Day 19 Bumping through Iowa

Tom here.......the day started off with an early departure (6:30) from Denison, IA (where they have the nicest dentists and dental assistants!) as this was the 2nd of 6 long (130 miles+) days of riding across the fruited plains of Iowa and Indiana.  The weather was clear with dew on the grass and some spotty ground fog...temperatures in the 60's and just a bit muggy.  Our first turn out of Denison was onto Donna Reed Parkway......named after the most famous product of Denison, outside of corn.  The first 10 or so miles were on nice smooth pavement and light traffic.  This changed quickly to a busy Highway 141 (Eastbound naturally) with very poor cracked & potted concrete roads.  When we weren't bouncing over seams/cracks in the concrete, we were trying to stay upright as huge trucks hauling corn or pigs or cattle or something passed us going 60+.  This stretch of road carried us to lunch...so about 4 hours of tense bike riding.

The remainder of the day were on less traveled roads, but just as poorly maintained.  Probably shouldn't critize the State of Iowa since extreme weather conditions do adversely affect the roads in these parts....BUT (and I use the word figuratively as well), bike riders feel every crack, road joint, pothole, etc.  Let me point out that there are 5 "contact points" that a rider has with his or her bike.  The hands, feet and seat (Mike says, in particular the sensitive areas on the front of the seat!).  After today's ride, all 5 points hurt...some more than others.  As much as we rode today, our bikes were probably bounced around over 10,000 times....meaning our contact points took a lot of pounding today.  Roadkill report...only 1 skunk....apparently there are no other animals (in Iowa) except humans and pigs that eat corn!

A note on the landscape change we noted today riding from Western Iowa to Central Iowa.  There's still a lot of corn but the rolling hills have given way to more flat ground.  And there appears to be more little towns and people now as we move easterly.

Tonight for dinner we succumbed to the McDonald's across the street from our Comfort Inn in Colfax.  Cesar salads and Angus Burgers go pretty well with the Coors Light for Mike and a PBR for me that we bought from the adjoining truck stop shop.  (It was OK'd by the McD's manager!)  Dessert was McFlurry's.

Tomorrow's weather forecast has the potential for our first rains...even thunder showers....some severe!  Our goal is to ride hard in the morning and try to outrun them...we'll see if we succeed.  Stay tuned!

Note for bike geeks.....my bike is geared with a compact crank (50/34) and an 11/28 cassette.  The combination works beautifully...especially the 11 as there a lot of downhills and wind-aided flats where you want to push a lower/harder gear...and sometimes just to keep up with the fast guys and their 53's.  Tires...I am using Continental 4000's 4 Seasons and I may go all the way with just this set.  I've suffered only one flat due to an industrial staple.  I'd definitely recommend these tires for long distance touring.  One other recommendation is a mirror of some sort....helmet or bike mounted.  2 reasons....one to see upcoming traffic and the second purpose is to see your fellow riders in case you dropped them and opened up a gap.  It's no fun playing "yo-yo" from behind!  Mike says, in other words Tom is being polite and tired of me bolting ahead without knowing where he is and him having to catch up.  Oops.  I do wish I had an 11 on my cassette, can't fly down the hills and you want to take advantage of that momentum where you can find it.