Is This Heaven?

Onslow, IA to Dubuque, IA

July 3, 2019

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Onslow, IA to Dubuque, IA

With an invitation secured to return for the harvest in fall (seriously, I really want to do that), it was time to pack up my gear once again and hit the road. The plan for the day was to cover about 100 km with a BIT of a touristy stop slightly past the midway point. As a bonus, it was a touristy spot I had been before but via my Miata back in 2012. It hasn’t happened a lot but I always find it fun to pedal places that I had previously gone on a (car) road trip.

A few rolling-ish hills

As was expected, today’s ride included more rolling hills. Some rolled more than others but all in all the first portion of my ride proceeded very well. Admittedly, there was one particular stretch of the highway that wasn’t the most enjoyable due to the cracks in the road – each one determined to jar me out of my mind (or what’s left to it). However, as I cycled beyond the town of Worthington, IA I was greeted by a newly (or somewhat recently) paved road that was a pure joy to glide across. And glide I did all the way to Dyersville, IA. My first destination of the day was on the other side of town and on the outskirts of the city.

I don’t think I was particularly surprised that not much had changed since I had last been in Dyersville. Actually, that’s not true. The city seems to have grown quite a bit in the seven years since my first visit. One thing was for sure though, the corn hadn’t grown nearly as tall for this visit. Fortunately, that didn’t spoil my visit. At all.

I don’t know what I find harder to believe, that the movie Field of Dreams is 30 years old. Or, after all that time, that people still come to the field with a clear feeling of a connection to both the field and the movie. It’s sort of like Iowa’s answer to the Rocky Steps in Philadelphia. I’m sure neither expected their legacy to live on like it has. And yet, live on it has. And I suspect that will continue for quite some time. As the man said, “People will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.”

Despite the somewhat short corn and my lack of a ball glove, I still enjoyed my encore visit to the field. There was a bat and a few balls lying around home plate so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to belt out a couple of fly balls to the gap in left field (only to be nonchalantly fielded by Shoeless Joe … after all, his glove is where triples go to die).

Denied my triples, it was time to move on and finish the rest of the day’s ride to Dubuque. For those not geographically challenged, you may have noticed that the first portion of the day’s ride was very much in a northerly direction. And the second portion was very much in an easterly direction. With the Grand Canyon still very much to the south and west of my current location, it’s safe to say I won’t be getting there very soon. But I’m seeing a lot of states along the way.

The remaining 45 km to Dubuque was reasonably effortless but I did need to do some on the fly navigating as I neared the city. Both Google and Garmin were encouraging me to stay on highway 20 – which I certainly could’ve done. However, highway 20 is a four lane highway with more than a little fast moving traffic and less than a little in the way of a shoulder. Actually, there was no shoulder whatsoever. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve ridden on more than a few roads (and even Interstates) that wouldn’t generally be deemed bicycle-friendly (or even cycling-legal re: Interstates). However, while I was tempted to stay on highway 20 today, I opted for a slightly longer route with significantly less traffic. It was likely the best decision for everyone on the road.


My hosts for the night were Douglas and Martha and they were great. They were very helpful in offering options for my next couple of days on the road (which is about two days further ahead in the planning department than I’ve been for much of this journey so far) plus they have a Miata, so … what else needs to be said?

Today’s totals:
Distance: 98.45 km
Ride time: 4:22:54
Average speed: 22.47 km/h
Maximum speed: 55.48 km/h

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Back To School

Davenport, IA to Onslow, IA

July 2, 2019

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Davenport, IA to Onslow, IA

Adding to the list of “each and every byway”

Of things I wish I could do, returning to my high school years would not be very high on that list. Or on that list at all. Not that high school was particularly terrible but it’s certainly not something I’m looking to experience again. Of course, as a wise man once said, “You can’t alway get what you want.” And as for getting what you need, well … today my need for accommodation would find me back in high school again. And it was pretty great.

My plan for the day was a pretty modest ride of about 90 km to the town of Onslow, IA (just north of the town Wyoming, IA). The ride was made modest-er (I know, not a word) with the assistance of a tailwind. Yes, that’s right. I actually had a tailwind. Well, it was actually more of a crosswind but, in my world, that seems to be the closest I get to a tailwind.

In addition to the somewhat favourable winds, the sun was doing its finest to make it another hot day on the bike. Not having to fight a headwind made the heat much more manageable and, dare I say, enjoyable. My attempts at further aiding the heat management department by getting a bit of an early start (i.e., 8:00 AM) didn’t really work out as it was 27°C (80°C) at my time of departure. There would be much water consumed today – despite the somewhat short distance.

After the long, straight roads of Indiana and Illinois, my first cycling foray into the Iowa countryside revealed some very scenic rolling hills. Some rolled more than others but it was a very nice ride. Rolling hills can be pretty great especially when they’re spaced accordingly so that the momentum of the descents carry you up and over the following climb. That happened on more than one occasion today and each time it did it made me smile.

As has become the norm, there were a few navigation hiccups along today’s route. Well, the hiccups were actually avoided but there were certainly some very poor recommendations being put forth by both Garmin and Google. In the end I opted to go my own way. I guess that’s hardly surprising at this point.

That fenced off “road” is the route Garmin had proposed


As mentioned in the previous update, my accommodation for the evening was courtesy of a last minute Warm Showers response that I had received last night. Much to my surprise, my hosts Marilyn and Mat live in an old high school. Despite my lack of desire to return to high school, after seeing their place I now want to live in a school (add that to the long list of places I want to live based on the homes I’ve visited via the Warm Showers community). Seriously, the school has a full size gymnasium. So fun.

One big combine. Although, apparently there are much bigger ones.

In addition to exploring the old school turned home, Marilyn also gave me a tour of the area including some of the farm equipment they have. Being the city boy that I am, I was more than a little impressed by the scale of the seeders and combines they had … and the size of the barn/shed/garage in which they stored said equipment. Had my timing been better, there may have even been an opportunity to ride in one of the combines. Of course, it’s still a BIT early to be harvesting the corn (especially since everything is behind schedule due to the wet spring). Anyway, Marilyn did say that I had an open invitation to return during harvest season. I’m not sure if I can make that happen but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to return.

Today’s totals:
Distance: 89.04 km
Ride time: 4:04:54
Average speed: 21.81 km/h
Maximum speed: 45.44 km/h

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Happy Canada Day from Illinois. And Iowa.

Kewanee, IL to Davenport, IA

July 1, 2019

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After yesterday’s failed attempt to beat the heat by getting an early start to the day, today began with essentially the same goal in mind. It was much more successful on this day. Just to be clear, I hadn’t really planned on waking up at 5:30 AM and being on the road at 7:00 AM but that’s what happened. All things considered, it worked out pretty well.

Another straight ride in Illinois

My early departure was greatly aided by last night’s storm which had essentially trapped me in my tent at an early hour. That, combined with some boredom (and perhaps fatigue), had me asleep at a MUCH earlier hour than usual. Sure, I woke up at midnight but only long enough to brush my teeth. Then it was back to slumber … until 5:30 AM.

Packing up that early meant that my tent was still wet from the assault of the previous night’s storm. Said tent was far wetter than it should’ve been on the inside too – of course, I believe that ANY wetness on the inside is more than there should be … apparently the folks at MSR don’t agree. But I digress, again. For now.

Pre-breakfast

Despite my predisposition to late nights and not-so-early mornings, there does come a pretty significant sense of satisfaction when one pedals 40 km before 9:00 AM. Well, it was a pretty significant sense of satisfaction for me anyway. So much so that when I stopped for breakfast I rewarded myself with an M&M Ice Cream Sandwich. Sure, it was only 9:00 AM but I’m of the belief that it’s never too early for ice cream. Today further confirmed that belief.

To say that the remainder of the day’s ride (not to mention the first 40 km) were very easy would be an understatement. I was actually more than a little surprised at my rate of progress. Yes, progress was slowed a bit once I found myself back in a more urban biking environment but by that point the bulk of the day’s distance was behind me.

Breakfast

The other thing that was almost officially behind me at that point was Illinois. As I pedalled my way towards and through Rock Island, Illinois, I eventually crossed a bridge that not only spanned the Mississippi River but also welcomed me to Iowa. Ok, “welcomed” might be a bit strong as, once again, there was no sign welcoming me to my newest state. The fifth state of the tour. Five states. No signs. Sigh. I was actually surprised by the lack of signage as I felt I was travelling on a fairly major road. Apparently not major enough.

Regardless of the degree of welcoming, my home for the night was to be a motel. Actually, my home for the afternoon would also be a motel as my early departure had me reaching my destination before 1:30 PM. I don’t know if that’s the earliest I’ve ever completed a nearly 100 km ride but it was certainly a rare occurrence.

The rest of my afternoon/evening was spent desperately trying to get caught up (or at least reasonably caught up) on my blog. Said updates were briefly interrupted for a detour for nourishment – not particularly healthy nourishment but enough to get me by. Side note: there MAY have been a box of Mini Wheats purchased.

The Mississippi River


It wasn’t until about 10:30 PM that I realized I hadn’t made any sort of attempt to find accommodation (or even a destination) for the next day. As luck would have it, that problem was solved ten minutes later with a quick e-mail to a Warm Showers host in Onslow, Iowa and an even quicker response from said host (aka. Marilyn and Mat).

Is this Heaven?

And with that, my day was pretty much over. No, I didn’t get completely caught up on my blog but I have to say I was pretty happy with the way the day turned out. Something tells me this won’t be the last time my blog falls a few days behind. The question is, will anyone notice?

Today’s totals:
Distance: 97.13 km
Ride time: 4:18:28
Average speed: 22.54 km/h
Maximum speed: 55.98 km/h

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Temperature Regulation

Wenona, IL to Kewanee, IL

June 30, 2019

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Wenona, IL to Kewanee, IL

This would’ve been better had I taken the photo BEFORE packing up my tent

Last night’s camping in the pavilion resulted in a great sleep – I must’ve been tired considering the lights of the pavilion were on all night. I knew they would be and I considered moving my tent to a darker part of the park but I suspected I would be too tired to notice the lights. I was.

After yesterday’s heat and wind experience, I thought I’d get started early today in an attempt to beat the heat (or at least some of it). That seemed like a good plan. The only problem was that the heat woke before me and it was 28°C (82°F) before 8:00 AM. I suspected I was in for another hot ride.

On the upside, I continued to learn from my Halifax day and did what I could to stay hydrated and moderate my body temperature as the day wore on. As such, rather than continuously push on and power through, I took refuge in shade more than expected and drank a lot of water. Even by my standards.

In keeping with the encore performance of yesterday’s heat and wind conditions, the roads of Illinois continued to be very straight. And flat. But there were a couple differences today. One was a very unusual crop. I’m still not sure what it was but I think I now know where red pots come from. Illinois! Whatever was in those pots remains a mystery.

Pots of … something


The other big moment of the day was completely unexpected. A hill. An actual hill. A hill that would shatter this trip’s land speed record thus far. Granted, the land speeds thus far have been far from inspiring but descending this particular hill today was a VERY welcome experience. I didn’t quite hit 60 km/h but I did get over 57 km. After the past few sluggish days, it was a welcome sensation.

Shade and hose

There was one more encore from yesterday’s ride and it came in the form of another hose hijacking. Ok, perhaps not the best description but you get the idea. Much like yesterday’s encounter with Betty Campbell, I was once again feeling the effects of the heat and humidity as I pedalled along the MOSTLY flat roads of Illinois. And once again I took refuge in the shade from a tree. Reflecting back on the previous day, my eyes darted across the property to assess if there might be a hose and if there was anyone home. Unlike the previous day, I actually went to the door and rang the bell. However, the lack of vehicles had me once again suspect a vacant house. This time it was. As such, I wandered around the back to where I had spotted a pump (covered with a pail). Upon removing the pail, not only was there a nozzle at the end of the hose but the nozzle had a mist setting. I nearly wept. Ok, no I didn’t. But again, you get the idea. Said mist nozzle was MUCH more conducive to my water-avoiding ways. Dare I say the mist nozzle was pretty great as it gently soaked me from head to toe. Despite the thorough soaking, by the time I finished leaving a note for the mystery people whose hose I just used, I was essentially dry again. Sigh. Maybe I should be wearing cotton. Oh well, at least I was a few degrees cooler for a few moments. Did I mention it was hot today? Anyway, I was very happy to see that the mystery people are no longer a mystery. Thanks to Mitch Storm for leaving a comment in the Guestbook confirming that he received my note that I had left behind. Thanks again, Mitch … for the comment and the water.

The remainder of the ride went well with just one more stop along the way. That stop came with about 6 km left in my ride when I met … uh oh, I’m drawing a blank on his name. I think it was John. Let’s go with that. Anyway, he lived in one of the houses along my route and he noticed me and flagged me down. His daughter had done a ride a few years back and he’s helped a few cyclists that have passed by. Anyway, we chatted about a wide range of things including the roads, the hills, surveying, and of course, the weather. It was a nice chat and a good break before returning to the road for the final 6 km.

My accommodation for the night was courtesy of Luke, another Warm Showers host. He had lots of room in his yard for camping and that’s what I did. He’s also in a good location for finding food and I was able to walk over to The Great Wall for supper. Not much in the way of atmosphere but the all-you-can-eat buffet was fantastic … of course, last night I ate “Pasta by Mark” from an alcohol stove and there was no gourmet eating during the ride today so when I say “the buffet was fantastic” I can’t necessarily say that objectively. But SUBJECTIVELY, it was fantastic. Plus there were seven ice cream flavours to choose from. I had six of them. That alone was worth the $7.50.

The storm rolls in

The big end to the day was definitely weather related. As I was gluttonously enjoying my dinner, a large storm was moving in. Fortunately, it waited long enough for me to get back to the safe-ish confines of my tent before the assault started. There was lightning. There was thunder. At one point, there was a continuous thunder roll that lasted for at least 14 seconds. It was more than a little awesome. The winds picked up. The rain came down. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not thrilled with my current tent but I’ll save that for another day. Suffice it to say, I was glad to be in my tent when the storm hit and not out on the road. That would’ve been ugly. That said, the cloud that lead the storm was pretty awesome looking.

Today’s totals:
Distance: 95.68 km
Ride time: 4:50:39
Average speed: 19.75 km/h
Maximum speed: 57.22 km/h

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A Three Shower Day

Ashkum, IL to Wenona, IL

June 29, 2019

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Ashkum, IL to Wenona, IL

Capone was here
The house, not the boat

After a great visit with Dave at his Capone-connected cottage, it was time to move on once again. As is frequently the case, I didn’t get away as early as I hoped because, well … there were things to chat about. But eventually, get on the way I did … but not before getting a quick shot of the Capone house as I left.

My goal for the day was significantly more ambitious than the past few days. Of course, considering how unambitious the past few days have been, that’s not really saying too much. After four consecutive sub-80 km days, today was looking to be around 125 km. Destination: Wenona, IL. The plan being to camp at the city park. While that may not sound like a Warm Showers host, in this case, it is. The town actually has a Warm Showers account and advertises their city park as open for cycle tourists. But more on that later.

Ah, Illinois

Much like my previous experience in Illinois (and Indiana for that matter), today’s ride was very straight. And flat. It was also pretty windy. And hot. Very hot, actually. And that’s coming from someone who really likes the heat. And yes, it was humid too. It was almost as if I were being punished for all the times I’ve said, “I like the humidity”. I need to shut up more. (No, you didn’t have to agree so quickly to that last statement.)

On the upside, I seem to have learned a bit from my Halifax experience and, as such, I drank a LOT of water today. As I passed through the town of Kempton, I even asked some people who were out on their front porch if they would refill my water bottles. See, I’m learning. Either that or I was hallucinating from the heat.

I don’t have official temperature records of my rides (there are limits to my spreadsheet … I know, I know … say it ain’t so) but today may have been my hottest ride to date. Not just on this trip. I mean, on any of my tours. And the winds didn’t help matters. Well, they helped making the ride even more brutal.

More Illinois

The forecast was calling for winds from the south which should’ve meant a crosswind for most of my ride. The reality was actually winds from the northwest which of course made perfect sense since that was the direction I was heading. Seriously, how can a forecast be THAT wrong? Then again, maybe it’s me. Perhaps I should take some sort of solace in the fact that I must be causing havoc with the local meteorologists. I mean, they’re probably sitting around looking at all their charts and radar screens saying, “It just doesn’t make any sense … everything indicates the winds should be coming from the south and yet we’ve got winds clearly coming from the northwest.” Not surprisingly, I don’t take solace in that. Sigh.

At one point, with about 35 km to go, I was so hot that I even resorted to highjacking a hose outside one of the rural homes I passed. And that’s how I met Betty Campbell. As I approached the house … more accurately, as I approached the shade from the tree in front of the house, I did a quick survey of the area. No cars were around. Doors were shut. It looked like no one was home. Normally, I would’ve been content to stand in the shade, drink some not-at-all-cold water, and will myself down to a functioning temperature. This was not a normal day. No, this was a day where I actually laid down on the cool concrete sidewalk leading to the house in the hopes that it would work like a heat sink. To a certain extent it did. And then I spotted the hose. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s kind of funny, even being as hot as I was, when I started dousing myself with hose I actually thought, “D@mn, that’s cold.” and I didn’t REALLY commit to the soaking. It’s no secret that I’m not a water person.

Thank you, Betty Campbell

As I walked my somewhat soaked self back towards my bike, the front door of the house flew open and out charged an elderly woman with a shotgun in hand … okay, no … that’s not at all what happened. Well, the front door did open. Slowly. And a woman I would guess to be in her eighties was there feeding her cats. I startled her a bit when I said, “Hello” as it turns out her vision wasn’t very good but we then had a very nice chat about the adventure I was on and the heat of the day. She seemed like a super sweet lady and even offered me some cold water. She offered food too but I declined. About ten minutes later I was back on the road. The heat had already dried me off but I was a few degrees cooler anyway.

The 20 minute stop at Betty’s was apparently the perfect amount of time for the previously unnoticed rain clouds to get in range of my bike. Moments earlier, I was struggling to find the next bit of life-saving shade. Then I was being rained on. And yes, it felt good. It was actually a bit of a strange mini storm. All of sudden the winds really picked up and were swirling like crazy. Ten minutes later, the rain was behind me and I was left to finish the last 25 km of my ride.

Those final 25 km were definitely tough. As has been happening lately, the winds were picking up later in the afternoon and today was no different. Of course, they weren’t blowing in a favourable direction. There were many mind games going through my head as I willed my way into Wenona, IL.

Upon arriving, I saw a rare sight – a welcome sign. And a big one. I had to stop for a photo. As I got closer to the sign I noticed there was also a bicycle maintenance stand and air pump beside the welcome sign. This was clearly a bike-friendly place.

Self explanatory

With photos taken, I pedalled the final kilometre to the city park where, as advertised, there was lots of space for camping, a big pavilion with picnic tables, and a shower/washroom for cyclists. Sheila, via the Warm Showers site, had forwarded the code to the showers. I never actually met Sheila but I did meet Matt who pedalled over to welcome me upon my arrival. Sheila had told him I would be arriving and he even had a small welcome bag with some water, cookies, snack bars, soap, shampoo. I was stunned. I don’t know how many cyclists stop in Wenona but I suspect it will be more once word gets out of this hidden treasure.

The rest of my evening was mostly spent under the pavilion. I fired up my alcohol stove for the first time this year to cook my usual recipe. Not surprisingly, the pasta concoction I created was a great disappointment compared to that provided by Jodi and Chris a couple of days earlier. On the flip side, it was also kind of delicious. I’m sure exhaustion played a role in that assessment.

Apparently there was free WiFi available up the street at the library but quite frankly I was too exhausted to try it. For the same reason, I also didn’t have a chance to support any of the local businesses. I really wanted to because the town had clearly gone out of its way to support and welcome cyclists. That’s the kind of place where you want to spend your money.

Maybe I’ll stop here again on the way back.

Oh, one highlight to mention … at some point during today’s ride I crossed the 1,000 km mark for the trip. And yet, so very far to go.

Today’s totals:
Distance: 126.44 km
Ride time: 6:12:34
Average speed: 20.36 km/h
Maximum speed: 33.45 km/h

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