Exploring Iowa on Two Wheels

Exploring Iowa on Two Wheels

By Rod Woten

“I thought Iowa is supposed to be flat?!?!” It’s a phrase I’ve heard over and over again during my many years of riding in The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI. For those that aren’t aware, RAGBRAI is an annual bicycle ride that travels west to east across the entire state of Iowa and draws as many as 10,000 riders from around the globe. Each year the route is different, sometimes across the northern portion of the state, sometimes the southern and a mix during some other years, but it always starts near the Missouri River and ends near the Mississippi River. Whether you’re a recreational rider, a touring cyclist, a gravel grinder, an off-road junkie or a road racer, Iowa has routes for all of these at every skill level.

Farm to Market Roads
Being an agricultural state, Iowa is blessed with thousands of miles of two lane county and state highways. Many of them are major routes for farmers to get their crops to market and are often referred to as “farm to market” roads. These roads also make for awesome cycling routes. Almost every town or city that has modest population of road cyclists will even have certain routes that lend themselves well to bicycle travel. They become established routes that are often referred to with names like “Gilbert Loop”, “Dahlonega Road”, “Swiss Valley”, “The Big Loop”, “Sugar Bottom”, “The Little Loop”, “Shangri-La” …the list is almost endless. Mention any of these route names to local cyclists and they will instantly know the exact route. Living as a racing cyclist during my younger years in southeast Iowa, north-central Iowa and northeast Iowa, these types of roads were my bread and butter for getting in my training rides as I prepared for various races throughout the Midwest. Iowa’s farm to market roads can accommodate almost any type of bicycle, including, but not limited to skinny-tired road bikes, gravel bikes, recumbents, fat-tire bikes, mountain bikes and wider-tired recreational bikes.

Gravel
Gravel riding is the newest and fastest growing segment of the market in the cycling industry. It has even spawned its own specific category of bicycle! Five or so years ago there was no such thing as a “gravel bicycle”, but now every major bicycle manufacturer has at least one model specifically designed for gravel riding. Gravel bikes are probably closest to a cyclocross bike with their wider clearances up front and in back that allow for wider tires to cushion the wheels from the uneven surface of gravel roads and protect from “pinch flats” that gravel can often cause. Gravel bikes also have a raised bottom bracket (the part that holds the crank arms to which the pedals are attached) to give better clearance over soft stretches of gravel and the frames are designed with angles that give a better ride on the jagged surface. There are at least as many gravel-road miles in Iowa available to cyclists as there are paved farm to market miles and that’s great news for gravel riders!

Bike Trails
The number of quality bike trails in Iowa are astounding and cities realize how bike trails improve quality of life. Many central Iowa cyclists are already familiar with the Raccoon River Valley Trail and the High Trestle Trail, but these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bike trails in the state. Almost every major metro area has bike trails. I’ve been very blessed to live in or near Des Moines for many years now and am amazed with the system of trails that can get you from the heart of downtown and many of its attractions clear out to the extreme fringes of its suburbs. Truthfully, there is almost nowhere in the Des Moines Metro that you can’t reach by bicycle via the trails. Several of the trails in Iowa are paved, like the High Trestle Trail in the center of the state and Trout Run Trail in Decorah, but there are many that are cinder or crushed gravel trails, such as the Heritage Trail near Dubuque and the Wabash Trace Trail Near Council Bluffs. For the paved trails almost any bicycle will work, but for the cinder trails, I would recommend a wider tired bicycle such as a gravel bike, a touring bike, a hybrid, a mountain bike, a fat-tire bike or similar.

Off Road Trails
While definitely not a mountain biking mecca by any means, Iowa still has several off-road offerings for cyclist scattered across the state. Some excellent examples are Sycamore and The Brickyard, Ewing Park and Center Trails near Des Moines, Summerset Park near Indianola, Sugar Bottom in Iowa City, Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids, Petersen Pits near Ames and The Decorah MTB Trail System. Iowa’s mountain bike trails can still offer serious amounts of climbing and descending thanks to the creeks and rivers that many of them are routed around and across. You can encounter sand, mud, “hero-dirt” and rocks on almost any of the off-road trails in the state. Trails can range from beginner level to black diamond, which indicates some of the most technical riding you can find anywhere, so there’s something available for every skill level and always an opportunity to take them to the next level. Central Iowa Trail association (CITA) is a great organization that not only maintains many of the trails in central Iowa but helps build many of the new ones. Their website is a great resource for anyone looking for off-road trails to ride in the middle of the state.

Types of Bikes for Iowa Riding
Obviously, you will want to match your bicycle to the type of riding you will be doing. For many people, a recreational style of bicycle will fit the bill. These bikes typically have a steel or aluminum frame, multiple gears, moderately wide tires to suit a variety of surfaces, flat handlebars and a geometry that creates an upright posture. This type of bicycle is not well suited to riding long distances. For getting from one point to another, shorter trail rides or commuting around your neighborhood they do very well.

For road riding or paved trail riding, I would recommend a road bike. There is a WIDE range of options available for road bikes, but generally speaking they have skinny tires, multiple gears and curved handlebars with a “drop” position. The frames for these bikes can be made from steel, aluminum, titanium or carbon fiber with the more exotic materials being significantly lighter and stiffer but also significantly more expensive. The geometry is also more aggressive to create a flatter posture that encounters less wind resistance, especially when your hands are on the “drops” of the handlebars. All these things combined make a road bike the ideal choice for covering longer distances on paved surfaces. Sometimes they are outfitted with bags, called panniers, and metal racks to hang the bags from, making them a “touring” bicycle, which is one that carries large loads, often camping gear, for extended distances.

For cinder bike trails, I would recommend a bike with wider tires like a cyclocross bike, a gravel bike, a mountain bike or a fat tire bike. The wider tires will be less likely to sink into softer patches of the trail, provide a bit of extra cushioning for the rider and help prevent the flats that skinnier tires invariably get from gravel and cinder surfaces.

For gravel riding, the obvious choice would be a gravel specific bike. I described gravel bikes fairly thoroughly earlier so I won’t belabor that here. Mountain bikes, cyclocross bikes and fat-tire bikes can also serve very well on the gravel.

For off-road trails the mountain bike or ATB (all-terrain bicycle) reigns supreme. W-I-D-E gear range, aggressively lugged tires and flat handlebars make them ideal for handling mud, sand, rock and dirt as well as very steep inclines and descents that are often found on many off-road trails.

Regardless of what kind of bike you decide to use, make sure it comes from a reputable bike shop. The components found on mass-retail bikes are often sub-par and rarely hold up to even semi-regular riding…especially for high-abuse bikes like gravel and mountain bikes. The frames themselves on these less expensive bikes are also usually of inferior quality so not only are they more prone to failure, but they are considerably heavier than a bike-shop bicycle. You will appreciate a high quality lightweight bike frame every time the road or trail pitches upward. The components on bike-shop bicycles are not only higher quality, but they are also much easier to service or replace if needed

Iowa Cycling Events
Some of the best cycling events in the country happen right here within our borders. We have large events that attract national attention and smaller events that are not quite as well know outside of the state. As an added bonus, some of these events raise funds for a charity of some type as well.

RAGBRAI is probably the best known event in the state, possibly in the nation. It’s probably also one of the biggest recreational cycling events in the world. People that come to Iowa for the first time to ride RAGBRAI are often very surprised at the terrain. Many assume that Iowa is flat and come to the startling realization within the first day or two that it is NOT. Additionally, Iowa hospitality truly is hard to beat! It’s a carnival-like atmosphere that includes music, food stands, and all kinds of events and activities to keep 10,000 cyclists entertained. It’s an experience every Iowan should experience at least once in their lifetime!

Baccoon is another very popular Iowa bicycle ride. Baccoon is a 72 mile bacon-themed ride that takes place entirely on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. There are several stops along the trail that serve bacon based foods like maple bacon donuts, bacon corn dogs, Ice cream topped with bacon crumbles, bacon cheeseburgers, and bacon & egg burritos among others.
BRR is a 24 mile ride from Perry to Rippey and back that takes place every February. Yes, I said FEBRUARY! It’s called BRR…get it? BRR also stand for Bike Ride to Rippey, which pretty much sums it up. Most years, this ride takes place in cold windy snowy wintertime conditions, but some years the riders are treated to much milder spring-like conditions. BRR has happened every year for the past 46 years and takes place regardless of the weather.

These are just a few examples of some of the great group bicycle rides that take place throughout the year in Iowa. They are a great way to spend time with like-minded people, get in some great exercise and possibly raise some funds for a worthwhile charity. If you’re looking for new ways to explore Iowa’s great outdoors, why not try it on two wheels?