9-11-2012– (Tuesday) Lowden to Muscatine, Iowa

35 Miles biked today
Ride time - 3 hrs. 21 minutes
10.3 MPH
We are now 595 miles from Dorchester and 1054 miles from International Falls, MN.

For the 3,200 plus people who lost there lives on 9/11!

Our first climb of the day out of Lowden!

A couple miles into our ride this morning I got to thinking what a treat these early morning rides are to a person’s senses. Like every morning since leaving Wisconsin Dells, we started our day with a substantial climb out of Lowden. The temperature was about 50 degrees so we started with fleece jackets on. By the time we topped the first hill we had warmed up sufficiently to warrant taking off the fleece. Of course you get a little damp grinding up the hill so immediately goose bumps form and the hair on the arms stands out to try to insulate you from the chilly breeze. The start of our decent is like the first dive into a cool lake on a hot summer day. I look to the east and everything I see sparkles with the sun’s light reflecting off the dew. I look to the west and wow what a sight! With the sun behind me I see the golden color of corn tassels, the bright yellow of soybean leaves turning, the rust brown color of mature soybeans ready for harvest, and the dark green of windrows of hay cut and ready to be chopped or baled today. Such a view sure is beautiful to anyone with farming roots. I inhale and catch the sent of the hay drying and the smell of fresh worked soil. When the breeze lets up you hear the sounds of silence. It’s early enough that there isn’t anything stirring yet. If you try hard enough you might hear a few crickets or other insects but that’s about it. No TV, no radio, no cell phone, no kids, almost total silence, boy, “Life IS good”! There are so many things you see and experience on an adventure like this you can’t possibly describe them all.

Eleven miles into our ride we feel we deserve a break from the hills and stop for a bite to eat at Mel’s Pit Stop in Bennet. It’s Mel’s birthday today so people coming in wish her a happy birthday and everyone is in good spirits. During our break the winds pick up so the next 12 miles are in rolling hills and into a 15 MPH headwind. We cross Interstate 80 going east and west and can see dozens of trucks headed in both directions all with the pedal to the metal trying to get to their destination as soon as possible. I can’t help but think of the contrast in our modes of transportation, they are 40 tons rolling 70 MPH hell bent on getting somewhere, and  we’re 575# trying to average 10 MPH into the head wind with no where to go and all day to get there.



Finally the last 12 miles the hills started to level out and it appears as though we have the worst of northeast Iowa’s hills behind us but not without the winds picking up to 20 MPH. We arrived in Muscatine at 11:40 and discussed whether or not to continue on to the next town. We have a number of things we could do this afternoon and 85 degree temps were predicted so we  decided to spend the night in Muscatine. We need time to get the blog up to date and the bike could use a little TLC. The timing chain needs tightening and both chains need to be lubed.

Taking a break!

 

We’re looking forward to tomorrow as we will be biking into territory we have never been before.