bigbiker1

My dad, brother and I took a quick overnight trip to Ankeny, IA yesterday to ride the trestle bridge trail. We wanted to do it at night because they have it lit up. My brother and father, who have both been avid bikers for 7+ years, started in Ankeny and rode the 25 miles to the bar in Woodward. The plan was for me to meet them there and ride back with them for as far as I was comfortable and then ride back to the trail head/bar where I was parked. They are training for RAGBRAI and wanted to do the full 50 miles. By the time they got to the bar and I got there is was pouring rain. The forecast said there were 2 more fronts headed that way, so we didn't get to see it at night. I was also really disappointed because I did not ride Wednesday or Thursday so I could ride farther on Friday. This was the first time I had gone 3 days without riding in about 5 weeks.

We did salvage what we could though. We drove to Woodward the next morning and rode from there 8 miles in and back. 16 miles was by far my farthest ride yet by more than 5 miles. However, in my very limited trail experience, this trail was absolutely cake to ride compared to the local trail I ride almost daily. For the 16 miles we averaged almost 15mph. The only hard part was coming back across the bridge on the way back the wind was a bit nasty and I really had to work hard to maintain speed. However when I was done with the 16 miles I was less tired then I normally am doing my normal 8.5 miles. It is an immaculate trail, perfectly maintained. It was very busy with the holiday weekend but still a blast. It is a wide concrete trail with 8 feet of short grass on each side. Very very fun, we are planning on going back at the end of summer. I am hoping to be able to do the whole 25 miles by then.

Side note, for you foodies or BBQ fans, we tried Smokey D's BBQ in Des Moines. This has been on Diners, Drive-ins and dives more than once. Now I know why! My two favorite foods are ribs and chicken wings, but I struggle to find really good wings or ribs. I have tried ribs from Nevada to Tennessee and from Omaha to Texas, including Kansas City. I never found ribs I liked better than Famous Dave's when they have a good batch. I also thought that ribs that were good enough to eat naked were a myth. These ribs I had today were better than any other I have ever had by a factor of 10. They came naked and I tried one just to see before adding sauce, I ate them all (only 5 bones) and never thought about adding sauce. Just awesome. On top of that the wings were probably the best I have ever had as well, they smoke them on the smoker first and then fry them, so they are smokey and crispy. I really had to hold myself back, I only ordered the platter with 5 wings and 5 rib bones. I could have eaten 3 times that, but I didn't want the calories, it was REALLY hard though.

Aahzz

Glad you were able to salvage a ride, and get in some good BBQ! I look forward to moving onto some longer rides soon myself, I'm just now up to 8 miles on my daily...