July 16, 2020
lunch at the farm, covered bikers, fairport campground, gazing at the stars
Day Three: Burlington to Muscatine
I woke up at 7:15, then ate one of my touring breakfast: homemade maple pecan granola. Jerry watched as I loaded my bike, fascinated that I could get 70 lbs of gear into those tiny bags, then loaded onto a bicycle. I'm fascinated too, even now.
After saying our goodbyes, we headed out at 10:00 into a cool morning. There were some hills here and there, but nothing steep, and the mild headwind we had was COOL so we didn’t mind.
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The temperature continued to climb and around 2:00 we pulled into the shade of a large tree for a late lunch. The tree, a sprawling bur oak, was in the front yard of a farmhouse and as I was preparing my tuna wrap, a middle-aged woman on a riding mower pulled up to ask us if we needed anything. Karen said no, but I took the opportunity to ask if we could refill our water bottles since we’d need some before too long. When she came out her arms were laden with several bottles of water, all of it COLD, and I unabashedly chugged a whole one before speaking again. We chatted a few minutes, complimenting her on the enormous vegetable and flower gardens.
By this time there wasn’t a breeze so, oddly enough, it was actually cooler to continue riding than to sit in the shade and sweat, so we didn’t linger. With each stop, our bodies would immediately try to compensate for a lack of breeze by dumping out copious amounts of moisture.
Karen’s chain came off, which we replaced quickly. Looking around I noted that the surrounding corn-covered hills would make a representative and, hopefully, picturesque photo so I told her to go ahead.
After a few shots I climbed on my bike and as soon I turned the crank my chain came off. That was pretty weird because it’s been several decades since I’ve had a chain slip off. I made sure to let Karen know about it so she wouldn’t think she had done something wrong to have caused hers to slip off.
As I was riding to catch up to her I met a couple of bikers in their thirties going in the opposite direction. Almost every inch of their bodies was covered with some type of cloth, the exceptions being their faces (with sunglasses and the white smears of sunscreen) and their fingertips which were peeking out of their cycling gloves.
From across the empty road we talked. They started in St. Paul and were heading south, and asked if they were on the right road. It was a question I found interesting because they had maps AND cellphones, and there WAS cellphone service. They also asked if there were any stores ahead in which to get water. I said no, but later, after thinking about it, I wasn’t sure. Since I’ve been getting my water from outside places and using a water purifier, stores just haven’t been on my radar.
After catching up to Karen, we passed through Kingston, Oakville, and Toolesboro, then crept up on Muscatine. I was planning on staying in the backyard of one of my previous students, but Sarah had rented a campsite at the Fairport State Recreation Area so we pedaled there instead. It was about six miles or so off the route and took 45 minutes to get there. Some of it was on a really nice bike path, but we missed a turn and lost about ten minutes retracing our steps. I believe I recall questioning in the last paragraph how someone could get lost while having maps and cellphones, so I put a nice picture of a barn between that statement and my admission, hoping you'd forget about it.
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I’m not sure if it was the combination of heat and humidity, but by the time we arrived I was exhausted and had to sit in my chair for a while to rest before setting up camp. I had pedaled on a loaded bike that far under similar conditions, so I’m not sure why I hit a wall like that.
For dinner I cooked lasagna with meat sauce, then ate a chocolate mudslide for dessert. The camp had a shower so we got cleaned up, after which I worked on adjusting Karen’s seat, tilting it forward, to see if it might make it more comfortable.
The evening slipped by, and it eventually found the three of us laying on the picnic table staring up at the stars and sipping on some Grand Marnier until 10:30 when we decided to call it a night.
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distance: 57.7 miles
moving time: 5:15:10
total time: 7:44:18
elevation gain: 1050 feet
max speed: 30.7 mph
calories: 2512
average heart rate: 95 bpm
max heart rate: 136 bpm
Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 153 miles (246 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |