June 10, 2021
Day 36: Oxford Junction, IA to Dyersville, IA
If You Build It, He Will Come
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Climbing Today; 2,400 ft Climbing to Date; 57,117 ft
(the climbing shown is greater than the Ride With GPS map calculated - that's because the map doesn't include us riding 7 miles extra from "confusion" and making a tourist detour)
We enjoyed sleeping on the floor of the community center in Oxford Junction last night. It was actually very peaceful and I slept about as well as I have anywhere else on this trip. The heat, humidity, hills, and bugs, made a believer out of us yesterday and we determined to get an earlier start. So the alarm went off at 4:45 this morning and we were rolling shortly after 6 o’clock.
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All was well until I went straight ahead through Wyoming. No, not the real Wyoming, but Wyoming, Iowa. I don’t know how I did it, but I missed the turn to stay on route 136. The best GPS and maps systems can’t account for human error, and this human made an error. It was about 3 1/2 miles later that I realized the sun was staying on my left - it should’ve been on my right since we were going north. So simple celestial navigation saved the day when advanced technology failed. I added 7 miles to our day with that mistake - sigh... good thing we got an early start.
It was already getting hot by the time we reached Cascade, so I chilled out in the Cascade Cafe and had 2nd breakfast. Local folks were helpful with directions to get me on the right track leaving town. A guy at a nearby table said the heat index was over 100 - based on how it felt climbing the hills under the sun, I believed him. A lady told me how to find the farm that her husband grew up on - she said I would see it on the way out of town. Everyone was discussing the heat - this is unusual heat, record heat - great… In the introduction to this journal I discussed challenges we would face, and noted that our greatest challenge could be the heat. But I didn't expect it to come on this strong, this early. How hot was it? It was hot enough to melt the pipe insulation that Doc bought for extra cushioning on his handlebars. That's hot!
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3 years ago
Thanks for the tip! That sounds like something I will try - do the socks interfere with getting the bottle into the cage? I don't have any white socks with me to sacrifice, but next time we pass a dollar store I will buy some. Yeah, any solution to avoid hot water is very welcome. One of my water bottles is insulated, but even with ice in it it's only cool for an hour or 2 at best. Thanks again,
Bud
3 years ago
3 years ago
We left Cascade and marched on towards Farley - it was a hot march under a merciless sun - we were both going slow to be careful and not overdo it in the heat. Reaching Farley, we stopped for a cold drink at a Casey's store. There were no tables in this one, but we lingered inside in the A/C and camped out near a counter while I slowly drank most of a large lemonade. The remainder of the lemonade and the ice went into one of my water bottles on the bike - because I have rediscovered the "joy" of drinking 90 degree water, it's nice to have a cool drink even if it only lasts 15 minutes down the road.
So, we were rolling through Iowa cornfields and we noticed some lights on towers in the distance near the edge of a cornfield. Hey now, could it be?
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And, of course, we rolled past the Field of Dreams. We were only a few miles outside of Dyersville, so despite the heat we agreed to add a little detour to the day. And that's how I came to throw a simulated change-up from the pitcher's mound of the Field of Dreams.
Hey, who could ask for more than that? Wow, we walked on the Field of Dreams!
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I hope your own dreams are good tonight. The crazy heat caused us to re-evaluate our lodging options for the next couple of days - we really want to stay inside, and the only way we can do that is to roll 71 miles tomorrow. So we plan for an early start to buy miles while they are cheap - and we plan to not get lost either. Good night all...
Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 1,840 miles (2,961 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 9 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
Racpat
3 years ago
3 years ago
We should enter Wisconsin tomorrow. I guess we will have to deal with the heat and humidity a while longer. But since we are heading north, we should at least roll into lower humidity eventually. At least, one can hope...
Bud
3 years ago
You are getting some hard mountain passes behind you, then you can dance across the high plains! Please let us know how the riding is on the Montana roads, especially eastern Montana. We met a cyclist who rode those roads 2 years ago and spoke very poorly of them - he said the shoulders were bad and there was lots of oilfield truck traffic (the original route was moved further southward to avoid the oilfield traffic). To be blunt, neither of us are sure if this guy's perspective has any real merit - I don't think he was a very experienced cyclist - but still, let us know how the roads are. Thanks,
Bud
3 years ago