Bicycling Destinations and Restaurant Reviews

Captions: 1. A chicken-crossing sign on Sand Road near Highway 22. 2. Red's Alehouse on a sunny day. 3. Gordy Goldsmith, an indomitable bicyclist and retired urologist on Sand Road at the junction of Highway 22. 4. In front, Iowa City's paved side of Crandic Trail; in back, Coralville's abandoned, unpaved part of Crandic Trail along the Iowa River. Guess which town is more bike friendly.

Riding your bicycle up hill and dale is more enjoyable when you have a desirable restaurant/bar as a destination. We hadn’t been to Red’s Alehouse in North Liberty in a while, so since Coralville still hasn’t done a thing to their part of Crandic Trail, unlike Iowa City, we took our chances riding down the trail along the Coralville Strip crossing innumerable business driveways. One woman driver in a small red car raced at top speed out of one large mall parking lot across the trail just ahead of us without looking either way. Her recklessness and speed scared me to death, but we rode safely through the rest of Coralville. We were able to let down our guard somewhat when we got to Oakdale Research Park, devoid of traffic.

Jim and I met in September 1979 at the old Oakdale Hospital, so it was a sentimental journey riding past the green grass where our work site used to be. All of those old buildings are gone.

We proceeded to the North Liberty trail that took us to Cherry Street in North Liberty and stopped at Red’s Alehouse. I asked the waitress which flatbread she recommended, and she recommended the Thai. What a good tip! The Thai flatbread is tangy and tasty, hot or cold. I ate it hot at Red’s and ate a piece cold the next day. It’s fabulous either way.

I ate a Baja wrap at the 218 Tap in Hills a couple of weeks ago. It was supposed to have a “tangy Baja sauce and salsa” in it, which is why I ordered it, but it had neither. It was as bland as the rice inside of it. I should have sent it back to the kitchen immediately, but I was talking to someone and didn’t feel like making a fuss. I ate half of it and took the rest home. When I heated it up the next day, I drowned it in Italian dressing so it would taste like something. Next time I came in, I told the waitress that the Baja wrap was tasteless and didn’t have any sauce on it. She went back to the kitchen, had a good laugh about my complaint with the cook, and then told me that if I didn’t like it I shouldn’t order it next time.

I’ll do better than that. I just won’t go to the 218 Tap any more, which used to have nice waitresses who weren’t sullen and rude. I’ll go to restaurants that make good, consistent food and have friendly servers. There are plenty of those places in and around Iowa City and I tip well.

We had a wonderful time at Red’s. Since it was unusually chilly for early July, they had a fire going in a charcoal pit outside on the patio. The waitresses were friendly and engaging, and it was happy hour. Jim and I had a couple of drinks and a nice talk. We always seem to especially enjoy each other's company at Red's.

Yesterday we rode to the Riverside Casino to share a lunchtime buffet with the MelonHeads. We saw Gordy Goldsmith and the New Pioneer Coop team going down Sand Road. Gordy stopped long enough to say hello and reminisce about Frank Iowa and Barry Katz on RAGBRAI. Barry Katz is apparently a character like Frank, only Barry is from Hell’s Kitchen in New York. Frank, I believe, is Iowa born and raised, which is why he had his last name legally changed to "Iowa."

The rest of the MelonHeads rode up from Muscatine. Jim and I make up the Iowa City contingent of the MelonHeads. Al Ames of Cedar Rapids wasn’t able to make it. Tom Hammer said he and Norm Kasten would be at the casino around 1:00 p.m., and they were. The buffet was expensive, much more so than usual ($19+ apiece), but good. The important part is that we were together and having fun. Dave Bender and Brian Bentley lingered behind at the 218 Tap.

Sunday, after Jim watched the British rider, Mark Cavendish, win the Tour de France on TV for the second day in a row, Jim went out riding. I’m giving my tennis elbow, aggravated by Sutliff's hills, a rest. I put 56 miles on my bicycle this weekend and I’m using my left arm as much as possible to catch up on my to-do list.