10th anniversary post: Cedar Rapids' protected bike lanes experiment

 

Protected bike lane demonstration project,
3rd Avenue SE, 2 August 2015

A protected bike lane is one that is separated from moving car traffic by some barrier, such as parked cars, bollards, or curbing. This provides more physical protection for riders than a single stripe of paint or a painted zone (buffered lane). (See discussion with illustrations in the Urban Bikeway Design Guide, prepared by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO).)

I've been thinking that, when it comes to protected bike lanes, nothing serves as proof-of-concept quite as well as all the riders you see riding on sidewalks instead of streets. But proof of which concept? Sidewalks, despite the occasional presence of pedestrians as well as numerous driveways, are physically separated from the motor vehicle traffic, just like a protected lane; but, unlike a bike lane and more like a trail, they are located off the street.

He wants protection! 300 block of 10th St SE, 2021
(Google Earth screenshot)

Cedar Rapids built its first protected bicycle lane on 3rd Avenue SE less than ten years ago, thanks to advocacy and funding by the Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization and its crack transportation planner, Brandon K. Whyte. Whyte led a "pop up" demonstration in August 2015, in which parking was moved off the curb to provide protection for the cycle lane. 

Beginning of the protected lane at 8th St SE

By 2019 Cedar Rapids had built protected lanes along 3rd Avenue from 8th Street SE to 6th Street SW. They remain, to my knowledge, the only such lanes in the city. Most bike lanes in the city are unseparated, while construction of cycling infrastructure has focused on trails and shared-use paths.

Shared-use path on K Avenue NE accommodates both
bikes and pedestrians

NACTO considers protected lanes to be an essential part of an "all ages and abilities" (AA&A) cycle network: Protected bike lanes are the only tool for All Ages & Abilities biking on streets with high curbside demand, speeds of more than 25 mph (40 km/h), multiple adjacent travel lanes, or motor vehicle volumes over 6,000 vehicles per day. They do what trails can't; while off-street trails like the CeMar Trail provide cyclists with superior protection over a sustained distance, they don't provide access to destinations (homes, schools, shops, offices) which are inevitably located on streets. Attempting a comprehensive trails network entirely apart from existing streets network could easily become "prohibitively expensive" [David Sucher, City Comforts (Seattle: City Comforts Inc, 2nd ed, 2016), 90].

Riding downtown on 3rd Avenue SW

Protected bike lanes are credited with improving traffic safety as well as encouraging cycling among the interested-but-reluctant. Within a year of introducing bike lanes, New York City found sharp decreases in injuries to all travelers, particularly (and perhaps counter-intuitively) pedestrians [Jeff Speck, Walkable City (New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2012), 190]. Nationally, analysis of data at both the block and network levels published in Nature found protected lanes had 1.8 times more riders than blocks with standard bike lanes, and even more when compared to shared streets (Ferenchak and Marshall 2025). 

Janette Sadik-Khan, who as transportation commissioner of New York City built miles of protected bike lanes among other pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, told Gilbert Penalosa at a Cities for Everyone webinar this summer:

When we put down protected bike lanes like... on 8th Avenue, which was the first one in the United States, we heard lots of people say that they were scared that people wouldn't be able to reach shops, that it was going to be bad for business... but sales data showed that where we put down protected bike lanes, injuries were cut in half, for all people, and shops showed a nearly 50 percent increase in retail sales. [The accompanying slide showed "-58% injuries, -67% pedestrian crashes, -29% speeding, +49% retail sales." She showed additional data from Toronto ("+100% cyclists") and London.] So whether it's making a street safer, better for business, or making it easier to get around, mile for mile, meter for meter, euro for euro, nothing beats a bike lane. [Quotation starts at 24:30 of the video]

Despite all these high-powered arguments, there is opposition. Some of it is the inevitable opposition of self-centered motor vehicle operators who wish everyone would just get out of their personal way, and perceive--correctly--that they are expected to slow down and share road space. Some especially confident cyclists object to what they see as relegation, when as vehicles their bicycles are fully entitled to space on the streets. 

But even ordinary cyclists have concerns about protected lanes. The main concern seems to be intersections, when cyclists are forced into traffic, particularly turning traffic than may not have seen their fellow road user. In particular, parked cars, which often form part of the protective barrier, can obstruct the motorists' view of the protected cyclists. I have myself, because the protected lane forces you into a more-or-less straight path, experienced unavoidable interactions with people standing in the lane, riders coming the wrong way at me, and one e-cyclist urging me out of their way.

100 block of 3rd Avenue SW:
Without a protective barrier, parked cars can and do
encroach on the bicycle lanes (Google Earth screenshot)

These problems appear to be in large part fixable. A cement curb between the cars pictured above and the bike lane they're sharing would provide a lot more "protection" for cyclists.

Given the value of bike lanes in encouraging ridership and improving street safety, we certainly shouldn't fall back onto the status quo. We should respond to problems as they arise, as Memphis has done with bike lanes on Broad Street. After residents experienced frequent issues at the intersection of Broad and Collins Streets, a transportation consultant involved with the original installation "suggested that the city could create a truck apron at the corner using speed bumps. This would tighten the turn radius for cars, forcing them to slow down, while still allowing larger trucks to make the turn. It’s also a quick and easy change to make" (Strong Towns 2025).

NACTO has a number of recommendations for intersections, based on four principles: 

1. change underlying assumptions about how intersections must operate
2. give people biking and walking clear priority over turning vehicles
3. reduce the approach speed and turn speed of motor vehicles
4. make people walking, biking and driving mutually visible

The specific remedy will depend on the intersection, of course, but a bike setback like this...

Source: NACTO

...gives both cyclist and driver more time to see each other. (Note the distance between the crosswalk and where the cars turn.) 

• "Right turn on red" could be barred where there are frequent conflicts between cars and bicycles (and pedestrians). A leading green only works when cars aren't expecting to roll regardless of the color of the light.
• Clearly-marked and maintained crosswalks and "cross-bikes" provide paths across the intersection that are visible to drivers. 
• Removing one parking space from each intersection will provide more visibility, not just of bicycles but also of motorized cross-traffic. 
• Finally, more and more visible traffic enforcement would discourage rogue behavior by everyone--as long as it's focused on genuine dangers (cars blowing stop signs, wrong-way bike riding, aggressive or erratic movement by anybody) and not on easy prey like pedestrians crossing empty streets.

That all said, I think there's room to expand the presence of protected bike lanes. Jeff Speck prefers--at least he did when the first edition of Walkable City was published--shared streets for downtown areas, to allow everyone access to shops, assuming "an environment of such slow driving that bikes and cars can mix comfortably at biking speeds" [2012: 203-204]--which is not always the case in Downtown Cedar Rapids. Speck wants to look at streets "where car speeds get into the thirties." I'd start with those of our stroads that don't have quieter streets that parallel them: 16th Avenue SW, Center Point Road NE, and Mount Vernon Road SE, to name a few.

So, bottom line: protected bike lanes are a boon--not a cure-all, and not appropriate everywhere, but done right they are a boon nonetheless.

ORIGINAL POST: "Cedar Rapids' Protected Bike Lanes Experiment," 3 August 2015

Eight things that make me proud in Cedar Rapids

 

Cedar Rapids sign, taken from the 3rd Avenue Bridge

Our big orange photo op is not one of them. I don't hate it, but I don't love it. Many other towns have already done it, so it's not exactly original, and writing your name on everything seems more like a sign of insecurity rather than pride. ("Gulf of America," anyone?) 

Do these photo ops age well? There's this one in New Bohemia from the ill-fated NewBo Evolve festival. It's still there, seven years later...

NewBo sign, 1300 block of 3rd Avenue SE

...and I took this picture of it in a snowstorm in January 2024, so maybe they do?

But I'm not here to complain about the sign. Really, I don't hate it. I'm here because my inability to appreciate its wonderfulness has led me to contemplate the things about Cedar Rapids that do make me proud. These are the things I show visitors and new students. I was going to list five, but I'm up to eight, and might have gone further, but I should get this written, and anyway what I missed might inspire you to make your own list!

Blake Shaw performs in CSPS courtyard,
October 2020

1. Arts and theater scene. Whether your art of choice is visual, musical, or theatrical, there's just a lot going on here. CSPS Hall, where I volunteer, has been showcasing eclectic music and art since 1993, and has been an anchor for growth in New Bohemia. The Cherry Building has regular exhibits of art by residents of its studios. There are several theater groups, and our local colleges feature all manner of fine arts productions. This is all on top of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the Eastern Iowa Symphony, and Theater Cedar Rapids. There's a lot to appreciate here, most of it accessibly priced and presented. City of Cedar Rapids arts and culture page 

Group ride on the Cedar River Trail, May 2023

2. Bike/trails network. What Cedar Rapids has in common with the host cities for the last three Congresses for the New Urbanism is our bicycle network is progressing, and is just a few connections away from being fully functional. On my side of town, the CeMar Trail will create a direct, paved route from the core of Cedar Rapids to the center of Marion. The Cherokee Trail, when completed, will go from downtown all across the west side. Our separated bike lanes downtown were the first or second in the state, depending on who you're asking. Linn County Trails Association page 

Gazette offices, downtown Cedar Rapids
(two blocks from their old offices)

3. Cedar Rapids Gazette. With limited resources, the Gazette is a solid local daily (at least online) paper that is locally owned, a rarity in a town this size. They do not shy away from exploring, in both news and opinion sections, aspects of issues that don't fit the lines coming from the Statehouse or Chamber of Commerce. And their offices remain downtown, which goes far with me.

Clifford the Big Red Dog helped open the new
main library in August 2013

4. Cedar Rapids Public Library. I got my library card as soon as I moved to town, and have been a satisfied patron ever since. I always find something worth reading in their vast collection. The main library has endured the 2008 flood, at the time the most costly disaster ever suffered by a U.S. library; the expectation they will be a refuge for the increasing unhoused population; and a state government that is suspicious of its efforts to serve a diverse population. A new facility under construction will provide expanded services to the west side.

Interior, Craftd Coffee, downtown CR

5. Coffee. For whatever reason back in the 1990s, the big chains were late in colonizing our town, allowing a rich variety of local shops to emerge. The big boys are here now, but the locals are holding on, mostly in the core of Cedar Rapids as well as Marion and Hiawatha. They are places to sit a spell, enjoy free or cheap refills, and see friends old and new. I have my favorites, but the whole of the coffee scene is even more than its parts.

The Round Barn, longtime home of the 
Indian Creek Nature Center

6. Indian Creek Nature Center and city parks. More than fifty years ago, someone had the vision to establish a place on the outskirts of town where adults and children could learn about nature while in nature, the community could celebrate the joys of homemade maple syrup, and the staff could model sustainable land conservation. To this add Bever and Ellis Parks, the oldest and best of our mixed-use parks, which include natural areas as well as playgrounds and swimming pools.

Cultivate Hope Corner Store grand opening, 2022

7. Matthew 25. There are a lot of social service organizations around town, but this one, begun in 2006 by pastor brothers Clint Twedt-Ball and Courtney Ball, is distinctive. From the start they had the goal of working with the neighbors rather than merely working in the neighborhood (in their case, the Taylor and Time-Check neighborhoods on the near west side). They were forced to pivot by the 2008 flood, and have continued to change over the years in response to new challenges. They opened the Cultivate Hope Corner Store in 2022. With Clint's departure this year, leadership is passing to a new generation.

Ready for Food Truck Tuesday
at New Bo City Market, May 2024

8. New Bo City Market. Since its inception in 2012 it's been more of a food court than a market, but it's a food court unlike any other around, with a variety of ethnic offerings not found elsewhere in town. Some shopkeepers have been able to make the jump from a market stall to their own shop, proving the market's worth as an incubator as well. Their Friday night concert series is a summer tradition now. A capital campaign is underway to expand the size of the facility, including a grocery store, dental clinic, and meeting space.

Bike to Work Week 2025

Trail crossing by Manhattan Park, Cedar Rapids

This year's observance of Bike to Work Week--or whatever time period is celebrated in your community--occurs in the shadow of a hostile presidential administration that has shown itself willing to stop at nothing to get whatever it wants. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a former reality TV star and U.S. representative with zero experience in transportation policy, has ordered a review of any federal grants that include bike infrastructure (Kuntzman 2025). While claiming bike lanes cause accidents and traffic congestion, he has removed research from the DOT website that shows the opposite (Wilson 2025). Viable alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles are the only way to reduce traffic congestion, as well as a key way to reduce climate change, but the Trump administration has scrubbed those data as well.

Why is bicycling so threatening to those now in power? Lyz Lenz (2025) notes the link to community building, which is itself threatening to an individualist ideology: "Project 2025 specifically criticizes the Federal Highway Administration for funding parks, trails, bike paths, and sidewalks--all the things that make our communities accessible and walkable." She argues that the Department of Transportation under Duffy "helps set in motion a vision of American life that is small, isolated, and alone."

Here on Holy Mountain, our vision is of an America that is large, connected, inclusive, and in no real way threatening. And by golly, spring is here, the sun is out, we have a good two weeks until the bugs show up, and there are bikes to be ridden! And who do we see spiking the guns of disillusionment, but our very own city, along with neighboring towns and the Corridor MPO!! Yes, Bike to Work Week is back, with innovative programming like commuter group rides and a Tuesday evening family ride with decorative lights encouraged.

Pedal for Pancakes gathering by the Cedar River

Monday, May 12 (high temp 84)

It was sunny and summery today, near-perfect weather for the start of Bike to Work Week. The week began with an experiment: replacing the trail "pit stops" of previous years with the first of two guided commuter group rides. This one left at 7:30 a.m. from McCloud Place on the city's northeast side, progressing down the Cedar River to downtown. I live on the southeast side, so I passed on scooting across town to meet them at that early hour, and settled for getting downtown in time to watch them cross 1st Avenue at 7:47.

Morning commuters cross 1st Avenue E

There were two city staff and three commuters, hardly a throng, but not bad for the first time ever. I wonder, too, if the decline in downtown office work since the pandemic affects the potential audience for this? Anyway, we have a base to build on. The afternoon return trip had several more riders.

Six years ago, British blogger Robert Weetman (cited below) wrote five questions to assess the bikability of a given route. The answers are admittedly going to be impressionistic rather than quantifiable, but arguably give the best indication of potential ridership, which I would say is the point of Bike to Work Week. 

Weetman's first question is...

Looking only at traffic-related safety, would most people allow an unaccompanied 12 year old to cycle here?

Maybe. Most of what I rode today was on appropriate bike infrastructure in manageable traffic. I encountered two pinch points that would deter many ordinary people from attempting a ride downtown during working hours. The 1st Avenue trail crossing treatment is much improved from its initial form, but it still would make me anxious if the 12-year-old put too much trust in it. This morning, as I awaited the commuters, a senior woman, resplendent in an all-purple outfit, approached 1st Avenue on her bike. She pushed the crossing light, and we crossed together. "Are they going to stop?" she rhetorically asked about the 1st Avenue traffic. "Sometimes they don't." Today they did. 

No traffic, no problem: Heading downtown on 3rd Avenue
at 8th Street

Later, when I was chatting with the commuters, they all said that most safety issues were at intersections. One guy talked about 3rd Street and 8th Avenue SE, where car traffic in the right-turn lane is competing uncertainly with cyclists in the bike lane. I brought up 3rd Avenue and 8th Street SE--yes, a completely different intersection--where the separated lane starts on 3rd, but first you have to cross 8th where cars are waiting (we hope) to get onto Interstate 380. I know the city's grid well enough to avoid this intersection, but I'm not 12 years old. Denver's Bike Streets organization has created a map to help people navigate that city safely on bicycles; maybe we could gin up something like that here?

Commuters gather at McGrath Amphitheater for the return trip

Happy Trails 2024-25

 

The CeMar Trail is ready to be connected!

Linn County Trails' cheery Facebook post today serves a reminder of Cedar Rapids's ever-improving trails network. Many of these projects fix connections at a specific location, but by the end of next year there will be some dramatic changes apparent to even the most casual trail user (cf. Peffer 2024). 

Arguably the most dramatic will be the completion of the CEMAR Trail between Cedar Rapids and Marion, filling the gap between Mt. Cavalry Cemetery and Route 100. (See the map that accompanies LCTA President Tom Peffer's message this month.) I don't know if it will make it faster to go between the two central business districts by bicycle than by car, as someone suggested when this was still a gleam in our eyes, but it will be a game-changer--in a good way, I hasten to add, for anyone who knows how much I hate that term under normal circumstances.

Currently the Cedar Rapids portion ends at 3rd Avenue and 33rd Street Drive SE, by the Mt. Calvary Cemetery:

33rd Street Drive approaching 3rd Avenue SE

 

It's hard to see between the house and the cemetery, but there is a strip of public land there where the trail will continue. Looks like construction has begun across Indian Creek!

View of trail-in-process from the cemetery

Graves near the creek afford view of the trail

On the Marion side, the trail ends just north of Highway 100, in the shadow of Menard's:

There is a spur just there that connects to the west end of Grand Avenue:

The Bowling Street Trail is one of the oldest in Cedar Rapids, and it was showing its age back in 2015 when Brandon Whyte took the MPO Ride down there. It's now improved and longer, running from 20th to 33rd Avenues SW, thereby connecting Czech Village to points south, including the Wilson Avenue Hy-Vee Food and Drug Store. 

Bowling Street Trail pothole, 2015

2024: New year, new surface!

Several pedestrian crossing signals were added as well

The trail continues on the old macadam surface south to 50th Avenue, becoming an eight-foot sidewalk over U.S. 30 before it diminishes to six-feet approaching Kirkwood Community College.

Other trails updates for commuters:

• The Cherokee Trail will get another 1.7 miles longer, extending east as far as 13th Street NW, so getting people about a mile or so from downtown on what could become a key east-west artery.
• The Edgewood Trail will add 1.1 miles north from the Cedar River to Town Center Drive. It has the potential to be a key north-south artery, particularly once the new west side library opens. 
• The Cedar Valley Nature Trail will add a 1.7 mile loop from 7th Avenue SE (where the current trail goes onto the street) to the Lightline Bridge project south of Czech Village. 
• I don't see anything about connecting the Lindale Trail to the CVNT, though; is that still in the works? [LCTA responds: Hopefully construction will begin in 2025 but... the City is awaiting a response on a final appeal to the Railroad for [the preferred alignment along the railroad right of way between Center Point Road and Council Street]. Should the Railroad consent, the project can proceed. If not, the alternative alignment along Council Street and 51st Street... will need to be developed. As such, the timeline is currently indefinite.]
• The LCTA newsletter also includes plans for a capital campaign for future trails, including building the Interurban Trail to Mt. Vernon. 

Why This Matters

All this trail development is enough to make an urbanist giddy, so it's good for our mental balance that Pete Saunders's Substack today references a pandemic-era post by Alissa Walker, who found much of urbanism, even at the height of COVID, to be blithely indifferent to the social inequality that mars our cities (and our whole country, really):

If the coronavirus has made anything clear, it's that cities cannot be fixed if we do not insist on dismantling the racial, economic, and environmental inequities that have made the pandemic deadlier for low-income and nonwhite residents. Yet many prominent urbanists have simply tweaked the language from their January 2020 tweets and fed them back into the propaganda machine to crank out COVID-tagged content, perpetuating the delusion that all cities need are denser neighborhoods, more parks, and open streets to magically become "fairer." (Walker 2020, citing Wigglesworth 2020 for COVID data)

Maybe in 2020, we should replace Walker's reference to "pandemic" with "road deaths," "housing instability," "deaths of despair," or "trouble with the law," but the concern remains a valid one. An Urban Institute study found 52 percent of Americans living below the "true cost of economic security," with 12 percent living below 75 percent of that threshold (Acs, Dehry, Giannarelli, and Todd 2024). Will better bicycle infrastructure significantly assist with such widespread struggling? We simply don't know. A couple years someone around here--I can't remember if it was the City of Cedar Rapids or somebody else--surveyed trail users. It was a convenience sample, and it skewed heavily male and upper income. (It's difficult in Iowa to oversample whites, but it managed to do that, too.) So when it comes to making our cities more equitable, we are literally groping in the dark.

That having been said, and with the understanding that even the best trails aren't going to magically fix social injustice, I think a lot of this trail development will improve equity, simply because the trails are  becoming as functional as they are fun. We are gradually building a network that facilitates safe, inexpensive commuting to work, school and shopping all over town. And that's definitely worth celebrating!

Chicago's 606 trail serves bicycle commuters and school children,
as well as recreational walkers and joggers

Coffeeneuring Challenge 2024

My ride, snug in the bike shed at Geonetric

Week One

1. Wednesday, October 9 (sunny 80F)

Coffee at: Converge Cafe in the Geonetric Building, 415 12th Ave SE [round trip 4.6 miles]

One Million Cups day at Geonetric!

I was Two-Days-Ago Years Old when I found out about the Coffeeneuring Challenge, an annual celebration of autumn, bicycles and coffee, on a Mastodon post. Coffeeneuring was begun by twelve individuals in the Washington, D.C. area in 2011; in 2021, the last year for which there are data, there were 329 riders from 41 states and the District of Columbia, as well as thirteen other countries. Decorah, Des Moines and Waverly, Iowa were represented, but... not Cedar Rapids! I'm fixing to change that this year.

Coffeeneuring season begins this week. My first ride was to 1 Million Cups, the Cedar Rapids locus of the Kaufmann Foundation's national gatherings of entrepreneurs. I rode over about 8 a.m., which is when Cedar Rapids traffic is as busy as it gets, but managed to elude most of it. I take my coffee black, today opting for the Colombian blend. Today's featured speaker was Shafira Rizki, whose organization Lead With Her promotes leadership by women in southeast Asia.

Shafira Rizki (right) presents at 1 MC Cedar Rapids

2. Friday, October 11 (sunny, 87F)

Spiced cider at: Roaster's in the New Bo City Market, 1100 3rd Street SE [round trip 4.4 miles]

Bike parking at the Market

New Bo Open Coffee on the second and fourth Fridays of each month was an institution by the time I started frequenting the district eight years ago. In its heyday it drew 15-25 people from nearby businesses. Alas, time, relocations, and the infamous pandemic have reduced the crowd to three very persistent men, of whom I am one. Today it was just Sam and me, with Bill checking in by video call from Wisconsin. Celebrities spotted included Anna Dombkowski, the Market's new development director; former Cedar Rapids mayor Brad Hart; and Corridor MPO transportation planner Roman Kiefer.

Today was close to the ideal bike commute. Another 8 a.m. call meant riding through traffic, but I was lucky in finding gaps in it so I could make the necessary left turns on my route. Too many cars means I'm fighting a losing battle for space, but I like having someone around to protect me from turning traffic, and to trigger the traffic lights. The weather's been ideal for biking, but of course our unseasonable warmth is inextricably connected to the horrible hurricanes that have been ravaging the southeast, and here it hasn't rained in six weeks.

Roaster's New Bo

Week Two

3. Tuesday, October 15 (Sunny, windy 55F)

Coffee at: Craft'd Coffee Shop, 333 1st St SE [round trip 3.6 miles]

We had a frost last night, and it was still in the 30s when I set out this morning. This is more seasonable weather than we had last week, but not my favorite for biking. It was not too windy riding in; with a light coat and leather gloves, though, I was fine, except for my ears.

Today I was meeting a friend at Craft'd, barely a block from City Hall, in the space formerly occupied by Early Bird. It was hopping when I arrived just before 9; I counted 16 customers, including some gathered to celebrate a co-worker's 40th birthday. (I took a picture... not sure what happened to it.) I did not have a reusable cup recommended in the Coffeeneuring Challenge rules, but I brought my crocheted sleeve, which I'd bought at New Bo City Market in the days BP (before-the-pandemic). 

I like my dessert bars like I like my cities: dense and diverse

The ride home was windier, but by mid-morning traffic was sparse, so no complications except for these garbage cans on 3rd Avenue which are apparently stored in the bike line. (Garbage pickup was four days ago!)

1600 block of 3rd Avenue SE

Week Three

4. Tuesday, October 22 (morning shower, 76F)

Coffee at: Veritas Cafe, 509 3rd St SE [round trip 4.1 miles + 0.5 miles swimming]

The sky was surprisingly dark with clouds when I set out this morning just before 8, and I saw one flash of lightning to the west, but I made it safely and drily to the YMCA. I would have been okay with getting wet, though, as it's been weeks since we had any rain at all. It rained a little while I was in the pool, and I saw more streaks of lightning, but it was over by the time I left. (Back in the day, they used to close the pool when there was lightning. I'm not sure when that practice changed. Maybe there's better indoor pool protection technology.)

With puddles on the ground and on my bicycle seat, I portaged two blocks to Veritas Cafe, a third place of sorts inside the Baptist-affiliated Veritas Church. They're remodeling the interior of the church, so the seating areas are less spread out and more defined. I had black coffee and this voluptuous cranberry muffin:

I read City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Village by David Sucher (City Comforts Inc., revised edition, 2016) while I drank my coffee. The cafe was well-attended but not crowded, mostly with younger people. There were slips of paper to write prayer requests, but the cafe is not doctrinal in spite of the setting, and the canned music was mostly by Fleetwood Mac. In 1953 this was a grocery store, according to the Polk's Directory. I could see that; anyhow this is a great example of successfully adaptive reuse.

The sun was out, the air was cooler, and my bicycle seat was dry, by the time I emerged for the ride home. I keep reading on Facebook and Mastodon about people riding 60 or 75 km for their coffee. I feel like a bit of a piker by comparison, going barely 7 km today. I'm certainly fortunate to live so close to so much coffee.

5. Thursday, October 24 (sunny, windy, 66F)

Coffee at: Uptown Coffee, 760 11th St Suite A, Marion, IA [round trip 16 miles]

I took my car in for an oil change this morning, which put me close enough to the Cedar River Trail for a mostly-trail ride to Uptown Marion. The trails are slated to be connected at 51st Street NE, and that was supposed to have happened this year, but now has been delayed until spring or early summer. 51st Street is adequate in the meantime, wide and not heavily trafficked. 

Near the movie theater: Washing something off the trail

I didn't have any difficulty this morning until I was almost to the coffeehouse in Marion: The traffic light at 7th Avenue and 10th Street never gave me a green, so after waiting through one cycle and for traffic to clear, I ran the red. I don't feel good doing this, but if only cars can trigger the light I have no choice.

Uptown Artway: Looking towards Uptown from
this whimsical bike rack 

Coffee in the bar, with doughnuts and Da Brim

I wore my shirt from Open Streets DC. 

11th Street, on which Uptown is located, is sort of an open street itself, in that auto traffic is blocked from crossing 7th Avenue.

I would have taken more pictures of the trail, but it was so chilly I was loath to stop!

Week Four

6. Sunday, October 27 (sunny, 63F)

Coffee at: Craft'd Coffee Shop, 333 1st St SE [round trip 3.6 miles]

The view outside my front door today

This picture was taken later in the day, but it is included to show the profusion of color we are living right now. It made for quite the picturesque ride!

I get credit for my hi-viz Bike to Work Week t-shirt
today, though on the streets no one could see it under my jacket

Coffee was supposed to happen somewhere else this morning, but while that somewhere had been open Sundays back in March, they no longer are. Thankfully, the coffeeneuring rules allow for one repeat place, which I am claiming today, and Craft'd was just a couple blocks farther on. I caught up with my friends there.

I finally got a picture of the interior, which was not full when I arrived a little ahead of 9:30, but by 10 was fully hopping.

One more ride to go...

7. Tuesday, October 29 (sunny, windy, possible-record 84F)

Coffee at: Dash Coffee Roasters, 120 3rd Avenue SW [round trip 6 miles]

3rd Avenue SW: mural featuring Lucille Ball and the planet Saturn

Weird summerlike weather continues for another day or two--great for biking, not so great for the long-term prospects for life on Earth. I rode from the tire store, which gave me an extra ride through the near northeast side, past the house we rented our first year in Cedar Rapids. 

bike parking at Dash

I met my friend John at Dash in Kingston, across the river from Downtown Cedar Rapids, and near the Linn County Elections Depot where John is helping people vote early. He reports steady high numbers of early voters every day, though what that augurs no one can tell. Iowa is not one of the seven states that will decide this election anyhow.

my coffee and incredible strawberries and cream scone

The building was a dry cleaners in 1953, with a dentist's and doctor's offices above.

I happened to see on Instagram that Dash is celebrating Deviled Eggs Tuesday, so I scored some for us. The chef added "the warming comfort spices of Pho" to create a fascinating flavor.

Happy Deviled Eggs Tuesday!

Now I have completed Coffeeneuring Challenge 2024! All that remains is to fill out the form when it appears on the Chasing Mailboxes site. I'm looking forward to next year, when I anticipate some more trail options for out-of-town coffeeneuring--although it's hard to imagine more ideal biking weather than we've had this October. In the meantime, I can revel in the number of coffee options within a couple miles of my house that are not multinational corporations!

SOURCE: Mary G., "Coffeeneuring Challenge 2024: The Year of Small Wins," Chasing Mailboxes, 30 September 2024 [includes description and ground rules]

Psyche-up/informational video from Minnesota-Based Beth Bikes (16:51):