Second Trip, Day 1 - Adel to Springbrook State Park (Iowa) - Travels With Carl

May 31, 2024

Second Trip, Day 1 - Adel to Springbrook State Park (Iowa)

It was during this trip that the possibility of a journal began. Jeff Lee planted the seed. His mother-in-law lives along the route and I asked him if, on the off chance, he was going to be visiting her while we were there.... maybe we could get together. Unfortunately not, because, according to him, he only visits when the weather is terrible. (Of course, trivial inconveniences like -20F/-29C temperatures won't keep him from going for a ride) During the conversation he asked me if I planned to write about it. I hadn't, but it started the wheels turning. Of course, my wheels turn very slowly, so I still wasn't considering it until several weeks after this trip when I was looking at pictures. By the way, Jeff is the first Cycleblazer I met, during my 2021 trip. He was the person who introduced me to this community, so you have him to blame.

Without realizing it Carl and I now have a tradition. On the way out, whoever isn't driving reads the Harper's Index. It's a collection of statistics, and the listener (always the person driving) attempts to guess the answer to the forty or so questions published each month. It's particularly interesting because they're frequently grouped into related questions:

Percentage of U.S. adults who think that other people should apologize more often: 46%
Who think that they themselves should apologize more often: 11%
and
Percentage of married U.S. adults who believe in the concept of true love: 75
Who say they have found true love but not with their current spouse: 10
and
Portion of people in India who say that social media has been a good thing for their democracy: 3/4
Portion of people in Sweden who say so: 2/3
Portion in the United States who do: 1/3

The documentation is good, and it's a fun tradition.

Ten miles into the trip, we came upon a detour. Frequently, I'll just ride around the barricade, and have had some of my best cycling roads in doing so... no traffic, recently paved surfaces, etc. Only once or twice have I had to backtrack, and even then not very much, so overall the payoff has been well worth it.

In this situation, it just wasn't possible. Because it's a rail trail, they had torn out the path completely so there was no surface to ride on, and no way to ride on the side of the ex-path. There were also a lot of serious-looking people in hard hats and large earth-moving equipment.

Unfortunately, no one offered an alternate route, so we pulled out our phones and picked one out from google maps. After about two miles we re-entered the Raccoon River Valley Trail.

Not long after getting back on the trail, we encountered an enormous tree which had fallen across the path. The trunk was about the same size as the diameter of a car tire and, again, there was no way around the waist-high mass of wood. However, as is usually the case, some determined hikers and bikers had broken off and brushed aside enough limbs to be able to get over it.

At the same time we approached, there were a man and a woman coming from the other direction. They appeared to be in their early thirties, and the man was pulling a trailer. It was fortuitous, because there were now four of us picking the bikes up over the waist-high barrier. My unloaded bike weighs 45 lbs, so the assistance was very much appreciated.

We chatted while we moved the bikes, then briefly afterwards, and I learned that they were heading back home just a few miles away. Unlike your average couple out for a pleasant Friday afternoon ride they appeared a little rough around the edges, and I was thinking "I'll bet they have some good stories."

I wondered what they were carrying in the trailer. At first, I thought it was a baby, or a toddler, but when I glanced inside there didn't appear to be anything breathing and, since I don't recall what I saw, nothing memorable. Later, Carl admitted to feeling some anxiety while talking with them. I agreed, adding "I thought that looked like a rocket launcher in their trailer." When the four of us were talking about bikes, as passing cyclists frequently do, he was becoming internally alarmed when the conversation turned to my new bike. Were their questions an attempt to determine how much they could get for a bike like that? Were we potential victims? Me, later: "I thought that looked like a human arm in that trailer."

I offered up a couple of places to camp. One was the cemetery in Yale, and the other was the Springbrook State Park Campground. Although some people get creeped out about sleeping in an area surrounded by dead bodies, Carl isn't one of them. Even so, we decided to stay at the campground since there are shower facilities there.

One of the things that's been an ongoing joke between the two of us is the number of items Carl forgot on this trip. Just like when he first started traveling to California for his job, the initial trip went well. He had a list and checked everything on it. The second trip, however, came with a hubris that he already has everything. This, the second bike trip, was accompanied by "2nd-trip hubris packing."

There are more, but the ones I can remember include a spoon for his meal, a headlamp, and a bike lock.

After we got the tents set up, it was time to sip on the Old Fashioneds Carl packed. For obvious reasons we didn't bring ice, so he went to one of the nearby campers to ask if they had any. (He also asked if they had any plasticware and mooched a spoon for his dinner). Fortunately, they had an icemaker embedded in their 40-foot RV. He brought a couple of plastic cups filled with ice... only to realize he left the Old Fashioned at home. Change that list to a spoon, a headlamp, a bike lock, and the Old Fashioneds.

We pulled out our lawn chairs (yes, lawn chairs) to settle in for the evening. As Carl was setting his up, he realized his was actually a camp table, complete with cupholders. He tried arranging his butt on it to see if it would hold his weight, but it wasn't designed for that. Change that list to a spoon, a headlamp, a bike lock, the Old Fashioneds, and a camp chair.

There was no cell service in the park, so we were unable to call or text anyone to let them know we were okay.

When Jon Ayling pointed out the humorous "Non-Modern Restrooms" sign, I noticed a small "VT" on the legend and googled it:
"On a restroom legend or floor plan, 'VT' typically stands for 'Vomit Trap' or 'Vomit Toilet,' which is a specialized fixture or feature designed to handle situations where someone might vomit. These are often included in restrooms for high-traffic or public spaces like schools, hospitals, or transportation hubs."

Now I want to go back and examine the Non-Modern Restroom more carefully. Did it have porcelain handles to grasp as your dinner reappears? Or perhaps an arm rest? Wet wipes to use for tidying up those chunks of food stuck on your lower lip after you're done? This alone is worth another trip to the Springbrook State Park Campground.

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Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 166 miles (267 km)

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