to the Museum and participate in bike themed activities.

MIA iPhone Wallpaper: Bike Night

Third Thursday's Bike Night at the MIA salutes Minneapolis--the nation's #1 biking city!

Thursday, July 15, 2010
6 – 9 p.m.
Free; refreshments for sale.

Join a group ride or pedal solo to this outdoor evening packed with great bike-related art offerings. Catch selected shorts at the opening of the 2010 Bicycle Film Festival--hosted at the MIA for the first time ever. Enjoy free bike valet service provided by Freewheel Bike Shop and Dero Bike Racks. Get a bike safety check by The Hub Bike Cooperative. Check out masterpiece bikes made by great Minnesota frame builders, on display in the museum lobby. Be part of the picture and pose with your bike in front of vintage photo backdrops, or let your creative juices flow and create your own classic bike poster. Enter drawings to win a Surly Long Haul Trucker bike; a hand-built Traitor Cycles Luggernaut frame, Chrome, and Banjo Brothers commuter bags donated by The Hub Bike Shop; Twin Six gear; and Nutcase helmets! And grab a biker-friendly brew and enjoy music by A Night in the Box.

Photo: Amanda Hankerson

Railroad Days in South Dakota

Diane says --
Okay, I admit it -- trains are almost as much fun as bikes and old VWs for Craig.  So when our South Dakota friends told us about something called Railroad Days at Prairie Village in Madison, SD we loaded our bikes in the '87 VW camper and headed out west.  The original reason for the day trip was an invite from Jeff's friend Bill to come and have lunch at the "Hobo Stew Cookout."  Bill, his girlfriend Dawn and a bunch of other volunteers put on an iron pot cookout to feed at least a hundred people.  They made stew in a dozen pots over and under live coals.  The results were delicious.

     The first thing we saw when we arrived at the Village, though, was Bill's 1936 Dodge Ram pickup (above) -- absolutely the best example of a neat old truck I've ever seen.  Bill and Dawn drove it from home, an hour away, hauling firewood, iron pots and food ingredients to the site.  The truck's coolest feature is the hood ornament, and even though that Ram lost a horn somewhere along the way, he's still got all the style he needs!

Hobo Stew seems to involve  whatever meat is available (in this case chicken -- thankfully not the more traditional roadkill), potatoes, onions, carrots and a variety of other garden veggies , and enough water to keep it from sticking.  The potato starch produced during cooking thickens the juices into gravy, and the whole mixture began to smell wonderful as everything started to simmer.  When the pot was finally opened, the results were definitely worth the wait. I had a plateful that included a whole chicken leg, plus beans and some very tasty berry crisp -- definitely worth driving for.

After lunch we got to the serious business of checking out the rolling stock.  Prairie Village has steam and diesel locomotives, passenger and freight cars, a replica interurban trolley, and a fun collection of "speeders" -- railroad service cars used by track crews to inspect and repair track.  One diesel switcher was pulling carloads of visitors on rides around the grounds, and Jeff and Craig managed to get seats in the cupula of the real wooden caboose (Craig says those are now known as "way cars" and aren't even used on modern freight roads).

We all rode the "Doodlebug" -- the replica interurban that was being inaugurated by the village that weekend. But Craig's favorite ride was on a Service Car -- the bright orange one seen behind the Doodlebug in this photo.  The beautifully restored 2-seat rail car is owned by a museum volunteer who trailered it to the park for a chance to drive it around and show it off.  Jeff and I settled for rides on the more pedestrian (but larger) ex-military "speeder" (right)..  Sitting on the bare plywood deck of the vehicle, we were acutely aware of every bump in the rails and were amazed at how fast 25 mph feels when there is no cab, windshield or framework between you and the breeze.
    Later in the weekend Craig and Jeff DID get in a bike ride, so taking the bikes was not a waste of effort.  Many thanks to Jeff and Sue, Bill Lee and Dawn and the railroad volunteers for a really  fun weekend!

High Trestle Trail: A ride and a look at the bridge

     Memorial Day 2010 brought perfect riding weather -- warm, sunny and no big wind -- so Diane and I loaded our bikes on the car and drove to Slater, IA to check out the newly-named High Trestle Trail.  The stretch from Slater to Madrid is about as nice a trail ride as any cyclist could ask for -- great Iowa scenery (part open, part wooded) on brand new, smooth concrete.  The summer wildflowers were beginning to bloom and there's an abundance of native wildlife that hasn't been scared off by the bike traffic.

After the usual pre-ride ablutions ("It should NOT take this much work just to get a racktrunk to go on this bike!") we were off down the trail.





As this photo (right) shows, it is NOT all about cornfields and grain elevators.  About half of the stretch between Slater and Madrid is in woods.

One really nice feature (above) we haven't seen on other bike trails are the "location posts" spaced about every quarter mile.  Each post is numbered and has a "Call 911 in an emergency" reminder.  In the event of trouble, a cyclist need only dial 911 and give the number of the nearest post to bring help to where it's needed.  Sure hope we never have to use one of those numbers, but it's nice to know they're there. A few miles farther on, Diane crossed a bridge and parked her bike, then waited for me to catch up (below)..

    The trail is new, well-built and a real pleasure to ride.  We passed many other riders (and saw several friends) -- it's great to see it used so much, even though the whole thing isn't open yet.
      

A neat little rest stop (right) at a shady spot along the trail features benches, a bike rack and horse hitching posts installed by a local Boy Scout troop.  Three or four miles farther we rolled into Madrid, which will no doubt become an important stop on the High Trestle Trail.  Madrid boasts two convenience stores and will eventually build a trailhead with parking, restrooms and water available.  For now, however, this is as good as the trailhead gets.  Thank goodness for that Big Blue Beauty!

     After the return ride to Slater, we were curious about progress on the "high point" of the High Trestle Trail, the still-under-construction bridge across the Des Moines River.  As I reported in an earlier post (April 11) on this blog, the bridge floor spent most of last summer and fall slowly making its way across the river, and we observed its progress only from the highway.  With the span now complete, I wondered how close to being "ride ready" it is, and decided to do a little investigating.  The bridge crosses the river between Madrid and the next town on the trail, Woodward, so we drove a few miles of gravel roads until we found the construction entrance to the site.

The road was too rough for our road bikes, so we hiked past the "Road Closed" sign.  (Diane does NOT recommend doing this in cycling shoes, however).
 It was about a mile (or maybe it was 10 -- a long ways, anyway) before we began to see signs of work in progress, including what must have been the two construction cranes we had watched from the highway all last year as they moved sections of bridge into place.

We finally found what we were looking for, and only had to step over this forklift (right) to walk  onto the concrete bridge deck and look across the very wide river.  We don't recommend this when the constructions crews are at work.

    


 (Left) The bridge is complete, all the way across, but there is clearly a lot more to be done.  Railings are currently temporary and there are signs of extensive electrical work in progress.  Current press on the trail reports that it will be lit at night, and we saw the rough-ins for lamp posts as well as surface-level lighting, electric outlets and curbings.

.       The view (right) from the bridge was amazing.  This photo looks toward the highway bridge where we photographed the High Trestle Bridge last spring (see earlier post).  Even though it isn't finished yet (current estimate is for a 2011 opening) it looks mighty fine from here!           

  

The Official Photo

Our replica Western Flyer in front of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  Garnette Kuznia, daughter-in-law extraordinaire who works in MIA marketing, tells us this has now become the official image for promotion of all upcoming MIA Bike Nights.

Special Olympics 2010 Race Day

7 am Thursday -- Race Day!  The truck is on-site and unloaded.  Schuyler is unloading the truck while three of us hustle the bikes to the corral.

The mechanics' tent had to be weighted to keep it from blowing away -- thank goodness those six jugs of kitty litter are heavy enough!!
 
It didn't take long for the athletes to arrive and the wrenching to begin.  Five of the best bike mechanics in Iowa -- read that the best anywhere -- worked nonstop for hours to check over and make every athlete's bike race-ready.  Special Olympics is either a bike mechanic's dream OR a nightmare -- absolutely every imaginable sort of equipment is used.  This year we worked on old garage bikes, new chain-store models,some very nice name-brand rides,  two-and three-wheeled stocks and modifieds, and unique custom-built recumbent singles and tandems from some of the best framebuilders in the business. 

Sometimes the line for bike checks was long, but everybody was patient and all the  bikes got checked over.

Leanne Lauber of Bike World pumped tires ... and pumped and pumped and PUMPED them.  Leanne is a wonder.  She made sure tire pressures were correct, made sure the bikes go to the proper mechanics and babysat Tom's little boy.

Tom  (left) and James (below), mechanics from Bike World, put in a whole days' work by noon.  They inspected all of the bikes, making adjustments and repairs as necessary.  The bikes cannot be on the course until these guys certify them as safe. They were later joined by Steve Lauber (not pictured) who hurried over from an earlier appointment.

Sometimes it takes TWO heads to fix ONE bike.  Ronn Ritz (Skunk River Cycles) and  Craig  go to work on a problem.  Craig holds the bike while Ronn untangles a stuck chain.  We each work according to our talents.

At the starting line, volunteers check each rider for helmet and gloves, and wish each a good race.  The volunteers are vital to helping the athletes get fitted up and to the starting point.

The best thing about Special Olympics is that everybody is a winner.  A year of anticipation  and planning makes just being there a special event, and showing off a shiny new medal makes the day even more special.  Parents, coaches, friends and volunteers all work together to ensure that each athlete has a fun, positive experience and that at the Games he or she really is a star performer. The smiles on the faces of proud medal winners makes it clear to everybody involved:  the Olympic spirit is alive and well at these games, too.