June 22, 2005

“Why would anyone even put a road here?”

One of Nick's Tattoos

We got an early start and would be following (or rather paralleling) the Mississippi River in Iowa all day. With the terrain yesterday we set a goal of about 100 miles to a State Park in Belleview even though the winds were head to cross in the morning. There are bluffs on both sides of the Mississippi, which rise to around 1,200 feet from the road by the river, which is usually about 600 feet. Just as we left Harpers Ferry the road started to rise and we were faced with our first climb of the day. The road we were traveling on follows kind of a strait line, the river, well it meanders left and right. Consequently we found ourselves doing more climbing today than any other day of the trip. These climbs are of the 6% to 7% variety and were much steeper than any we encountered in the Rockies. At the tops of the climbs the road levels out to where there are Iowa farmlands. At one particular nasty hill which was longer and steeper than most of the others and had a grade which I estimate to be around 9%, Nick turned to me and asked “Why would anyone even put a road here anyway?” He cracked me up! I kept being reminded of the comment on each additional climb and would start laughing again.

In the morning we were riding by Effigy Mounds National Monument. Nick turned in to see what it was all about. They hadn’t opened yet but just as we were going to ride out an employee was coming to the door. We asked her what the Monument was all about and were told that there were some mounds in the shapes of animals and that there were ancient Native American burial grounds, which precede the dates of the Native American tribes that we know of. Many of the tribes now claim that they descend from those buried at the monument. I wonder if any of my ancestors are buried there. Some day I’ll stop back and take the tour.

The corn in the Iowa farmlands is about a foot to two feet and tall. I know corn grows fast but in North Dakota about a week and a half ago the corn was just inches. The spring wet weather in ND will probably affect the harvest there significantly.

Iowa Farmland

Because of the hills I was pretty tired when we rode into Guttenberg for lunch. I jumped on Nick’s wheel (a cyclists term for riding closely to the rider in front to be shielded from the wind) for the last five or so miles in. The towns along the river are well kept and quite nice. Each has a riverside park with deep green grass, picnic tables, and shade. After we ate lunch I took a short nap on one of the picnic benches under a tree with a cool breeze blowing off the river to our left. It did the trick, as I felt refreshed and ready to go after the short nap.

You Think??!!

Each place we stop someone tells us about the Ragbrie. “I’ve ridden the Ragbrie.” “Come back and ride the Ragbrie.” “If you can’t get in just ride it renegade like I do”, etc. I’ve heard about it before. It’s an organized cycling ride across Iowa each summer with a waiting list to get registered. It’s a big deal out here. There are around 16,000 riders (basically a small city) riding across the state. They ride fifty to sixty miles a day, and have organized stops for lunch, dinner and camping. Basically it is one huge party where each town where the riders stop tries to outdo the others on the route that year. At one point I said to Nick: “Enough with the Ragbrie already!” I guess if we had a ride equivalent to it in Connecticut I would brag about it too.

I’ve figured out that when people see cyclists trudging up a steep hill with way too much gear on the bike they don’t think “Wow what a strong rider they are.” as Nick says. More likely they are thinking, “What’s that jerk doing riding up that hill with all that stuff on his bike?”

This looks more like Germany than Iowa

The Bellevue State Park is a really nice facility. Clean well kept and quiet. We had a brief rain shower during the night. Oh, I almost forgot it’s on the top of a hill.

Jim

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

© 2005 - JNS

Next Log Entry >>

<< Previous Log Entry

Main Page