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[We say goodbye to Mark. Those bikes look awfully heavy with all those packs]
[The size of the towns are starting to look more familiar, like Montana and North Dakota]
[Guido's taking off!]
[Yes, it really is that hot!]
[The first constructed church in Iowa, in Petersburg. At least that's what the sign said]
The past two days have been polar opposities on the enjoyability spectrum. Yesterday was, in my opinion, the most miserable day of our trip so far. Our day began innocently enough. We packed up our gear in Lansing, loaded it into Mark's van, and were on the road by 7:30 am. It seemed a bit humid and we began to sweat very quickly, but nothing we couldn't manage. Soon we realized that there was a bit of a head wind that we kept encountering as we came around the corners of the bluffs by the Mississippi. And the day just got worse. There were hills. Not just the one great big one that Mark had warned us about. "You'll have one really big hill, but then it's downhill or level all the way to Marquette." I remember him saying that more than once. Well, one really big hill turned into three really big hills and several smaller ones. What's more, it was getting warmer, more humid, and the wind was picking up. When we reached Marquette it was time to say goodbye to Mark. He had a job interview the next morning (this morning) at a school north of Alexandria, MN and had to make sure he was home good and early so he could be ready the next day to impress. So we spent an hour resting, loading our gear onto our bikes, and attempting to finish off all of the leftover doughnuts and cake. We finished the doughnuts, but there was a little cake left. So feeling bloated and with now heavy bikes we left to continue up yet another really big hill. By this time it was 90 degrees and the hill was sheltered so that no refreshing wind could blow through and cool a poor biker down. That might have been one of the hardest climbs of the trip, but at least it was short compared to the mountains out west. The remainder of the day was spent battling what had become a 20 mph head wind that would gust up to 30 mph in temperatures above 90 degrees and high humidity. It was awful. Dreadful. Not at all fun. Oh, and I forgot to mention. You know the nice, brand new sandals I had bought because I lost one in Montana? Yeah, I left those in Mark's car and they are now back in Minnesota. What a bad day. We had planned on trying to make it the 100+ miles to Dyersville, leaving us 100 more to make it to Muscatine, but in these conditions that was not going to happen. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, there really wasn't anywhere in between Elkader and Dyersville to stop and camp. So instead of 100 miles we did 61 (it felt like 161) and stayed in Elkader, deciding to take three days to make it to Muscatine instead of two. The first place we stopped in Elkader was the Dollar General where they had $0.80 Powerade and ... Sandals! $4.00 beauties that will rub and cut up my feet. Better than nothing and uncomfortable enough that I will never be able to lose them. From there we found the city park after a nice ride through town. Elkader probably would have been one of my favorite towns that we have stayed in had it not been for the temperature and humidity. The city park was nice, cheap, had really nice shower/bathroom facilities, and was next to the city pool. (Yes, of course we went swimming!) Downtown was cute as could be overlooking the Turkey River by a dam. It was very pretty and I may return some day... in a car ... when it isn't almost 100 degrees. We swam, we showered, we were dripping wet with sweat before we got back to our tent. We walked downtown to find dinner and saw that the bank's thermometer was reading 98 degrees. I know what you're thinking - it must have been in the sun. Well, after a dinner of pizza in air conditioning and watching "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in air conditioning we walked back outside at 9:45 when it was dark and that same thermometer was still reading 92 degrees. It was hot! Sleeping was not pleasant. Lots of sweat. Thus ended the miserable day.
Today was awesome. It was cooler when we awoke in the morning. A storm had passed through overnight bringing lots of thunder and lightning, a tin bit of rain, and a change in the temperature, humidity, and wind. The wind ws at our backs today. After stopping early yesterday, we really had no good choice but to only do 67 miles (another very short day) and stay in Cascade, IA leaving 76 miles to Muscatine tomorrow. With the pleasant weather and the wind at our backs it was as if we had finally woke up from the nightmare of yesterday. I will share the following scene with you to give you an idea of why we are riding all the way across the country. It's a warm, sunny morning and we are biking down a deserted highway winding through the rolling hills of northeastern Iowa. The road is lined with wild flowers. Pink clover, bluish violet flowers, and white ones as well. Every now and then you will happen upon a ditch filled with yellow daisies. Up ahead on the left there is a huge hawk sitting on the power lines. (Not the power line pole, but the actual cable) Suddenly two small birds swoop in and start nose diving within inches of the hawk that is nearly 10 times their size. Annoyed, the hawk alights and casually glides away assuming better perches can be found nearby without the incessant prodding of these small birds. They, however, are not done. They give chase and take turns flying in and actually pecking at the larger bird of prey. It was absolutely amazing. Today we were able to enjoy ourselves while riding. That makes all the difference. We arrived in Cascade about 12:30 and, although were could easily have gone further, stopped and saw the city police chief about camping in the city prk as our trusted map had instructed. Along the way we discovered a short cut that trimmed 10 miles from our day dropping our distance to a mere 57 miles. The city police chief was extremely friendly and helpful. We found our way to the park which was free to camp in and also next to the pool where it was free to shower. We now have the rest of the afternoon to relax and enjoy this most amazingly good day. Thank goodness yesterday is gone.
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