July 8, 2012
Day 23: Earlham, IA to Hickory Hills County Park
(By Jeff)
While we were getting things ready this morning, Joy couldn't find the bite valve for her Platypus (the water bladder thing that she drinks from while riding – the bite valve is the part that you put in your mouth and bite down on to cause water to flow.) Turned out that it had somehow gotten loose and fallen into the possession of Philip's dog Woofy, who was, as Joy kindly put it, “guarding it.” After cleaning it of any residual dog slobber, we were on our way, but not before Twinkie the cat escaped from the house a few times. That cat is fast.
Roads were once again very quiet this morning, although there were more hills than on any day so far, and we were battling a mild headwind. We rode through Iowa countryside with no services for miles and miles before finally reaching Macksburg. All morning I had been predicting (hoping) that Macksburg would have a restaurant and store, even though Google Maps didn't show anything. Joy was more pessimistic, so when we reached the outskirts of town and saw a feed mill, we immediately stopped to see if there was at least a pop machine there. There was, although the laconic employee's response to my question “What's in Macksburg?” - “Not much” - didn't fill me with much hope. So, we were happy to find a nice little park with shade, and a small store where we bought snacks for a picnic. The lady at the store was the first person on this tour to broach what was a familiar subject on my previous tours when, learning about our trip, she said “I hope you're packing a gun!” I briefly considered telling her “You better believe I am!”, but instead took my cue from Joy, and provided a vague response.
We changed directions after our picnic in Macksburg, and started a nice, if hot and hilly, ride through some scenery that didn't look like the Iowa I was familiar with. It was more rolling farmland than flat cornfields. It was too bad that it was so very, very hot. We stopped at a shady spot near a lake for a while, where we reapplied sunscreen. It was around this time that Joy, weary of the sweat-inducing, unrelenting heat and humidity, started referring to herself as a “slimeball.” I did my best to assure her that she was not, in fact, a “slimeball.”
Later we stopped for a while in the tiny town of East Peru, where nothing was open, and the only living creature we saw was a very friendly little dog that joined us in the town park. Finally we left the shade, and the little dog that I had perversely named “Blackie” despite its mostly white fur, for the toughest climb yet.
After that, we stopped in the small town of Truro, which was large enough to have one of the unfortunately named “Kum & Go” convenience stores, which are a pale, pale imitation of the region's Casey's stores we like so much. We stayed there for a while, drinking fountain soda pop, then moved to a grungy bar and grill where we drank more fountain soda pop, and I amused myself by reading the many handwritten signs instructing the bar's patrons about was, and was not, allowed in the establishment.
Then it was back to the Kum & Go where we bought ice. We also scored some free ice that the ice truck man dropped on the ground. (We were not so addled by the heat that we actually consumed this slightly dirty ice, but we did use some of it to rub on our heads in an attempt to cool off.)
After that, we took a two mile shortcut on a gravel road that had a very steep hill, which I found very nearly unrideable. At the top of this hill a woman emerged from a house, observed me sweating profusely, and told me I could stand under a shade tree in their yard. She then left, while I stood under the tree waiting for Joy (who was walking her bike up the hill.) Then the only unpleasant encounter of this trip occurred. A man drove up to the house, saw me standing under the tree, and asked pointedly what I was doing there. I told him that the lady (presumably his wife) and offered the shade, but he was not happy, and told me to leave. Ok then – it's a reminder that most, but not all, of the people you meet on these trips are friendly. Hopefully he got yelled at later by his wife when she returned and he told her what he had done.
A few miles later we stopped in the last town of the day for more cold drinks and snacks, I fixed a tire that went flat for no apparent reason, and we started out for a county park campground outside of town. It was an easy eight miles to the Hickory Hills Park, which, despite its lack of showers, was very nice indeed. After we cleaned up as best we could, Joy cooked dinner with out little stove and we went to bed in the tent at a reasonable hour.
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Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 985 miles (1,585 km)
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