July 20, 2023
Not as young as I used to be for sure.
I am finally in Iowa, Siuox City to be specific. The ride in from Laurel had its yin and Yang moments. There was a pretty good tail wind and nice shoulder until the last 6 or so miles when more gravel and debris showed up. But there were lots of hills…..some 6-6.5 %. That’s not too bad but the hills didn’t stop til the last six miles when we finally dipped down into the ancient Missouri River flood plain. They were relentless and long/steep enough that they cannot be called rollers cause I was barely rolling up some of them. But NO RAIN!!!!! AND the Canada smoke seems to have dissipated also.
So with the group of riders I met yesterday and who also camped in the park in Laurel, I rode to breakfast and then began the days ride to Iowa. Now the youngest, you will remember, is 20 and the oldest is 38. Needless to say I was dropped on the first hill. And they are smart and traveling very light…. Bikepacking set ups and not traditional panniers holding everything but the kitchen sink. I gotta loose some of this stuff. I doubt I’ll need the cold weather gear I needed west of here but glad I had it when temps were 25 at night and when I was camping in the rain and wet. Anyway, one tough psychological blow to a cyclist traveling in a group is when you are dropped. Seems impossible to catch up, and in this cast it was. I did meet them at a gas station rest stop down the road but they were leaving as I arrived. So it was back to riding solo and listening to my music play list.
One thing I have found is that listening to your own play list while riding solo really helps. It’s like having something familiar with you from home.
Traffic on route 20 is pretty heavy on this section, at least truck traffic is. Lots of cattle trucks and I think from the smell they were hauling hogs today.….and not the Harley kind. Two observations about motor vehicle traffic in Nebraska: 1) As long as there is a shoulder the cyclist is riding, traffic does not move over. South Dakota was like this at times too. I was not worried about being
hit as the shoulder was wide, but the air turbulence from trucks can blow you off the road or knock you over. 2) The vehicles that did move over were the oncoming ones. They almost always moved over onto their shoulder when they saw me being passed by a vehicle traveling in my same direction. This I see sometimes at home but frequently in Nebraska. Though thoughtful it was really a useless gesture since the vehicles on my side didn’t move over 95% of the time.
I got so anxious about coming into Sioux City, what with the road opening up to a dual lane highway and having to cross the bridge over the Missouri, that I missed the turn that would have taken me the shortest route into downtown Sioux City. Instead I continued straight on 20, over the bridge, and onto Interstate 29! I don’t think it’s legal in Iowa to ride the interstate but I only had a half mile or so to the first exit which took me to a park and the bike path leading back up river to the heart of the city. It’s been some years since I was here last for RAGBRAI and the park along the river has come a long way. Nice concrete trails, playground equipment, exercise stations, rest rooms, even a splash pad. Impressive.
Tomorrow? I gotta clean my filthy bike so when my new parts arrive I can swap them out. And maybe find some good food. SiouxCity RAGBRAI committee has hooked me up with a host til my team arrived. Good guy, of course because he too is a Tim. He seems to have the scoop on where to get the best foods in various categories from Asian to Mexican to deserts.
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Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 2,073 miles (3,336 km)
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