Fired up and (sorta) ready to go

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By Barb Ickes | Saturday, May 17, 2008 8:00 PM CDT | () comments

Barb Ickes sets out on Barb's Big Bike Adventure on June 2. (Kevin E. Schmidt/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

VIDEO: Barb's Bike-About
Quad-City Times columnist Barb Ickes prepares for a little summer biking.…
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I’ve been trying to think of a clever slogan, but I keep coming back to “Biker Barb,” which does little for my sense of femininity.

I’ve been trying to shake that bit of insecurity ever since going to state in high school for the shot put.

With the exception of a set of thighs that evidently thinks it’s still winter, I’m pretty much ready to go for the big weeklong bike trip from Rock Island to Savanna. Several bikers have generously shared with me the fact that the 60-mile ride is quite doable in a day. Showoffs.

For me, it’s not a race. It’s a ride — like those Sunday drives we took when I was a kid. I may even stop for an ice cream.

Thanks to a bike-shop owner in little Thomson, Ill., the latent fears have vanished. Gary Arnold, the owner of Arnolds Bikes, called me after the recent column in which I announced plans to pedal upriver.

I wanted to eyeball the bike path anyway, so I drove to Thomson and checked out his inventory.

Gary spent gobs of time with me, introducing me to the recumbent tricycle that I test drove along one of the best-kept secrets around: Thomson Causeway Recreation Area.

I rode the odd-looking bike for about an hour one Sunday afternoon and told Gary I’d have to sleep on it. I checked some of our terrific Quad-City bike shops for a price comparison, but they couldn’t compete with Gary’s floor-model price.

If you’d told me I would lose sleep thinking about my brand new bicycle, I’d have called you a filthy liar. But it’s true. I haven’t been that excited since I bought my first house, which was similar in price.

So, I put the first 20 miles on my new wheels just tooling around the neighborhood. And that wasn’t nearly as easy as it sounds. My house is just a couple blocks off of Avenue of the Cities in Moline, which is under massive reconstruction.

It seems like every car in town is using our little neighborhood as a detour. And the thing about a recumbent bike is that you’re very low to the ground. You can feel vulnerable down there, especially when teenagers from the nearby high school are taking the corners like they’re late for the time trials.

It wasn’t until Wednesday that I finally heaved the new bike rack onto the new trailer hitch on my Honda and hauled the recumbent to the bike path in Bettendorf. (There’s a video of it here)

Me and a friend rode for several miles and didn’t break a sweat. But it wasn’t all fun and games. A passing train was pulling cars filled with railroad ties, which stunk of creosote. And there was the mangled mallard drake I wish I hadn’t seen, lying near the tracks.

I gave up on trying to bike around the goose poop after a few miles. There’s no helping it. This is why God gave us the garden hose.

After about five miles, my legs felt funny. Kinda noodly. Kind of airy. Not painful or even uncomfortable — more like novocaine wearing off.

But if I started out in great shape, where would the challenge be? Where is the fun in already knowing you can do something? Besides, who wants to read about that?

An emergency spinal repair at the marina in Albany is much more readable.

Seriously, though, I’d prefer to simply show that most of us can do this. And enjoy it. Get something new out of life. Discover. Challenge ourselves.

Two weeks from tomorrow, my trike and I and a daily change of riding partners are off.

Trailer hitch: $189.80

Bicycle rack: $243.89

Recumbent tricycle: $958.50

Trying something new: Expensive!

Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.