The wrong side of the tracks is livelier

July 27, 2022

Iowa bike day

It was another pretty morning here in corn country. Perfect for a bike ride!

On tap today was more of the Raccoon River Valley rail trail but this time we'll drive to Redfield which was located west of Adel and start from there. We plan to meet our friends in the next town and bike with them to another town (these towns are all about 6 miles apart) before turning around.

As we left Redfield the trail took a turn to the north and we were surprised as it dropped downhill through thick woods. Lovely, a climb at the very end of the ride! But at least it would be in the shade.

We continued dropping until we were at river level and then the trail flattened somewhat. Mostly we were in the shade and at times could hardly see the fields on each side of us. We crossed many country roads, all of which were gravel which seems to be the norm in Iowa.

No nicely paved back roads and it's NOT flat either! Nope - lots of rolling hills in this part of the state. So we were happy to find a flat route.

When we reached Linden, we saw Bev and Larry getting their bikes off of their rack. Once they were all set, we rode together to Panora where they wanted to turn around. They haven't been riding much lately so weren't in shape to do a longer ride.

Don and I continued a few miles further north before we stopped. The trail was mostly out in the open at this point so the sun really beat down on us and I started to develop a heat induced headache. Despite having a visor on my helmet and soaking my head cover with water, these headaches are fairly common for me.

Turning around, we sped along briskly as we had a slight tailwind and it wasn't long before we made it to Linden where we said goodbye to our friends. Continuing onward, we made our way back to Redfield where the last leg wasn't as much of a climb as I thought it would be.

It had been a pleasant ride although the condition of the pavement wasn't as good as the section we'd been on yesterday. This is an older portion of the trail and you could see that they don't do much maintenance on it.

There were fewer riders today but we did see a couple on a tandem and 3 people that had full panniers on their bikes. No one stopped to visit but we assumed that the loaded riders were on some sort of tour.

When we got back to the truck, we loaded up the bike and then drove to the grocery store in Adel to pick up something for dinner. On the way home we saw a small produce stand out in front of a farm so stopped to see what was on offer. We ended up with some freshly dug potatoes which will be nice with our meal.

Back at the trailer, we spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching more RVs coming into the campground. I imagine that it will be busy this weekend.

It was another lovely sunrise here in Iowa!

Our campsite at the KOA is a premium one with a large patio and even a grill.

Grain bins are the skyscrapers here in corn country.

Bev grew up near Linden and she said this building was an old gas station. The brick building in the background with no window awning was her mom's cafe.

This country inspired mural says it all!

I don't know where the town of Stuart is located, but this former bank would have been something interesting to see.

It was so nice to see familiar faces after many months away from friends.

I'm thinking something's wrong with this picture!!

Today's ride: 27 miles (43 km)
Total: 60 miles (97 km)

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