Because we were peddling gingerly, we lost the main group almost immediately. This was fine, because it gave me and Ralph a chance to ride slow and talk. We wound up talking politics, which was fun because we're on opposite sides of most issues, but we enjoy discussing each other's viewpoints. Even though we were sore and riding slowly, we were keeping about the same pace as the rest of our group factoring in their beer breaks.
The first town we came to was Varina (population 27). Not too much to do there and we weren't hungry, but I had my handlebars adjusted to transfer some weight from my poor butt onto my hands.
Most of the towns we came to were fairly nondescript. Also, I've gotten to know what is available in most of the towns: beer, pork chops on sticks, smoothies, pizza, etc. The same vendors travel from town to town, so you pretty much know what your options are before you get there.
The town of Pocahontas (aka 'The Princess Town') was a nice surprise, and quite a bit bigger than Varina. There was an indian princess greeter there that attracted a lot of attention:
They also had a statuesque courthouse surrounded by a beautiful shaded own, and a neat idea of pre-stamped post cards that they will mail for you. Everybody we've met has been very nice, but in Pocahontas they were especially friendly. I got a picture of Ralph in action from the roadside on our way out of town.
When we left Pocahontas, we had ideal riding conditions. The road was unusually smooth (most roads here are very rough with tarred-over cracks throughout), it was very flat, and we had the wind at out back (this makes a HUGE difference). As Ralph and I cruised along effortlessly at 20mph, I remarked that it felt like we were being shot out of a cannon.
Despite the great riding conditions, we were really starting to feel the burn in our butts, so we decided to stop at the next place no matter what it was. This turned out to be Mr. Porkchop, a regular vendor who travels with the tour and sets up a roadside carnival each day. It's strange, but we have not been very hungry on this trip at all (probably because we're so full of fluids), so we split a pork chop, which was great. They had a water slide set up, and the Miller Lite girls selling beer. This was a bit of overkill, as no extra incentive is needed to sell beer here, but I don't think anybody minded.
After we left Mr. Porkchop is when the trip started getting really rough. We turned from north to east, which put us against diagonal cross winds, and our asses were searing. At this point it felt nothing like getting shot from a cannon and more like being shot by one in the butt every time we hit a bump (did I mention how rough the roads are here?). We were doing about 12-14 mph and being passed by kids on mountain bikes hauling tents and sleeping bags in trailers.
At some point in this misery we came to the town of West Bend (I think?). By this time in the trip, we were stopping for any excuse we could think of. We got out there and had smoothies that were fantastic. As we were getting ready to leave town, we saw the most interesting thing I've seen so far in a town in Iowa: The Grotto of the Redemption. This is a stunning structure, built apparently out of sea shells (how they got any quantity of these in Iowa I have no idea), quartz, and various other bits of rock and glass. It's much bigger than these pictures show; there are multiple levels and numerous caves and sections. We would have loved to stay longer and explore the structure and associated museum, but we were already poky enough without extended sight seeing, so we moved on.
At long last, we came to our overnight destination, Algone. This is a big town by Iowa standards (maybe 10,000 people I'd guess) with many shops and a beautiful church. There was an outdoor concert set up with a really good cover band playing lots of my favorite 80s songs, like Journey and Brian Adams. We had steak sandwiches and blizzards from Dairy Queen, and that wrapped up day 2. Tomorrow is 'only' 56 miles and is supposed to be fairly flat, but it's also expected to be in the high 90s with thunderstorms. Hopefully our butts are ready for it - the team name (Butt Ice) seems quite apropos right about now.
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2 comments:
I love reading your blog. I hope the butt situation is getting better!
Pork-chops-on-a-stick, DQ blizzards and "discussing" politics, what more can a guy ask for, really? :)
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