Start: 7:30 AM

Finish: 3:35 PM  

Saddle Time: 6:11

Ascent: 1,797 feet

Descent:  1,490 feet

Miles: 74

Total Miles: 2,363

Highlight: Cool, quiet morning ride through Iowa farm country.

Lowlight: Many of the roads in Iowa had either not shoulder, a shoulder made of dirt, or rumble strips right down the middle making it unrideable.

Cyclemeter:  Follow this link to see the data I’m collecting with the cyclemeter app. You can see gps information, speed, elevation, distance, cadence and heart rate. Better viewed on a computer where it’s easier to play around with the graphs.

I haven’t talked about rumble strips, the bane of all cyclists.  They serve a useful purpose but need to be properly implemented for the safety of cars and cyclists. Some road crews place rumble strips where they belong, just to the right of the white line so you are immediately notified when you veer off the road.  Other road crews just throw them in there haphazardly, strangely sometimes right the edge of the road so you get warned by a rumble strip milliseconds before you go off the road and die. The worst for cyclists is rumble strips right down the middle of the shoulder making it unrideable.  I’ve seen all manner of placement so far, some states better than other but Iowa so far wins the prize of most miles with poorly placed rumble strips, right down the middle.

I was happy with my breakfast yesterday at the restaurant next door which opens at 6:00 AM so had a repeat this morning as a good way to keep me fueled for the day. I really wish I could have an actual breakfast in the morning but to date most restaurants further west opened at 7:00 AM or later, too late for me.

I crossed back over the Mississippi River again back into Idaho leaving Wisconsin for the final time.  There was construction on the bridge with one lane closed and alternating traffic plus an uphill grade.  Thankfully it was a Sunday morning so traffic was light. The river was really calm this morning with no winds and temperatures in the low 60’s for a change.  A nice morning to ride.

Once over the river the climb started taking me out of the Mississippi River valley.  At 6%-8%+ for 2 miles it was a serious climb that took me some time.  The road had no shoulder but also no traffic so it was a nice climb, cool temperature helped as well.

Once up top I was in the middle of Iowa farm country, corn as far as you can see with the addition of the occasional field of beans. I’m definitely in corn country which will probably be my view for the next several days. One difference I notice with this area compared to the wheat farms of Montana is more farm houses.  In Montana it was a good mile between properties, here I see several over that same distance.  I also smell, more than see, cattle.  I’ve passed barns where they are milking cattle but not sure where they reside for the day, hidden behind corn, I guess.  Cool temps, no traffic and nice scenery made for great morning ride. 

I eventually made my way to busy highways with no shoulders or the dreaded rumble strips down the middle but these didn’t last long. The long, steep climb of the morning had a payback during the day as I rode over rolling hills that gradually descended down and I was helped by a tailwind for a change. I did have headwind to start the day as the route headed west over the river for about 10 miles before heading south.

At one point I was riding and saw something one the horizon over the road that looked like a helicopter about to crash, it banked sharp and headed straight down below the horizon. A while later I saw it again and was wondering if it was some kind of optical illusion, maybe someone was playing with a drone not far from me.  As I got closer I realized it was a crop duster running laps over the fields.  As it approached the road and power lines it made a steep climb up the turned 180 degrees and dropped back down for another pass over the crops.  Very interesting to watch but also made me wonder what I’m breathing as I ride by.

I made it to Dyersville in decent time, about 3:30 which is my preference for ending the day. Dyersville is home of the “Field of Dreams”, the baseball field built for the movie. It’s a tourist attraction now but 5 miles out of town it’s too far for me to visit this evening.  Tomorrow’s route goes by the area but I found a way to cut off about 15 miles of riding by bypassing that area which welcomed relief as I was looking at doing a 98 mile day.

I met a couple in the motel who are with a group of cyclists who rode from Chicago to Dyersville.  They started with their wheels on Comiskey Park (goes by another name now) the home of the White Sox and ended on “Field of Dreams”, home of the Black Sox in the movie. They are riding a supported trip with a van and were very interested in my journey. People seem impressed with the distance I’ve traveled and think it’s some kind of superhuman feat. I wish I could claim such accolades but I’ve come to realize on this trip that anyone can do it, you just need to be a little crazy.