Taking Dubuque By Surrender

August 15, 2024

A Ride Not Worth Remembering

Thunder and the pounding of rain awakened me at 1:00 a.m. I like thunderstorms so I got up and opened the curtains thinking I might see some lightning too. I didn't see lightning, but I saw the heavy rain the forecasters promised.

Without the excitement of electricity in the sky, I got bored quickly and decided to go back to bed. That's when I glanced at my bike and noticed something bad--my front tire was flat. "Son of a Franciscan nun," I cursed.

I don't know what possessed me to dig out my pump and try to refill my tire at one o'clock in the morning, but that's what I did. The result was almost unbelievable. No matter how fast I pumped air into the tire, the tire emptied itself just as quickly. "Oh well," I thought, "I'll fix it in the morning."

Things like that tend to nag at me. I could not go back to sleep. I turned on the TV and watched a couple episodes of "Seinfeld." Then I felt tired. I turned the TV off and rolled to my left side, which is my favorite sleeping position. Then my mind reverted back to the flat tire.

I got out of bed again, turned my bike upside down, and took the wheel off. By golly gosh, I was going to perform a goll dang tube replacement in my chicken plucking Super 8 Motel room at three-stinking-thirty in the a.-frickin-m.--just so I might be able to salvage a couple hours of sleep.

I broke a sweat trying to break the seal on my tubeless-ready tire and then get it off the rim. (My tires are tubeless-ready, but I still use tubes.) It was hard work. That's okay, I rise to the challenge of hard work, no matter what time of day or night. I got the tire off, pulled out the tube, and examined it for a puncture hole. I was able to spot the little bugger quite easily.

What in the bloody hell could have caused this?

Even after the tire repair I wasn't able to sleep. I guess I was still wound up from worrying about not getting enough sleep.

But I must admit that I was thankful for being able to conduct the operation in a dry motel room rather than out there in the heavy rain at a campsite.

************

I got permission to leave my car in the Super 8 parking lot for the next three nights, which was nice. Not so nice was that the rain showed no signs of letting up. I couldn't wait anymore, so I pedaled into the rain.

I vowed to dig my phone out for ONLY the most significant pictures. Well, a significant photo-op arrived all too quickly.

This homeowner created a shrine to the Ten Commandments, the bible, and Jesus 2024. As you might expect, there was a big Trump/Vance sign in the yard too. I cropped it out so as not to get too political.

************

I've known about Dubuque County's Heritage Rail Trail for a few years. My brother ran a marathon on its convenient 26-mile length. He's run more than a hundred marathons, and yesterday he told me the Heritage Trail run was one of his favorites. Thanks to that endorsement, I had increased excitement to ride the trail all the way from Dyersville to Dubuque today. The rain could go to hell as far as I was concerned.

The trail is paved leading out of Dyersville.

It was a gloomy day. While riding the trail, the precipitation alternated between light drizzle, medium drizzle, heavy drizzle, mild rain, and drenching rain. The rain did stop a couple times, yet I KNEW it would be back. And I was right.

Next comes a picture of a cornfield. It reminded me of something my dad said yesterday on the way to his eyeball shot. "How do they get all of those cornstalks to grow to exactly the same height?" he asked. I certainly couldn't come up with a good answer. Maybe it's some kind of advanced alien agricultural knowledge.

It's true, they're all exactly the same height.

Sure, there was the rain, the mushy trail, and the view-blockers, but the worst thing was the grit accumulating on my gears, derailleurs, water bottles, and panniers.

I was determined to push on, no matter what conditions I faced. At the Farley station I would assess the situation and determine whether to continue on the trail or to abandon it and ride the county highways to Dubuque.

It was still raining when I got to the Farley station and my bike was a mess. It was an easy decision to continue my ride on pavement. I began by riding about a mile off-route to the actual town of Farley for a snack and to see how much it has changed since the 1970's. I can now report that, like Dyersville, it has grown and changed A LOT.

This water tower reminded me of a scene from "The Three Amigos" and the words repeated in my head over and over.

Just outside of Farley, the heavy rains returned. It made for some pretty miserable cycling. After a mile of that punishment, I came to the conclusion that I needed to make another decision about my ride. I figured I had three options: 1) Find the nearest shelter and wait there until the rain let up--which might not be until tomorrow. 2) Continue cycling in this crap for another 25 miles to downtown Dubuque. 3) Ride the paved road that parallels the bike trail for seven miles back to Dyersville.

Thinking one hour of suffering would be better than three hours of suffering, I chose option #3. Plus, my car was in Dyersville. I could just drive to Dubuque from there. That way I would be dry, and I could still keep the hotel reservation that was now too late to cancel.

It was psychologically painful to take the easy way out of this mess, but that was easily overcome by the physical comfort.

************

I drove the roads I would have been cycling instead of taking the more direct four-lane highway. I wanted to see what I'd be missing. It seems wrong to post pictures from an automobile ride, but I'm going to use the lame justification that I'm providing a public service for other bike tourists interested in the route--bike tourists who won't wimp out like I did.

St. Clement's Catholic Church in Bankston looks like a one-steepled version of Dyersville's St. Francis Xavier. Not bad for a town of 25 people.

The landscape gets surprisingly hilly as you get closer to Dubuque.

Here's a better shot of the scenery--after the wipers cleared the windshield.

The trail I abandoned crosses the highway here.

I know you were probably worried about me driving a car, but I safely made it to Dubuque. Sure enough, the rain had reduced itself to a light mist. In an effort to redeem myself, I got my bike out of the car and explored the city for the next two hours. I'll show the results of my exploration in a separate post. I'm too tired to write anymore today.

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Comment on this entry	Comment	9

Bill ShaneyfeltYup there's some hills around Dubuque! Ran a few half marathons there back in the late 70s/early 80s.
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2 months ago

Mark BinghamWhen you're feeling "psychological pain for taking the easy way out of a mess" remember that it's a vacation, and you're supposed to be having fun!
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2 months ago

marilyn swettSounds like you made a smart decision to drive to Dubuque. We've decided not to bike around here on the county roads as it's VERY hilly. And a wet gravel Heritage Trail as you've found is messy. But I'm not sure where you checked in the fairgrounds but we were parked there on Thursday. If you come by again, the camping area is behind the Grand ballroom building. There are only a few trailers here and only one Airstream. We'll be here until Thursday August 22.
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2 months ago

Gregory GarceauTo Mark BinghamYou're right, Mark. But sometimes a vacation is even more satisfying with a little pain and suffering.
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2 months ago

Gregory GarceauTo marilyn swettFrom Old Highway 20, I looked down on what looked like a huge campground, with only a couple of campers. I had a feeling I should have entered the gates of the fairgrounds for a further look, but I didn't. I'm sorry.

For reasons that will be revealed later, it looks like I will have to wait until you get to Minneapolis for an actual meet-up.
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2 months ago

Rachael AndersonWhat a miserable day. I’m glad you had the option to turn back!
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2 months ago

Emily SharpGood on you for pushing through on a mucky rail trail. That soft and slow riding is frustating without being pummeled by rain. Shame about the rain timing though - the bit closer to Dubuque looked liked it would be gorgeous to ride.
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1 month ago

Paul Mulvey⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Five-star blog rating for using a Three Amigos reference. Would read again.
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1 month ago

Gregory GarceauTo Paul MulveyThank you for that excellent rating. Five stars is what I'd also give to "The Three Amigos", but most of the elitist movie critics were less enthusiastic. Same story with a couple of my other favorite comedies--"Dumb and Dumber," and "The Jerk." Movie critics seem to have no sense of humor.
I especially love "The Three Amigos" because my son and I watched it together on video cassette many times within a couple of months. We both had many of the scenes memorized back then, and to this day, we still quote them when we talk.
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1 month ago