What I learned

--the road smells like tar, sweat and roadkill
--California has forests; Missouri has the woods
--what a woodchuck looks like as it crosses the road (and what a woodchuck looks like when it didn't quite make it across the road)
--people are fascinated when you tell them how far you've ridden your bike
--Brent Futrell will bark like a dog and chase that dog down the road so I can get by without being bothered
--nachos with bbq pork are a nice surprise
--every small town is proud of something (East Peru, Iowa home of the Red Delicious Apple; Indianola, Iowa home of Casey Blake, LA Dodgers third baseman;Red Oak,where most magazine subscription renewals go)
--the corn in Illinois looks a lot like the corn in Iowa, HOWEVER, the corn in Missouri has trees at the perimeter
--dumptrucks on the road are almost as bad as 18 wheelers when you're on a bike
--riding 100 miles for fun once or twice a week is OK, any more than that and it becomes a chore
--loose meat sandwiches in eastern Iowa are like sloppy joes without the sloppy. And people love 'em.
--living in a tent for more than a week can be a bit much
--I can ride 117 miles in a day, if need be
--it's good to have friends and family who will listen to you from the road and be oh-so supportive and helpful
--And though I didn't complete what I set out to do, I will still be the only teacher at my school who rode her bike from Omaha to St.Louis over the summer!

 

Downtown St.Louis in the rain on July 28. I"ll be back.

 

Rainy day in St.Louis, where we didn't have much time--heartbreaking because the Cardinals were playing. When I turned down a scalper's offer of buying a ticket, he asked, "Do you like baseball?" "More than you know," was my reply as I walked past him. I'll get to the stadium someday when I'm not on a bike.

 

Yet, my friend Tricia was no where to be seen in this neighborhood

 
And who knew that Popeye actually had a home?? The more I'm on the road and off the interstates, I learn that every small town is famous for something.

 

And after you cross the Missouri River, you're in Hannibal, Missouri--note the landscape across the highway, just in case you forget who Hannibal is famous for.

 

Here we are just off Interstate 72 in Missouri. Big bridge, fast cars. Bridges aren't exactly my favorite, tho they seemed more tolerable
when the waterway was only a river.

The Adventure ends early

I could tell you that I'm still on the road. But I can't. I flew home last Thursday. After riding 60 miles from Washington, MO to St.Louis on our 'off day', and subsequently having only about four hours to explore St.Louis, I couldn't come up with a good reason to continue. That was day eleven on the bike without a full-day break. There are parts that start to hurt after that many days and miles on the bike.
So from the Quincy IL Dairy Queen (where I was able to get a free Blizzard from the manager, using my birthday and bike miles as my reasons), I called my friend Tricia and asked her if there was any good reason to continue if I wasn't having any fun. Nope, came the reply. I surprised Brent and Dwight w/my decision to rent a car in Carbondale, IL and drive to St.Louis the next AM to catch a flight home. It was the right thing to do.

First Day on the Road

We began the day w/a 16 mile mistake and rode 8 miles before we realized it, so after we stopped at the historical marker where we learned of Mormon persecution in Carthage, IL, we turned around (into a headwind, of course) and made our way back to the (planned) route. Again, pretty territory.Another bridge on our way into Missouri. An interstate highway, even! The boys stopped to take pictures mid-span. I met them on solid ground in Missouri. From there we stopped in Hannibal, MO where the town is dedicated to Mark Twain. It was there we realized our planned overnight town was over 80 miles away. Ugh. We made it as far as Louisiana, MO (a real town)where we ended up camping behind the volunteer fire dept. No showers, no bathrooms, 117 miles ridden.
My exuberance from yesterday was gone gone gone. But Missouri is pretty.
To be continued..

RAGBRAI ends, the adventure starts

Where to begin? The last few days of RAGBRAI were 73miles, 100miles and 77 miles. My legs were heavy after the century. The last day was a 44 mile sprint to the Mississippi. Funny, a lot of riders are pokey about getting to the next town during the week, but when the final day arrives, you'd think you were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!
I dipped my front wheel in the Big Muddy then waited for Brent and Dwight so we could start the fifty-plus miles we were to ride that day on in to Illinois. Oh yeah, there's a big bridge over the River, too. Ugh. "Don't look down, keep your eyes right in front of you, pedal, it'll be over soon." It was. After riding thru many more corn and bean fields,all of which look like the corn and bean fields in Iowa, we hit Highway 96 and the Scenic River Highway which parallelled the Mississppi River--it was gorgeous and a great change from the flat roads thru the field.
When we finished at 95 miles for the day in Hamilton, IL, across from Keokuk Iowa,I felt exuberant and knew that more miles were ahead of me. Hmmmm...

Almost done. With Iowa

Wow, my legs are feeling yesterday's 103 miles and today's 75miles--a bit heavy and sore and feeling like when I used to work pharmacy.
We finished in Ottumwa yesterday, the home of the fictional Radar O'Reilly on MASH and the real hometown of Tom Arnold,who was in town yesterday. Our wake-up call in CHariton (pop 4000) was a thunderstorm at 4 a.m. and then also had a t-storm come thru yesterday afternoon. Thankfully I was already in camp and set up when it hit.
I got up early and hit the road at 6 AM to ride w/a few friends--it was nice to be on the road in the coolness of the early morning. I'd been riding quite a bit by myself since a lot of my group seems to want to stop and linger in the pass through towns and it was good to ride with friends today.
Let's see--Mount Pleasant, population 8,000 is where we're camped tonight. It's our first cloudless day, so the temperature's noticebly warmer. No threat of storms as far as this Californian can tell :) I got some laundry donethis afternoon, since the long haul begins tomorrow--tho Dwight says we may get in the van instead of riding on after we finish RAGBRAI. We'll dip our front wheel in the Mississippi River only having to ride 43 miles to get there.
Stay tuned!

Chariton, Iowa

About 20,000 riders slogged 77 miles yesterday to Indianola. Headwinds, slick roads and generally yukky riding.One small town we stopped in, Peru (pea-roo) is famous for being the home of the red delicious apple; today's overnight stop is where the Hy-Vee grocery store began. Every small town is famous for something it seems.
The rain cleared as we hit our overnight town of Indianola, where we camped in a city park--which was like the Ritz after Monday's field in RedOak. Indianola has been the best town so far--an AirForce jet fly-over and because the town's known for it's hot air balloon festival, the evening sky was soon filled with a dozen balloons.
Today's ride was only 44 miles and I hammered into Chariton (population 4000). It's been a good ride so far, minus yesterday's weather. Tomorrow's the 100 miler, followed by two rides of 70 miles plus, then we finish with 43 as we head to Burlington.
This is like summer camp for cyclists, I tell you! I've met people from all over, but our camping group seems to be heavy w/Californians.

Greenfield, Iowa

On the road-rode 73 miles today w/lots of roling hills. Over 5000 feet of climbing,actually. The town is expecting rain tonight, so here'e hoping the
tent will continue to be watertight.
Nice peope as always.Good roads to ride. Sometimes RAGBRAI feels like summer camp!

Omaha

In Omaha among lots of other RAGBRAI riders. We'll ride 8 miles to Council Bluffs
and the start point for close to 500 more miles.
YAY.

It's almost here!

Yippee---RAGBRAI's almost here. I fly to Omaha tomorrow to meet up with the group. We'll ride to the first town, Council Bluffs (just 35 miles) to officially start our way across the state on Sunday morning. I heard from Brent and Dwight on Thursday. They'd made it to Lebanon Kansas (the exact middle of the continental U.S. by the way). They'd been invited to stay on some locals' lawn and enjoy some Kansas hospitality. Brent couldn't talk much, it seems the homemade pizza was almost ready.
To see where I'm bound the next week, check out www.RAGBRAI.com for some fun facts!
Let's pedal.

Brent Checks in From Colorado

Brent called me from Montrose, Colorado this afternoon. It was great to hear how the trip is really going. "We're in a real town," he declared as he was drinking a microbrew and waiting for his rib dinner. The guys are one day behind schedule and may have to ride in the van for a part of Kansas. Otherwise, it sounds like things have settled in a bit and that Brent's anxious to get to Omaha and RAGBRAI. Me, too.
To follow their adventures from the road, check out www.crazyguyonabike.com and search for dwightdean.

Update from the Guys

At long last I heard from Brent and Dwight. I went up to Placerville on June 28 to camp and see them off from the foothills as they started their adventure. It was going to be real hot that day and they got a late start from Hangtown going to Carson City.
They've had some rough days physically, but seem in good spirits. Brent had body cramps one day and just general fatigue. The boys slowed their pace for one day and were enjoying their first real layover day in Cedar City, UT on the Fourth of July.

The First

This is a blog about my upcoming bike adventure--my ride across half of the United States with
Dwight and Brent, two friends from SanJose. Our original plan was to ride to RAGBRAI, the bike ride across Iowa. When I saw their intended daily mileage and realized it would take almost all of my summer vacation, I opted out of the first part and will ride thru Iowa and on to the Atlantic Ocean with them. And still have some of my summer. And best of all, not have to ride across the desert of Nevada or over the Rockies. It's a decision I can live with. :)