June 7, 2021
Day 33: Kewanee, IL to Muscatine, IA
"Yes, I’m Evel Knievel!" and a Wet Welcome to Iowa
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Climbing Today; 1,001 ft Climbing to Date; 53,656 ft
(Note; I sometimes dictate real-time into this journal when I have a good data connection - so that's why you sometimes see me talking in present tense and sometimes in past tense - now you know)
The morning was cloudy, and that made for a really nice ride for the first 18 miles to Cambridge. The wind is out of the south so we will have a side wind today, that’s not great, but it’s certainly better than the headwind we have been dealing with. The next town past Cambridge is Orion, and the maps show both restaurants and stores available in Orion, so we’re going to go there and possibly enjoy second breakfast.
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This could be a long day, but there’s a chance of rain and we’re hoping that we have enough clouds to hold the temperature down. We’ve been pushing pretty hard for several days now, so we’re going to take a rest day in Muscatine and plan ahead, catch up on things, do laundry, etc.
I bought a little container of grapes and cantaloupe in Cambridge. I'm sitting outside on the sidewalk in the shade of the building and enjoying my fruit with chocolate milk, looking very much like some weathered hobo. I’m pretty tired of just eating Cheese crackers and peanut butter crackers for snack food, so the fruit is good.
Doc was having issues with pain in his wrist, so he adjusted his seat a bit while we were stopped so that he wouldn’t put as much pressure on his wrist. Riding all day every day puts a lot of pressure on your wrist, and your feet, and your butt of course. I’ve been concerned about hotspots in the balls of my feet and have moved my cleats once already.
We missed the restaurants in Orion because our route didn't go right past them and I didn't want to ride even an extra mile this morning, so we rode on to Sherrard. As we rode through a construction zone, a worker noticed my helmet and called out, "Hey! Are you Evel Knievel?" Of course I replied, "Why, yes I am!"
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I stopped at a BP gas station store and had a slice of cheese pizza and some chicken wings washed down with ice tea, while Doc went into town and had a burger at a bar. I purchased a Gatorade and filled my water bottles before leaving, and got ready for the next small jump to Reynolds. The rain started while I was in the store eating on a stool at a small counter. It started off gently and then transition to a moderately hard sprinkle, so I was glad to be inside at the time. But I needed to roll on, so it was time to put on the raincoat and go. The raincoat came off in just a couple of miles as this little shower was short-lived.
The last 20 miles was a bit of a push, but fortunately the route turned north for the last several miles and we enjoyed the tailwind. Just as we crossed the Mississippi river and got set up to take a photo with the "Welcome to Iowa" sign it started raining hard! So we got wet on the way to our hotel. The Comfort Inn had recently been remodeled and is a nice place, and we’re going to take a rest day here and do some planning and recover from several hard days.
The hot spot in my left foot had gotten pretty bad - it was at the point that I felt like I might suffer nerve damage and I was walking with some pain. My shoes are really pretty good; I bought them for the carbon fibre insole that is very stiff and helps spread out the pressure, and they had always been comfortable. But several days of hard pushing against the wind had done some damage. Also, things changed last July when they did the final surgery to my left heel; when the tissue grew back, and after the skin graft, my heel was not quite the same shape as it was before. Now it seems that it tends to push my foot forward in the shoe, and my left big toe was in great pain from being jammed up in the small toe box. I have adjusted the cleats once on this trip, and I will do so before tomorrow's ride to move the pressure point around. But what I really need is my comfortable old pair of mountain bike shoes that have a bigger toe box, and the wife has shipped those ahead to our hotel 2 days from now. They don't have as stiff an insole, but they will work. So that's the story of my foot.
Doc is off to Harbor Freight to seek out some pipe insulation to use as additional cushioning on his handlebar - he is suffering nerve discomfort in his wrist. And so we are both struggling to deal with the small issues that can become overwhelming if not treated. Even though you may be in adequate aerobic/muscular physical condition for a long bike trip, issues involving the 3 pressure points (wrists, feet, butt) can derail the journey. Rest days are needed so that things can recover - maybe not completely heal, but recover enough to allow you to continue.
So I hope you all take a rest day once in a while to allow things to heal. The constant grind of whatever your work may be can do some damage, both physically and mentally. Chill out bro - the journey ahead will still be waiting for you when you're rested. Over and out for now...
Today's ride: 77 miles (124 km)
Total: 1,732 miles (2,787 km)
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