Day 22 – Tue/Jul 8 – Fremont IA to Bettendorf IA

Yesterday was Day 21 of our ride…but we didn’t ride, it was a rest day we had planned back in Twin Falls ID. The rest day turned out to be a family time. Monday our family gathered in Dubuque IA to celebrate the life of my step-mother Rosemary who left this world sometime in the night of July 1-2. When you get to be my age, it seems most family gatherings turn out to be either weddings or funerals. Although it was good to see my brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews and even a few great nieces and nephews, you still never want to see them under these circumstances.

We arrived in Fremont on Sunday afternoon after a 97 mile ride. My family (Kathy, Paige and Kyle) traveled to Iowa for a visit with Kathy’s family and hoped to be there when I came through Fremont. Paige and Kyle left on July 5th, one day before I arrived in Fremont due to prior commitments. Shortly after arriving, we were treated to the best meal of our ride to date (sorry Paul, you dropped into second), compliments of Kathy and her mom Bonnie. Since I needed to be in Dubuque for the funeral, Kathy and I left Fremont for the three-hour trip to Dubuque shortly after we ate.

I returned Monday afternoon after the funeral just in time to enjoy another great meal. As it turned out, the temperatures soared to 96 degrees – a great day to be off the bike. Larry thought it would be a good day for a ride and took advantage of the opportunity by riding a quick 20 miles. He rode in the same head wind we had yesterday, but since he rode a loop (out and back in), he enjoyed a tail wind on his return. Storms hit just as we retired for the evening, cooling everything down by morning. Bonnie, thanks for putting up us for the past two days.

We started moving shortly after 5:00 AM and hit the road by 6:45. We finally had the elusive tail wind we have been looking for, although it was a relatively light wind. Bob, our former support driver, had researched our route today due to the flooding over the past few weeks in Iowa. Bob chose a great route – light traffic and nothing but gently rolling hills. The total distance today was just over 123 miles, with almost 2,500 feet of climb. Thanks to our first tailwind today, we averaged 19.9 mph.

Our route started out on Hwy 23, traveled across Hwy 149 and then hit a series of county roads. We rode about 7 miles on the Duck Creek bike trail and ended in front of the Arsenal Bridge which will take us out of Iowa and into Illinois. We continue to ride a weather bubble across the country. Temperatures started a 69 degrees and ended at 82 degrees – absolutely perfect riding conditions.

Bob had called a local bike shop as we were in route to Bettendorf and scheduled a quick tune up. As it turned out this tune up was exactly what I needed since just over 75 miles into the ride, I broke a derailer cable. Larry unloaded our back-up bike and we were back riding again within a few minutes. Does support get any better than that? Thanks to the guys at Healthy Habits Bike Shop, our bikes are now ready to tackle the rest of our ride…hopefully our engines will be ready.

Day 20 – Sun/Jul 6 - Adel IA to Fremont IA

Yesterday Bob ended his role as support driver and Larry returned. Bob did a fantastic job. Hard to believe it was last Saturday when Bob first joined us. Time is flying. We appreciate Bob’s efforts and hope he enjoyed the experience. We hope to hook up within a few days over in Bettendorf where he threatens to ride along with us to Ottawa IL. Matt and I are looking forward to a full day of drafting. My brother Paul got up this morning at 5:30 and made us breakfast before we head out to Fremont IA where Kathy’s mom lives. She will host us the next two days. Finally, we get a rest day.

Today we started on the bike trail in Adel and rode an additional 17 miles to Des Moines. It was a relaxing ride as there was limited vehicle traffic, but a lot of bikers and joggers. It was good to see so many people using this trail. You may not believe this, but at the end of the bike trail there was a Starbuck’s, of course we had to stop for a coffee. This may not happen again on our trip.

Today is day 20. With the 97.2 miles we rode today, our total mileage is 2,103 miles. We are now 60% of the way across the US.

We rode the entire day with the same head/cross wind that we had yesterday. The big difference was the total climb was only 1,960 feet, less than half of what we did yesterday. We had a few steep climbs early going through Des Moines, but after that none of the grades were more than 3%, most climbs were between 1%-2%. Still holding out hope that we will get a day of tailwinds, but either way, we keep heading east. After the bike trail, we rode University Ave through Des Moines which turned into Hwy 163. We then took Hwy 92 to Hwy 23 all the way to Fremont.

Tomorrow will be our first, and maybe, only rest day for the trip. Tuesday morning we will be back in the saddle headed to the Mississippi River in Davenport, IA. Weather is still holding and we hope it will continue. Yesterday I had yet another flat - Matt 2 tubes/1 tire - Gary 8 tubes/3 tires.

Day 19 – Sat/Jul 5 – Blair NE to Adel IA

Today was another long day in the saddle, and not necessarily because of the 120.4 miles we rode. We faced a strong head/cross wind all day – in excess of 20 mph. In addition, we managed to accumulate 4,430 feet of climb, even though we started our ride at approximately 1,000 feet elevation and ended at about the same elevation. It was one rolling hill after the next….."the hills go on forever and the party never ends." Our max elevation for the day was 1,508 feet.

The rolling hills would have been a welcomed sight if the head/cross wind didn’t take away almost all of the momentum of the descents. We rode on Hwy 30, F58, Hwy 191 and Hwy 44. Hwy 30 was a lot like Hwy 20, 26, & 275 – relatively smooth with a good shoulder for bikes. Hwy F58, 191 and 44 had no shoulder for bikes so we shared the road with traffic. There were only a few miles when traffic was somewhat heavy, but once again we were given space to ride by all vehicles.

We ended the day with the last 20 miles from Panora to Adel riding a trails-to-rails bike trail. The bike trail was asphalt/concrete all the way and was lined with trees most of the way, creating a canopy for us to go through. There was very little grade which allowed us to have a relaxing finish to today’s ride. We wound up averaging a mere 16.1 mph for today - 7 hours and 27 minutes in the saddle. We will start the morning riding another 20 miles before riding across Des Moines on our way to Fremont.

We celebrated the end of the ride today with a cold Samuel Adams, compliments of Brock “I finally rode my bike” Gamble. Thanks!

My brother Paul provided us with a delicious hot meal, a hot shower and place to rest our weary legs. It was a treat to not have to go out to eat. My appetite actually returned tonight, I didn’t have to force myself to eat.