THE MAIN INTRODUCTION: This Journal Is A Sequel

I'm calling this journal a sequel. It will pick up where the original Logic and Energy Debunk the Iowa Myth left off and it should prove, once and for all, that Iowa's disrespected highways are not the ugly, boring routes leading into pits of doom that many bike tourists think they are. At minimum, I hope to reach the half-dozen people who read the original document and thought, "Hey, that Iowa place looks kinda cool, but I'm not yet convinced it's a serious touring destination." How do I intend to convince them? In a word, MORE IOWA. (Two words, actually.)

Like most sequels, this thing probably won't be as good as the original, which, I've heard, has been called "a masterpiece of Iowa cycle touring literature" by an unspecified number of anonymous Iowans. But this time my journal will have the added feature of being conducted entirely within the state of Iowa from beginning to end. In lieu of trying to convince you to go back and read the original masterpiece, I'll provide a quick summary in the form of seven bullet points.

Iowans are super-friendly.
Iowa has hills and scenery.
Iowa has culture.
Iowa has agriculture.
Iowa has bicycle culture.
Iowa is famous for corn and soybeans which are just as worthy of admiration as forests of Giant Sequoias and meadows full of blooming wildflowers.
Iowa pigs and cows are just as much fun to see while on a bike tour as mountain lions and grizzly bears.

Here's another interesting fact: Iowa has three vowels and only one consonant. Weird!

Despite the incontrovertible facts listed above, I know there are still a few believers in the Iowa Myth. Therefore, I consider it my duty to once again get out on my bike and expend great logic and energy to debunk the ridiculous idea that Iowa is boring. And now I have discovered ANOTHER Iowa myth to debunk, which gives me extra motivation. I will get to that in the next chapter.

Finally, I must disclose that I lived my formative years (age 9-18) in Iowa and I admit to still having a soft spot in my heart for that awesome state. Rest assured, however, that this sequel is not going to be a chamber of commerce-style Iowa tourism brochure. I pledge to put my biases aside in order to provide the kind of objective reporting you expect--but rarely get--from professional journalists. So, in the unlikely chance I discover some warts, scars, boils, and hideous lesions, they will be exposed just as honestly and completely as Iowa's undeniable beauty. That's my job.

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