I was woken up by rain and just as I was about so say something to Brad I realized he was already half done putting up his sleeping bag. Packing up seemed to take twice as long in the rain as it normally does. We decided to get some breakfast and let the weather move a little farther down the line.
The wind blew the rain out of town before changing direction into an evil head wind. It was slow moving and we had to deal with road work for most of the morning, jumping out of the way as waves of cars passed us on the one remaining lane.
In Johnstown, NB we stopped and got a pop and ice cream at this little antique/craft store. I got a couple things as gifts but as we were leaving the owner pulled a Dick Collins on us. It was a battle to get out the door before she could recount the life story of everyone who lived in the county.
That afternoon, a few grueling miles later in Ainsworth, NB we ran into Roqer and Steve riding off from the bar. While we were talking, the sheriff stopped to tell us that there was a tornado warninq in the next county. Brad and I decided to take a seat at the bar for a beer and call it a day.
In the city park on the side of town we found a free campground and right next to it, the city pool. The best place to spend your money on showers is at a public pool. You pay $2-3, get to shower, to swim, you can keep an eye on your bike through the chainlink fence and there are always cute lifeguards. At a campground it'd cost you $5 with no swimming or cute lifeguards.
The pool was great, it felt good to work some muscles other than my legs. Brad met a lady who did part of the morning show on the local radio station, she said she'd put us on the radio if we wanted to come by the station the next day.
Back at the campground we talked with Roger and Steve about Iowa. They were riding across as a part of a group ride called RAGBRAI (The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). The Iowa Register has put it on for the last twenty-something years, it's 10,000 people doing a week-long ride across the state with a lot of partying along the way. If you've seen the movie The Straight Story you may recall several scenes with RAGBRAI riders.
As they kept talking we got more and more interested, eventually deciding that we'd like to do the ride if it was possible. It left Souix City a little later than our current schedule but if we could squeeze it in and still make it to Chicago on time it'd be the best way to see Iowa.
andrew
Posted by drewish at July 17, 2001 12:00 PMThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)