Day Thirty-three: Adel, Iowa to Grinnell, Iowa

July 12, 2019

I was out before 6:00, after saying goodbye to Ruth, then stopped less than half a mile later to get a Diet Pepsi at the Casey's.

I rode several pleasant miles on the bike trail out of town, then turned north onto country roads. My plan today was to avoid Des Moines, and its likely confusing mix of streets and bike trails, and ride north of the city on trails and country roads instead.

Early on I ignored a "Road Closed" sign and just went around it. I saw no reason why the road was "closed" anyway.

Except for two very short sections on busy highways, where I occasionally rode on the gravel shoulder - one of the advantages of touring on a mountain bike - this was great, low-traffic riding.

I took a gravel road into Woodward, population 1,024, and stopped at the Casey's there for chocolate milk and a fritter. Unfortunately, this was one of the old-style Casey's stores, with no indoor seating, so I had to sit outside in the hot sun. It was already very warm this morning.

Woodward is the start (or end) of the "High Trestle Trail", a paved bike path with a high bridge over the Des Moines River. I hoped to follow this trail for several miles, then connect to another trail, then follow country roads to Grinnell, my destination for the day, and not get entangled in the urban and suburban Greater Des Moines Sprawl.

I rode onto the High Trestle Trail and almost immediately stopped at the trail head to reapply sunblock. There were several middle aged men on high-end road bikes there. They were not friendly - they gave me quick, dismissive glances and then resumed their boring discussion about the electronic shifting mechanisms on their expensive bikes. I was further annoyed when they revealed themselves to be chauvinist assholes as they laughed about the poor riding skills of a couple of the men's wives.

I left and rode onto the High Trestle Bridge. I'd heard a lot about this, and was prepared to be underwhelmed, but it lived up to its reputation, and was pretty cool.

The trail was briefly clogged with a large group of boy scouts. I suppose they were earning their cycling merit badges. I was happy to get around them when they all stopped for a break; they had some major wobbling going on as they slowly and erratically made their way on the flat trail.

Not long after that I met Uzo , who was out for a ride on the trail. His pace matched mine, and he was an interesting guy. As we talked at length, I missed my turn onto the Heart of Iowa Nature Trail, and instead continued for several miles south on the High Trestle Trail with Uzo to his destination of Ankeny, in the middle of the suburban sprawl I'd been trying so hard to avoid.

I'd gone several miles off my route, but I decided that backtracking would add too many miles, so I postponed making a decision about how to get out of Ankeny, and went with Uzo into a conveniently located bar and grill where we ate french fries and drank cold drinks.

Uzo left, and I attempted to figure a way out of Ankeny. There appeared to be a bike trail that would eventually get me out into the country, and back in the direction of Grinnell, but I was at least two or three miles from the trail head.

I headed in what I thought was the general direction of this trail head, but was quickly stymied by the ultra-heavy traffic. Fortunately I spotted a local rider, asked him for directions, then gratefully accepted his offer to lead me to the trail.

After a couple of miles of harrowing suburban riding - on sidewalks, through the Wal Mart parking lot, a very short section of "salmoning", even, we arrived at the Chichaqua Valley Trail, which wound through an industrial area, under I-35, and eventually got me out of greater Des Moines area.

I arrived in Bondurant and took a break at the picnic shelter right on the trail.

I continued on the trail as it wound its way northeast for miles. I was out in the country now. There were a few nice, shady sections.

Mingo, population 302, had the "Mingo Snack Shack", an unattended air-conditioned building with some vending machines, plastic chairs, and an old video game. There was even a machine that dispensed ice cream sandwiches, although after reading the affixed sign that warned that the machine was temperamental, I decided not to risk losing my money in it, and just purchased some soda instead.

I estimated the distance to Grinnell. I was going to be way, way over 100 miles today, and I originally had hoped for 85 or 90 miles. This was going to be the worst routing mistake of the tour. I emailed my hosts in Grinnell, Jeff and Kristen Arnim, and warned them I was going to arrive later than expected.

The trail ended at Baxter, population 1,093, which was large enough to have a small supermarket, where I purchased chocolate milk and Gatorade. The guy running the store offered to let me sit down in the store's employee break room, which was kind of him, but I was in a hurry now, and just chugged everything outside by the bike and rode off.

There were a few unpleasantly trafficky (and hilly) miles on a state highway before I got onto a quieter road, and then, for the last five or six miles into Grinnell, a bike path.

I arrived at the home of Jeff and Kristen and their young daughter Juniper Rose, showered and changed clothes, and then Jeff and I went to dinner at a Mexican Restaurant, where our waiter apparently fancied himself a comedian, joking that the restaurant was all out of Diet Pepsi. Hey - that's not something to kid about, OK?

I stayed up much later than usual talking to Jeff about our various shared interests (software development, bike touring), then went to bed and quickly fell asleep.

Today's ride: 118 miles (190 km)
Total: 2,620 miles (4,216 km)

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