Get on your bike's and ride!

The 411.4 mile bike ride that all Iowans know as RAGBRAI may be over but that doesn’t mean it’s time to store your bike in the garage! The Des Moines area is a mecca for bicycling enthusiasts with miles and miles of trails around the city and neighboring areas.  We reached out to some of our biking enthusiasts friends to give you the best trails and biker friendly stops.

Around Des Moines:
If you’re looking to stay in the metro visit places like 515 Brewery, Confluence, Mullets, High Life, El Bait Shop, Triangle Tap, Charlies Filling Station, Captain Roy’s (Birdland Marina) and Peacetree Taproom.

Great Western Trail:
This 16.5 mile trail runs from Waterworks Park in Des Moines through Orilla, Cumming, open Iowa land and ends south of Martensdale. Key points to hit on this trail for food or drinks are Orlando’s, Outskirtz and Cumming Tap.

High Trestle Trail:
25 miles from Ankeny to Woodward. Through five towns and four counties. The trail includes an iconic, 1/2-mile, 13-story high bridge across the Des Moines River valley, one of the largest trail bridges in the world. Some great stops along the trail include: Flat Tire (Madrid), Whistling Donkey (Woodward)  and Night Hawk (Slater).  

If you just want to venture to Ankeny, local biker favorites include the FIretrucker Brewery and Latitude 41 at the Saylorville Marina.

Other places around the area that scored high: 1914 (Minburn), Rendezvous (Adel), Ethel's (Yale), Crooked Rail (Perry), Owl's Nest (Panora)


Oh and we hear a stop at B Bops for a chocolate shake is customary too if you’re not into drinking while biking.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fall forward…

We tend to fall back when hurt, sad, or in search of answers. The hurt someone may have caused doesn't give them power for you to go back. The sad that sits heavy on your heart from a past that cannot be changed will always stay if you look back. Lastly, the answers you are searching for can't answer the questions you have already answered deep down inside.  We all fall! Life is full of the why me! But in reality, why not you? This is when you take one step back, smile and know you made it through the hurt, the sad and all the why's in between. To learn from the past and know there will be more falling, but this time you will not fall back. You will fall forward because you have learned that back will never change but forward can change your world! 
Read more

Blind Pilot and Gregory Alan Isakov

Image
As the rain started rising from the ground, I ran to Wooly’s while clutching my authentic NOLA fedora hat and hurdling over every puddle. I was slightly dissatisfied that my first Simon Estes concert for the season was brought indoors but hoped that the hot and stuffy venue would dry off my green spring dress. Feeling a little rushed and on edge, I started by snagging a crisp 8-Bit IPA from the bar to settle in. Once I staked my spot I was ritually cast an enormous figure in place of my “perfect view”, and I thought, ‘wonderful, it’s not like I came here to see anything special.’ The chatter subsided, the lights dimmed to gold, and Blind Pilot took the stage.  That recognizable, calming voice started radiating from the microphone and my insides instantly turned to jelly; I was no longer sour for any reason. Anyone could see that Israel, the lead singer, sung with great passion—his eyes closed, the strain on his face, and the delicate bounce in his body for each beat illustra
Read more

Sugar

Image
One night at the bar a guy approached me Guy: Ma'am, you dropped your name tag back there. Me: Huh? The guy hands me a sugar packet and repeats, "you dropped your name tag". Although I didn't give him my number, it was sweet and an A+ for creativity.
Read more