Day 19: Atlantic, IA to Van Meter, IA

June 25, 2021

There were storms rolling through part of last evening in Atlantic – even a tornado in the next county south. We did get a beautiful sunset, along with a really close lightning strike that shook my motel.

I had to pass back through town, so got a shot of the downtown area – I didn’t go all through it, but it runs from the one-block park where the farmer’s market was down to what looks like the old train station. Cute!

I ended up taking the scenic Hwy 6 route, which was also labeled as White Pole Road Scenic Byway. It turned out to be a good road with very light traffic.

I have seen a few historical marker signs along the way, but when the sign says 5 miles with an arrow, I’m not willing to add 10 miles to my ride. However this one was right by the roadside:

Then I passed by a windmill. These are all over Iowa, but I’ve only seen them from the interstates – not up close. This one just had a gravel path that led to the tower – maybe 100 yards. I wasn’t aware they made noise – it’s sort of a whooshing sound. I don’t know if you can hear it in this clip or not:

I got to my host’s home about 3:30. Andy and Amy Walsh are two very kind people who own an Irish pub, bike all the time, support local bike organizations, and also have three rescue dogs. What better combination of attributes could anyone have? I found them on a site called warmshowers.org. It’s a bit like couchsurfing, but is by and for cyclists. They took me in, took me to their pub, let me drink Guinness and eat really good food, and the only thing they asked in return was that I talk to their cycling buddies. I think I came out ahead on that deal! I even got to try a liqueur I’d never heard of, called Mallort. It’s pretty vile – and in this picture you can sort of see my reaction. My host, Andy is in the middle.

The pub does a lot of RAGBRAI themed stuff and sponsors a team. Here’s a RAGBRAI mural painted on their patio wall:

Track of the day was “B.L.M” by The Specials. Great track by a band that’s been around a LONG time but still has a great sound with a timely message.

Tomorrow takes me to Grinnell, Iowa. I might get rained on, which hasn’t really happened yet.

Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 940 miles (1,513 km)

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