Any folks familiar with west central Iowa, I need your help. I cam make it as I go and scan through Google maps and local county maps to to ind a hopefully good route but I would love some local knowledge.
I am headed to Ames tomorrow to get my son rolling in his freshman year at Iowa State and sworn into his Marine ROTC unit. I will be there for a couple of days and am throwing my bike in with the college stuff.
I am looking for info on any decent rides/routes in or near Ames. I tried the bike shops and it seems like there are not a ton of group rides so I am just looking for routes to ride during the day. I am willing to drive to a start location for a good ride so I would include Des Moines or other surrounding towns as well. 20 to 50 miles would be great.
I am a Badger at heart but I will be spending a bunch more time in Iowa over the next few years so I may start collection of ISU and Cyclone gear. Already have a bike jersey from the last trip down earlier this summer.
Ames is a great city and when I went to school there (Gah, about 14 years ago) I’d ride south out of town on south Dakota (wasn’t great shoulder) but after a few miles you can go west towards Luther and then follow signs through Ledges state park. There’s the Gilbert loop going north on South Dakota to Ontario, to R38 to E23 towards Gilbert to R50 and head back to campus on Strange or loop back to north Dakota via Cameron School Road. Lots of relatively quiet country roads easily accessible from Campus within 5-10 minutes and minimal in town stop signs/lights, which was awesome. You can also extend the Gilbert loop to Boone. Or head southeast to Nevada…
Not a lot of hills, but they do get a lot of wind…
Thanks. I will try those western options for Tuesday when I should be able to extend for a longer ride. Monday morning will be a loop around Nevada and Cambridge. Then I have stuff on campus to do for the rest of the day.
Don’t feel bad about the 14 years. I just realized earlier this summer that it had been 23 years since I left UW.
Give a look on strava, loads of routes on there. I usually road south of the city and did a big rectangle. There are quite a few routes towards Boone, north of Ames as well. It’s fairly easy to navigate as everything is just in 1mi square blocks, so it’s tough to get lost and you’re never much farther than an out and back.
I currently live in Ames, and the routes you mentioned were great routes but traffic has increased tremendously. The route south on South Dakota has a designated bike lane along the road now. It is basically a paved shoulder but gets you off of the road, take this to Slater where you can hook up with the high trestle trail, a nice scenic route. The Gilbert loop has seen a lot of development along G.W.Carver road which has increased traffic to the point where its a bit scary. There are some great routes over by Boone that are less crowded and if you want to get some hill work in this is the place to go. Ames has a rich cycling history, including being home to the Levi Strauss Raleigh racing team. Stop by Skunk River Cycles and talk to Ron, he can share with you some of the old training routes and recommend some of the more popular routes being used today.
When my daughter was at ISU, I rode the shoulder on South Dakota down to Slater as others have mentioned. It’s not the most exciting route, but it does have a wide shoulder/bike lane. There’s no shade and it’s basically a north/south road with no turns. Cross winds can be strong.
Mark, is that you? It’s nate from tri club back in the 2001-2005 Era! Good to hear an update on the old routes…
I currently live in Ames, and the routes you mentioned were great routes but traffic has increased tremendously. The route south on South Dakota has a designated bike lane along the road now. It is basically a paved shoulder but gets you off of the road, take this to Slater where you can hook up with the high trestle trail, a nice scenic route. The Gilbert loop has seen a lot of development along G.W.Carver road which has increased traffic to the point where its a bit scary. There are some great routes over by Boone that are less crowded and if you want to get some hill work in this is the place to go. Ames has a rich cycling history, including being home to the Levi Strauss Raleigh racing team. Stop by Skunk River Cycles and talk to Ron, he can share with you some of the old training routes and recommend some of the more popular routes being used today.
Thanks for the info. I tried one of the local recommended routes this morning but it was scary riding along a bike path/glorified paved but gravelly shoulder along Lincoln Highway toward Nevada. Won’t be doing that again. Some of the options toward Boone sound nicer.
I tried going into SRC to ask about local rides and routes but really got brushed off. Some young guy in the front of the shop was not a roadie (not an issue, we all choose our own type of cycling) and when he asked for info from the back of the shop, they didn’t want to be bothered. They sent him out with no more additional information and he was left in a bad spot. I used to race at the top end guys from Raleigh back in the early 80s and had high hopes for SRC but did not get much. Maybe I’ll go back by today.
Thanks, I tried BikeWorld as well last time we were here and they were much more helpful and friendly. Again, the guy in front of the shop was not really a roadie but a guy came out from the back and talked for a bit about groups and group rides in the area.
I think Bike World is the place to go. I grew up in Ames and was back a couple of years ago. I hooked up with a group from Bike World for a ride or two. I was staying at Little Wall Lake campground and found some adequate riding around there also. Not much for hills but lots of good roads.
You can also check out the Central Iowa Cycling Club on Facebook. A lot of locals are members there and can help find routes.
I’m not convinced that the MUP’s and trails are very good for training. I guess it depends on how busy they are.