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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cycling Spotlights
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
These micro features first appeared in the 2025 Cycling Guide, an annual special section aimed at telling the stories of the businesses, people and local efforts that have made The Corridor a cycling destination.
Gingerich uses language skills to share love of cycling
When professional translator Aliese Gingerich heard about a program to teach immigrant women how to ride a bike, she wrote to the Iowa City Bike Library to ask if she could help.
She’s now the lead volunteer, traveling weekly in the summer months from the Bike Library to Terry Trueblood Recreational Area pulling a rack of bikes to teach women in a nearby mobile home community, most of whom are from Central America.
“It’s a space to just get out of the house and dedicate a moment for themselves, where they’re not just thinking about caretaking for all of their family members and friends,” Gingerich said.
The program, Mujeres en Bicis, was started at the IC Bike Library by a woman named Marcela Hurtado. This past year, the program held a kick-off event in May at the mobile home community, where residents could learn more about the program and bring their bikes for a tune-up. The IC Bike Library will give participants a bike for free if they participate in six weeks or more of programming.
Gingerich says many of the women are there because they want to get more exercise, or they want to ride a bike with their kids and don’t know how. Some always wanted to learn but never had a bike.
Gingerich had never taught anyone to ride a bike before, but her communication skills have been invaluable to helping the women, who've already had to learn a new language and new system of doing things. Part of her goal is to make the women feel more confident using their bikes as transportation. Last year, she took groups on field trips using streets and trails.
“That’s one thing I want to work on more this upcoming year, is encouraging people to view their bike not just as a form of recreation and fun but also as a means of transportation and getting places,” Gingerich said.
Smith takes pragmatic approach to cycling
Like most people, Angie Smith sometimes stops at the grocery store after work or meets up with friends. Unlike most people, Angie arrives on a bike.
The Iowa City resident has been using bikes to commute for around 15 years after her youngest started kindergarten.
“There was just something really appealing about it. I think when I saw other people doing it, it made me aspire to also do it,” she said.
While Iowa City doesn’t have protected bike lanes — so Smith rides on the street — she says the key to feeling safe is to be thoughtful with your route planning.
“The route you would take in your car is not the same route I would take on my bike,” she said.
Smith finds that often, just biking one street over from the main roads gives her a quiet, low-traffic option. She also tries to avoid large hills after a long workday.
She has a specialized bike with a rack on the back and two panniers to hold things if she runs errands.
She commutes to her job at the University of Iowa and has found biking to be six minutes faster than when using a car due to avoiding traffic, not wasting time finding parking and walking to her building. It’s also a great way to incorporate exercise into her daily life, save money on gas and car repairs, decompress after work and connect with nature more.
Smith is not alone in her bike commuting. She often meets other commuters on her rides and has started an Instagram handle — @IC_Bike_Commuter — where she interviews other cyclists on why they love to bike commute.
“The thought is, if you were thinking about doing it and didn’t know where to start, then saw that one of your friends is doing it, maybe you’d go ask them about it,” she said.
Since half of all car trips are under three miles, Smith wants people to think of the mantra, “For trips under three, take a bike spree.”
Keller uses cycling to go the distance
Chi Keller, 17, loves the freedom that cycling offers — the connection with the environment, not needing to get a license and being able to fix any mechanical issues himself.
“Cars have shock absorption, AC, heat and other luxuries that basically eliminate the experience of travel,” Keller said.
In fact, Keller uses his bike as his main mode of transportation. With each trip, he carefully plans what clothing, luggage and tire pressure will be necessary to make the trip successful.
“It’s important to know that, wherever you can go in a car, you can go on a bike,” the University of Iowa student said.
Keller is a member of the Iowa City Bike Library Racing Team and regularly makes long-distance rides, including a recent 78-mile ride.
Keller’s favorite long-distance trip is to take North Dubuque Street in Iowa City to Solon, where he gets on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, an old railroad line that stretches north all the way to Evansdale. The surface is well-maintained, and there are many places to stop along the trail, such as Dan & Debbie’s Creamery in Ely.
“It’s like an interstate highway for bikes and provides for a totally different pace, versus struggling to navigate car infrastructure,” he said.
For anyone interested in trying long-distance cycling, Keller advises just getting out and cycling to build up your experience. He also recommends learning about bike maintenance at the Iowa City Bike Library, which offers sessions on Wednesdays and Saturdays on basic topics such as changing tubes and making minor adjustments to shifting and brakes. Keller volunteers at the library fixing bikes.
“You will need to be your own mechanic and build a relatively simple toolkit to carry if you are serious about long-distance,” he said.
Sabiiti putting Iowa’s gravel roads on the map
Biking has always been a big part of Eria Sabiiti’s life. In recent years, he’s joined the growing number of people who’ve turned to gravel cycling as a way to go long distances without worrying about traffic, as roads have gotten busier and drivers more distracted.
“It’s a way that we explore, hang out with your friends, see all the small towns of Iowa,” Sabiiti said.
Sabiiti and his wife are both members of Gravel Scouts, a group that rides out of World of Bikes in Iowa City on Monday nights. Each week, a member will plan a 60- to 100-mile route — usually involving a food stop — that could include gravel or mountain bike trails. Three times a summer, the group will host 22- to 25-mile rides for “gravel curious” riders, where they teach gravel basics and offer help with mechanical things, always ending at Big Grove – Iowa City for a hangout.
With people all over the country tuning in to Sabiiti’s YouTube channel and Instagram pages (@Iowagravelgang) to see his rides and tips, it’s opened quite a few doors for him. He’s been invited to events all over the country, including a March event in Texas called “Valley of Tears,” that he then makes videos about.
While gravel cycling, Sabiiti doesn’t usually see many locals except for farm equipment.
“Once you get out there, it’s just you in your head. A lot of times you’re so busy, you don’t get that time to check in with yourself. Riding allows you to do that,” he said.
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