July 4, 2008
Day 53: Wilton, IA to Cascade, IA
64.51 miles, 5:05:29 Ride Time, 12.67 Average Speed, 29.99 Maximum Speed
It was sunny and warm when I finally emerged from the Wilton Hilton. I encountered little traffic most of the morning on this Independence Day, but early on, I did see two tube-topped young women riding road bikes. Was this a trend? If so, a welcome one.
Riding North (as I would be for the next several hundred miles), with the sun to my right, I was reminded of riding up the Atlantic Coast earlier on this tour - the good old days. The terrain was now rolling, but it wasn't too difficult - Some riders apparently complain about these little hills; if they think these are tough, they need to go to Western Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, or the hellishly hilly part of Connecticut I was in a month ago.
My first stop of the day was in Bennett (pop. 395), where I wandered around for a few minutes, before finally stopping to ask a guy, washing a fire truck, if anything was open for breakfast. He stated, with absolute certainty, "You won't find anything open anywhere today!" Fortunately, he was immediately proven incorrect when, less than a quarter of a mile out of town, I found a gas station, and had my usual breakfast of chocolate milk and a sausage-biscuit.
It continued to be nice riding to the slightly larger town of Lowden, where a woman in a car flagged me down. Which of the following was she going to do?
1. Tell me to get off the road
2. Hand me a $20 bill
3. Give me a sack lunch
It was none of the above - She wanted to know if I could tell her where 288th Street was. I can only imagine the depth of someone's desperation, that would compel them to ask me, of all people, for directions. I did check my map, but 288th Street wasn't on there. Hopefully, she found the road, or encountered someone better informed than me (or the fire-truck-washing guy in Bennett).
While looking around Lowden, I saw the smallest new car dealership I've ever seen. They had eight new Chevrolets in stock - four pickup trucks, and four cars. Why does General Motors allow these tiny dealerships to continue? (Later, in Cascade, I met a car salesman who explained to me that Iowa law strongly favors automobile dealerships over manufacturers, making it extremely difficult for a manufacturer to terminate one of its dealers. He told me that he knew of one small-town dealership that kept only one new car in stock).
Later, in Oxford Junction (pop. 573) I stopped for some snacks, where the woman charged me double for my pop and candy bars. Fortunately, I was paying attention, and noticed that it seemed too expensive - I'm in the Midwest now, not on the Atlantic Coast - and she recalculated it. Sheesh - how often has this happened without me noticing?
There wasn't much in Oxford Junction, but they did have a neat city hall - a tiny old-fashioned gas station, with the old pumps still out front. I would have liked to have gone inside and checked the place out, but they were closed for the Fourth.
A few miles later in Wyoming ("The Christmas City" - pop. 626), I saw a pickup truck mounted, high up in the air, on a pole. So far this morning I had seen a lawn mower, a golf cart, and now this truck, all mounted on posts. Is this an Iowa tradition?
After Onslow (pop. 223), it was fifteen miles to Cascade, my destination for the day. About halfway to Cascade, I spotted another cyclist, wobbily climbing up one of the hills. I easily caught up to, and met, Jim, a retired man doing the Northern Tier. I had already heard of him from Jordan, several days ago. After a brief conversation, I rode on, after telling Jim that I would probably see him later in Cascade.
I pulled into Cascade, whose downtown was deserted today, and stopped at a convenience store, where, before I even asked, a local policeman volunteered to show me the city park, where I could camp. I followed him there, where he warned me that the park would be the scene tonight of the town's Fourth of July celebration, which would last until well after 11:00. Reminescent of my luck in Monroeville, IN, when I picked the one night of the month when the park board there was holding their meeting in the pavilion...
I set up my tent in a grassy area as far from the fenced-in park as possible, showered at the pool, then watched over the next few hours as hundreds of people showed up. Eventually my tent (and Jim's - he had shown up eventually) was surrounded by cars.
Apparently everyone in town showed up for the festivities (a baseball game, high school dance troupe performance, etc.), which lasted until well after my bedtime. During the fireworks, I emerged from the tent (no way I could sleep through them) and watched for a while. Incredibly, Jim, who had gone into his tent at about 8:30, apparently slept through all this. What kind of earplugs does he have?
A good day.
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Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 3,791 miles (6,101 km)
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