Tag Archives: Iowa

Burlington by bike

On Friday, we biked to Starr’s Cave.  The temps were blissfully chilly, so much so that I didn’t bother to remove my bike gloves for the hike.

Saturday morning, we stopped by Mosquito Park on our way downtown.  In middle school, my friends and I often biked to, and hung out in, this lovely little park.

Matthew feels that the park should change it’s name for marketing purposes.  If you’re not sure what he’s doing in the photo, he’s mimicking a biting mosquito.

Our downtown shopping included Nature’s Corner, Tom’s Market, and some antique and thrift shops.  (As usual, the majority of our purchases were food or food-related, though Matthew was also on the hunt for some old farming implements.)  Our purchases exceeded the cargo capacity of Matt’s crate, but my rack plus a bungee cord came to the rescue.

My last ride of the trip consisted of biking to church on Sunday with my dad for company.  We conquered some big hills and arrived in plenty of time.  On the ride home, my bag almost took a spill, but I caught it just in time.

I am happy to report that we rode our bikes on all four days we visited Burlington — the wonderful weather aided us in this effort.  I enjoyed rediscovering my hometown via my favorite form of transportation!

Bikes on board

Stopped for lunch at Wakonda State Park

Carrying the bikes on our trunk rack for long trips makes me very nervous, but I bit the bullet for our trip to Burlington, IA this weekend.  The bikes behaved very well on the trip, not much moving around back there at all, but they did put a dent in our MPG 😦  Not very aerodynamic.

Burlington riverfront

We started with a quick trip to Bickel’s for some rim tape and a back-up tube to (hopefully) solve my rear tire flat woes on BUB.

We arrived at my parents’, and I wasted no time reassembling my rear tire.  It seemed to be holding air, so we headed down to the Riverfront Farmers’ Market for sweet corn, eggplant, bell peppers, garlic, and farm fresh eggs.

Bluff overlooking the Mississippi in Burlington

We made it back to my parents’ just before the rain rolled in on Thursday night.

Given the gas mileage sacrifice, I was determined to ride these bikes A LOT while we were there.  Stay tuned for more of our bike Burlington adventures.

Iowa, you’re tempting me

Some recent (and ongoing) conversations at our apartment involve the future and where we see ourselves, in terms of careers and family, yes, but also WHERE, physically.  Liveability factors large into these place discussions.  Sounds simple and obvious, right?  Everyone wants to live somewhere “liveable.”  Finding that place, a bikeable/walkable community, with meaningful employment for two, affordable housing, good schools, and room for a garden provides a bit of a challenge.

Enter my home state — IOWA!  A friend sent me a link to this PBS story on Dubuque, Iowa.  Click here, or click the image below, to go to the PBS website and watch the short video.  The mayor and [some of] the people in Dubuque, really GET liveable.  This looks really good.  Anyone in Dubuque want to hire two public health professionals with knowledge of liveable communities?