SS 69 - Bike riding Iowa; High Trestle Trail; Ironman 70.3; Just Go Bike; John F Kennedy; Des Moines

Quote “Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.” John F. Kennedy

Welcome to the Sensory Strides podcast.  Observations of the world through activity, reading, listening, and everything else.

My husband and I had planned our weeklong summer vacation to Colorado for the past week. However, multiple things occurred that caused us to delay the vacation a month or so.  However, I definitely needed a break, and it was the weekend of our fifth wedding anniversary, so we ended up taking a four-day weekend.

We were going to head to Duluth / Superior since neither of us had been there before, but there were very few motel rooms to be had and the ones available were way out of the price range I was willing to spend.

Instead, we headed to Iowa to bike ride all weekend.  Without even having a plan when we left on Friday morning, we couldn’t have ended up with a better weekend.  I had heard about the High Trestle Trail for many years, mostly because I still listen to Ragbrai and Iowa Bike Coalition’s podcast “Just Go Bike”.  I had seen pictures and was intrigued.  We got to the area early enough on Friday to ride a portion of the trail and still check into our motel room, eat dinner, and head back to see the bridge lit up at night.  The trail is amazing.  Super smooth and very wide, so even though there was plenty of bike traffic, there weren’t any passing issues with a narrow path.

JustGoBike (pod.link)

High Trestle Trail | What We Do | INHF

Saturday, we headed south of Des Moines and rode part of the Great Western Trail, which took us past the Des Moines airport.  We got to see a couple of jets landing and a few taking off.  We then hopped in the car and headed towards downtown and rode along the river and up to the capital building.  We also rode by Principal Park where I snapped a few pictures for my daughter who is a Cubs fan.  The Cub’s minor league team plays in Des Moines.

Great Western Trail - Polk County Iowa

Principal Park | Cubs (milb.com)

While in Des Moines, we realized the 70.3 Ironman was happening Sunday.  Since I am usually a participant and not a spectator and an Ironman race is known to be so well run, we decided to spectate.  However, thunderstorms rolled through overnight and early morning, and no one was sure if the race would even happen.  So, we didn’t bother setting an alarm and decided to play by ear.  While it did take us longer to get to parking than we planned, we still were able to sleep in a bit and get to the race while the swim was in high gear.  They didn’t end up starting until 9:45 and they had to cut the bike distance in half to reduce the time impact.

(10) IRONMAN 70.3 Des Moines | Facebook

WOW!  That was a lot of people and a lot of logistics!  I’m not sure I would have done my 70.3 if I had spectated a race of that distance beforehand.  It was exhausting just watching the participants.

Overall, it was a great, relaxing weekend with lots of fresh air.  Just what I needed.

Thanks for joining me.  Be sure to check our show notes for links to inspiration items and …  don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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