Day #40 (6/15/24) – Bike Across America

I planned on an early start to take advantage of a favorable wind. I set my alarm for 5:30, and when I woke up it was raining. Also, my legs protested mightily. This was the worst my legs have felt in the morning. I chilled out for a while and slowly got ready to go. After moving around a little, my legs loosened up.

The weather called for 15 to 20 mph winds out of the SE. Since I was mostly heading west, I would have a favorable tailwind. However, there was also lots of rain around. I prepared to get wet by wearing my kayaking shoes instead of my normal tennis shoes. I also made sure to have ready access to my rain gear and a waterproof bag for my cellphone.

The night before, I had identified a couple of hotels that I was shooting for. One at 84 miles and one at 92 miles. That’s a lot of miles, but I was hoping the tailwind would help make it happen.

I was biking by 7:00. I was leaving the Root River valley, so the day started with a 400 foot climb out of town. At mile 10 was another steep 200 foot climb. My legs were not happy about all the climbing. But then I was out in the farm country. Unfortunately, there were lots of rolling hills – most too big to use my momentum to climb.

I was cursing the hills and how they prevented me from taking advantage of the tailwind. So, when my Komoot app navigated me onto a gravel road right before another big hill, I was happy. However, after 13 miles of gravel roads, I was not as happy. The gravel roads are hard to bike on and you need to be careful not to skid and fall. You spend all your time looking for a safe line to ride, and you don’t have much time to enjoy the scenery. Also, they slow you down.

After the gravel, I was put on the worst paved bike trail I have ever been on. It was overgrown with weeds and had lots of cracks in the pavement. Eventually, this trail started following a state highway, and I was able to ride on the highway instead.

I know that I sound like a big whiner, and I probably was. My expectations were to use the tailwind to get some easy miles in, but that wasn’t working out for me this morning.

There was little traffic on the highway and I put in a fast eight miles to the town of Adams. It was 11:15, and I stopped at Bubbles Cafe for an early lunch. I also put together a plan for the afternoon. I noticed that Komoot thought the roads I was on were paved, so I trashed the Komoot app. I identified one additional hotel option in Northwood and used Google Maps to navigate me to it, since it was the closest one (I told Google that I wanted the car route to ensure I would be on paved roads). I also checked the radar and there were storms all around. But since it wasn’t raining at the moment, I kept going.

I was mostly heading west and enjoying the tailwind, but would occasionally have a stretch where I was heading south and into the wind. It really made me appreciate the tailwind!!

I was making great time, when it started to rain. It was a little after 12:30, and I had already put in 54 miles. So, I was happy to have avoided the rain that long. Just as the rain started, I passed a nice farm that had a sign out front that said, “Welcome to our Farm.” So, I biked up the driveway and asked the owner, Cindy, if I could shelter on her porch from the rain. She was very kind, and said, “yes.” She let me put my bike in her garage to keep it dry, and we had a great conversation on her porch while the rain came down.

It took over an hour for the rain to stop. But then I thanked Cindy for her kindness and got back on my bike.

After the storm, the wind switched from SE to SSE, which didn’t give me as much of a tailwind when I was biking west, and punished me more when I was going south. It was on one of these southbound roads that I crossed the border into Iowa. There wasn’t a sign, but you could tell by the windmills everywhere.

By 3:45 I made it to Northwood, Iowa. I stopped at the local Casey’s (gas station/fast food/groceries) for a second lunch and to pick a hotel and make a reservation for the night. The phone number for the hotel at 92 miles was out of service, so had to scratch that one off my list. The hotel at 84 miles was a casino on I-35, and since it was a Saturday they were charging $200 per night. Too expensive for me, especially since I was staying two nights. The last hotel was in Northwood (the town I was in) and was a small local hotel that only cost $60/night. Sold!!

For the day, I biked 76 miles and climbed 2,000 feet. I’m taking tomorrow off to give my legs some rest. Northwood is a nice town. It’s a short walk from my hotel to the downtown area. There are a few restaurants (I went to the local brewery for pizza and a beer for dinner) and a few churches to choose from for tomorrow.

Closing with a picture of the Iowa farmland.