Fairfield bikers beat the heat, other hazards

More than 20 bikers turned out for the second Bike Around Fairfield Loop Trail Annual Fun Ride Saturday.

Fairfield Chamber of Commerce Director Darien Sloat said a storm the night before added complications to the 18-mile bike route.

“We knew the trails were good before the storm,” Sloat said. “We just didn’t know it had knocked so many branches down around town.”

In addition to creating muddy stretches of road and scattered branches, Sloat said the storm had knocked over several route markers, construction signs and a dead tree that entirely blocked part of the path, although a highway nearby provided a usable detour.

The storm made for a humid Saturday morning, but bikers didn’t complain.

“You’ve just got to keep moving” biker Chris Lassota said. “You’ve got natural air conditioning.”

Event organizer Angie Goodrich said slightly over 20 people registered with the event this year, slightly fewer than last year’s attendance. Sloat said nearby events like the Wapello County Fair, Douds Field Day and Maharishi International University graduation weekend were scheduled with overlap after delays due to COVID-19.

“There were a bunch of things going on this weekend, and we didn’t really know about a bunch of them until after we had scheduled,” he said. “I suspect that a lot of us are competing for the same people because we’re having to crowd a year’s worth of events into about seven months.”

Sloat said he wasn’t disappointed in the turnout and considered the event a work in progress.

“This is an event we want to keep working at because I do think it could be a really fun larger event,” he said. “We’d love to see it get big enough where we could justify having live music … we’re always looking at how to make it more interesting, how to make it better.”