Slacker! But I will blame the lack of available wi-fi...

Tuesday - Lake View to Webster City
Don't know why I didn't think of this before...map of the day's route is below:

106.8 miles
1,724 feet of climbing
6:14:28 total time on road
43.2 mph top speed
7,999 calories burned

Up early to hit the pavement for the Century Day. Sneaking around the house trying to pack up my stuff without waking everyone up. Bollocks! Infra-red headlamp on and moving into other rooms to roll sleeping mats, etc. Nuts. We typically chalk up our hosts' driveways with a 'thank you' note. Did this before leaving. Did my team a solid on that one.

Not a lot of sleep as one of my teammates was snoring rather loudly (thanks, John!). On the road by 5:20...headed out with the lights on in the complete darkness. A few miles of solo riding before linking back up with the route. Once on route, there was an endless string of blinking red taillights as far as I could see. Very cool. Tried to take a photo from the bike, but didn't come out to well. Should have stopped for a long exposure shot.

After a breakfast stop for french toast and eggs, I hammered it hard and had 55 miles in by 9:30. Had a cloud cover that almost made for chilly riding. Was great after the ridiculous heat from the day prior. Was short lived as it burned off around 10:00. Here's a photo of us riding into the rising sun and through the misty morning.

Wind came up after a bit. Out of the east...was riding into it. Day turned into a 'Triple H Day'...Hills, Heat and Headwinds...say it with me...HEADWINDS. Say it with me kids...HEAD. WINDS.

head·wind

[hed-wind]

noun

a wind  opposed to the course of a moving object, especially an aircraft or other vehicle ( opposed to tailwind). 

These headwinds were the absolute worst. Negating most of your efforts. Being a bigger guy, I was like a sail. People tend to pick up on this and use me as a pull for a draft line. I can handle this typically, but part of draft line etiquette is to take over on pulling after several miles. I never get a break. Grrrr...

Anyway...pushed through to the turn-off for the Karras Loop. More headwinds...big surprise. Fought these along with a monster hill before reaching Stratford (halfway of the Karras Loop...see map). I estimate the downhill portion to be of a Category 5 grade...pretty durn steep. Endless climbing out of the Des Moines River valley. Got 'leid' in Stratford...luau themed town. Hung out for a little lunch and refills on water. Rode the rest of the loop with a fellow rider that I had struck up a conversation with. Two ladies pulled in behind us and used and abused us for our wind-breaking abilities for the rest of the loop (including another bastard of a hill!) and then when we continued on the regular route.

More headwinds/sidewinds as we headed north and east. More monster hills outside of Lehigh. I had to stop about 8 miles out of Webster City for a nap. Conked out for at least 30 minutes. Rode into town and realized that we were staying 3 miles out of town. Pulled in and pretty much dropped the bike and left it as I went for the electrolyte replacement...and then a beer.

Hosts Aldo and Claudia Van Diest were great. Let us sleep inside (again!...yes!) so we could be comfortable. It was just unbearably hot. Their grandkids had made homemade cookies for us...sugar and chocolate chip. Delicious. I literally fell asleep for a few seconds standing in shower...sooooo tired after 100+ miles of heat, hills and headwinds. 

Host Aldo had restored a 1936 John Deere tractor and was letting his grade school grandkids drive it around the property after we took team photos in front of it (I'll upload those as soon as I get them from my teammates). Into town for a pulled pork sandwich and salad with pie at the Methodist church. Decent. Took a Tylenol PM as I was ready for some solid sleep after a very long day.

Claudia was kind enough to do all of our toxic laundry! Savior! Couldn't thank her enough! Always great to have clean clothes at the midway point of the week. 

Wednesday - Webster City to Marshalltown44.68 miles
??? feet of climbing (cheated)

2:27:46 total time on road
33.4 mph top speed
3,379 calories burned

 

Woke up feeling a bit looped on the Tylenol PM...decided against riding that morning. I rode support to Story City and bypassed the first 33 miles or so. Hung out for an hour or so to sober up. Was also trying to charge the cell up as it had been drained to almost nothing by 10:00. Back on the road, I felt a bit more lucid once I started sweating out the pharmaceuticals.

Rode hard through the first 16.5 miles and stopped in Zearing for a ribeye sandwich being grilled by the local FD. Very good. A little live music being played just outside...good stuff.

Hammered through to St. Anthony for a quick break. Had my snack stolen by a giant black lab named 'Doofus'. We became good buddies after that.

Beat the support van into Marshalltown. Stopped for a couple free beers and lemonade being pushed by a few local kids (the lemonade...not the beer). Teammate I rode support van with in AM made it in ahead of me. Relaxed in air conditioning until support van with change of clothes landed.

Headed into town for dinner...Iowa chops at Lutheran church. Yum. Hung out downtown near the courthouse for a little live music. Covers. Not too bad. Grabbed some ice cream and sat there watching a weather ticker crawl across the bottom of the screen - said 3/4" hail in Algona with the front headed our direction. Yikes! Walked outside to see a huge cloud forming along the front. Within 30 minutes, it was rain and lighting. Thunderstorm lighting the house until I fell asleep. Resting up for 84.8 miles tomorrow.

Thursday - Marshalltown to Cedar Rapids

86.59 miles
3,576 feet of climbing (lots of long rolling hills...not too bad really. Rarely in small ring.)
4:49:25 total time on road
36.3 mph top speed
6,698 calories burned

Thunderstorm last night made for some great riding temperatures this morning. Stopped for breakfast of fruit/yogurt and eggs 30 miles out. Hustled through to Vinton for lunch of tacos and a rest. 60 miles in for the day and short hops from there. A lot less wind and less heat. Thankfully...

 Some guy was hawking FREE BEER alongside the road around 15 miles out, so I had to stop. One to hydrate with and one to savor. Love the free beers. Talked with a few people and then back on the road.

Stopped in Shellsberg for another break. Found a beer garden behind a 'social club' and hung out drinking beer for a couple hours. Sat and watched storm clouds build and watched people dance drunkedly about.

As I was sitting there minding my business, these two ladies came shimmying up and sat down next to me. We chatted for a bit and about an hour later, the one in the photo asked what team I was with..."Not Exactly" I said. "Made up of lawyers and ex-FBI types." She asked if one ex-GMAN's name was Dave Coppinger. I said it was. Turns out this was his niece, Deena. Even weirder is that I had actually met her on RAGBRAI two years prior when our team stayed with her father in Ottumwa, IA. Crazy. Guy from New Belgium walked up and handed me some NB schwag and said "Thanks for enjoying Fat Tire." Cool little bag made of recycled bicycle tubes. Awesome. Deena got a frizbee...I think I came out on top.

Overall, not a bad day. Long mileage (found that most of my team had sagged and cut out early upon arrival at our overnight home), but great temperatures and tailwinds made for easy riding. Headed to town for dinner...mediterranean meat pies were delicious.

That's all for today. Two more days of riding. Look for more. Tomorrow is an easy day (only 42 miles) and Saturday is seventy-something. Cheers everyone.

P.S. YOUR HELP NEEDED...WHAT SHOULD I TAME THIS CRAZY BEARD OF MINE INTO? NEED TO CUT IT...GETTING TO BE TOO MUCH. SUGGESTIONS?

A little catching up to do...

The route this year is something like the fourth flattest and is a fairly short course as well. Should have brought the fixed gear bike...who needs gears?

Saturday
Trip started out not so well...when loading up the dozen bikes on the team trailer, I loosened my handlebars to rotate them up and out of the way for a better fit and I then forgot to tighten these. Checking the bikes buring a lunch stop, I found my handlebars just dangling loose. Great. Fantastic. Luckily, I found a cheap replacement in the expo the night before we started out on our trans-Iowan journey. Crisis averted.

Route started in Sioux Center. According to a friend, this is the 'armpit of Iowa'. No guess as to why. Our host John, is a state champion grill man. He had an 18" pork tenderloin smoking when we pulled up - slow and low for most of the afternoon. Dinner included green apple cole slaw, garlic new potatoes (also prepared in a smoker), baked beans and fresh fruit. Love it when our hosts throw this amount of food at us. Delicious! They even said that we could sleep inside down in the basement where it would be cool. Friday and Saturday were not bad in terms of heat/humidity. Evening in Sioux Center was nearly perfect. This would not last...

Sunday - Sioux Center to Cherokee
55.7 miles
1,583 feet of climbing (of hills...not total elevation change)
3:20:00 total time on the road (not including time eating, taking breaks, etc.)
42.6 mph top speed
4,165 calories burned

Second shortest day of the week. Went through the town of Orange City, which has a rich Dutch/German heritage. Lots of windmills and polka music. Stopped for breakfast in Alton and took in some live music while downing my eggs and pancakes...all you can eat. Not the best, but good. Gassed it after breakfast and powered through most of the day. Support vehicle was not due in the next overnight town until around 1:00. I saw a sign for FREE BEER about 9 miles short of Cherokee and opted to stop for a little fresh watermelon and a water slide. Lingered drinking FREE BEER a little too long. Was getting hotter by the hour.

Rolled into the outskirts of Cherokee and at the top of a very long steep hill into town, thought for a minute about calling our hosts to verify where they lived. Meh...down the hill and into town. No data connection, so I can't check a map on my phone. Asked for directions and was told "Unfortunately for you, son...you have to ride back up that there hill." Back up the hill (with cyclists screaming down the hill towards me) and left after the cemetery. After team had gotten in and were cleaned up, we were turned away at the dinner our host was putting on at the local Methodist church - all sold out. Apparently opened their doors around 1:00. We drove a couple towns over for dinner at some surf/turf place. Decided fish would be a bad idea (in the middle of Iowa), however seeing as the beef slaughterhouses were IN THE SAME TOWN, the angus beef would be a safe bet. Not a bad piece of meat after waiting nearly 45 minutes for our food.

Back to the homestead (literally...it was a farm), we sat and had cocktails with our hosts Margaret and Roger. Great people. Demanded that we sleep down in the basement as it was not cooling down outside. Again...this was a godsend. 2-for-2! Up early in the morning, light breakfast and then get on the road. We're typically on the pavement no later than 7:00.

Monday - Cherokee to Lake View
72.8 miles
2,062 feet of climbing

4:09:00 total time on the road
39.2 mph top speed
5,254 calories burned

Rode the first 18 miles of the day before stopping for breakfast in Hanover. The first stop is always hammered by riders, so I/we typically bypass these. This morning, it was Chris Cakes. Delicious, light and fluffy pancakes you can gorge yourself on and not feel gross afterwards. Guys manning the griddles will flip your cakes through the air if you want them to. Hilarious to watch the uninitiated souls try and make the catches in rapid succession. Numerous casualties covering the floor. There was an old-time machine shop nearby and an antique steam-powered wood milling machine that was actually milling wood. Sorry no pictures...was wolfing down breakfast in order to get back on the road. I promise to take more photos the rest of the week.

Around 10:30, it was really starting to warm up. I wanted to get it up, get it on and get it done ASAP. I was hammering pretty hard and my next stop was Beekman's - delicious homemade raspberry ice cream made in small diesel powered ice cream churns called Poppin' Johns (small John Deere engines). Stood in line in the sun for a good 20 minutes for that. Back on the road for more hammering up and down (slight) hills.

Holy god, it was hot out there. 105 degrees with 35% humidity. Not nice. I would stop every so often and grab some shade to rest before getting back on the road. The last five miles were absolutely nasty. We are staying one town over in a small community called Wall Lake. Hit the local Lutheran church for an all-you-can eat spaghetti dinner. Pretty good for $8. Host has us in the basement again. 3-for-3. Yahtzee!

Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Literally. It's the century day. There is an extra loop on the route that is completely optional that gets you to 100 miles for the day. Luckily, it's near the end of the route, so I'll be able to decide if I'm insane before deciding to do it or not. Planning to be up and on the road by 5:00 AM. Lights charged? Yep. Planning to get the majority of my miles in by 10:00. I'm not going to be the only one on the road, so no worries for companions or people to pass the time with.

More to come...photos and video will be uploaded.

Packing it up...shipping out tomorrow. I have to fit all that in one box...meh.

Bugs...

Feeling my way through this. Bear with me...

2012 Tour de Farms

Alright, friends and family...here's the initial post. I always have people asking me about this annual pilgrimage I make to Iowa each July, so I thought I'd do a daily blog. I'll be posting photos, video and daily entries. 

Forewarning...rural areas of Iowa are a wi-fi wasteland, so updates may be sporadic. I'll post each evening, but these may be offline. Whenever I hit a decent spot with an available connection, the blog will automatically update.

Look for periodic updates from the road on Facebook as well.