Join Scott from BIKEIOWA.com to hear about what's on his radar in the Iowa cycling scene this weekend. #FridayFives is a new series for Summer 2020 and we plan to share fun destinations, events and happenings each week.
Scott reports on an evening ride around Saylorville Lake. After the ride, he realized his Garmin was gone - and even though it was an older Garmin 800, he wanted it back. He reports on his LUCKY FRIDAY when he found his Garmin about 2' short of being in the lake and the GOOD KARMA he put out in the world when he found someone's golf shoes (while looking for his Garmin).
2) CEDAR VALLEY PEDAL FEST
Pedal Fest is cancelled this year, but we still love the Cedar Valley.
Cedar Valley Trails was recently named Travel Iowa's Outstanding Tourism Attraction and the Cedar Falls was Iowa's first League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Community.
Thanks to the City of Cedar Falls, Iowa for sponsoring BIKEIOWA.com since 2009!
3) GP DES MOINES CRITERIUM
The GP Des Moines Criterium was set for Des Moines Water Works Park on Sunday, September 6. Over 200 racers from 7 different states signed up. Promoters set up some fairly strict COVID-19 guidelines for racers, volunteers and spectators. This event will be one of the first organized races in Iowa since the pandemic began!
The Carl Voss Trail, connecting Downtown Des Moines, Iowa with Easter Lake, Des Moines, is a brand new trail! Des Moines Parks and Recreation just announced that the trail is open in time for Labor Day Weekend! This trail will close a long-time gap in the city's trail system and will be a big improvement for the Southeast Side.
But, really, who is trail namesake Carl Voss?
Carl is a LONG-time bicycle advocate. He is former and current Des Moines city councilman, co-founder of the Des Moines Bicycle Collective (now Street Collective), founded the regional trails maps, got bike racks on DART buses, coordinated installation of public bike racks, headed the Ingersoll Ave Road-diet that brought Des Moines it’s first bicycle lane.
He was instrumental in getting the Bicycle-Friendly Designation for Des Moines. He was a former The Des Moines Register reporter and photographer, and covered RAGBRAI for years. Carl and Scott worked on the 1st Bike to Work Day for Des Moines back in 2004.
The naming of this trail after Carl is certainly well-deserved.
5) IOWA TRAIL SUMMIT 2020
The Iowa Trails Summit is an event to bring together trail builders, supporters, volunteers, advocates and enthusiasts from across Iowa and beyond to delve into trail development topics ranging from corridor acquisition, engineering and enhancements, to funding, maintenance and marketing. The event, hosted by Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Golden Hills RC&D and Trees Forever, will be all online in 2020. Three webinars are planned:
September 9 | Finding Money for Your Trail
October 21 | Promoting Trail Use Post Pandemic
November 18 | The Future of Iowa Trails
THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK ! You can find more information on all of these items by checking out BIKEIOWA.com.
Remember - We’ll post Friday Fives every Friday during the Summer on Facebook & Instagram Live, add we’ll add YouTube and BIKEIOWA as a Review afterwards.
If YOU have something you’ve like us to share on Friday Fives ping us on Facebook or email Biker@BIKEIOWA.com RIDE SAFE & STAY HEALTHY!