Just the Basics:
Friday, 8/13/10: Yikes! It's Friday the 13th, but we've had a good day here in Dyersville, laying over to wait for the heat to break. That won't be until Sunday, so we'll stay here on Saturday, too. We'll be back tomorrow to let you know what we've been up to in Dyersville.
Saturday, 8/14/10: As you know, we're still in Dyersville; we don't really have a lot to report - see For Those Who Want More.
Tomorrow: The weather forecast is still for a much more pleasant climate starting tomorrow (Sunday, 8/15). We expect to cycle about 25 miles to a private campground just past Cascade, IA.
For Those Who Want More: Here's what we've been up to on these 2 days, in no particular order:
Stuff: We've been catching up on email, business, shopping and blogging.
Reading: Riley is about 1/3 of the way through Robert V. Remini's A Short History of the United States; Becky about the same in O.E. Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth. We've also started Kinsella's Shoeless Joe, in honor of being in Dyersville where Field of Dreams was filmed - we plan to visit the Field itself on our way out of town tomorrow. These 2 days have afforded some good reading time. = ) = )
Eating: Motel breakfasts each day; Lunches: local Chinese restaurant's lunch buffet on Friday, Peanut butter sandwiches plus in our room on Saturday. Dinners: Pizza and Minnesota's Grain Belt Premium beer at The English Pub on Friday - a place recommended by a cyclist we met Thursday in New Vienna; Saturday night we plan on beer or wine and Subway sandwiches in our motel room before catching a movie on the telly - walk-to options not great near the motel.
Routing and Related Stuff: Riley has spent a lot of time on the Internet looking at climbing in the days ahead - inconsequential tomorrow, about 800' on Monday and 400' plus on into Muscatine and the end of our current Adventure Cycling map on Tuesday.
He's also learned where there's appropriate lodging from here to the current map's end in Muscatine, IA (about 100 miles, which will translate into three days of riding) and made reservations for the next two days. On Sunday we'll be camping outside Cascade; on Monday we'll stay in a "B & B" near Lowden - but we're skipping the breakfast part - the breakfast option costs extra and is very fancy, but one of the "rooms" is a suite with a kitchen, so we're opting for that instead and will have fun cooking our own dinner and breakfast.
He then identified likely lodging options and daily goals all the way across Illinois and looked at where we are in the journey - over 2700 miles behind us, 1700 to go; still on target for a 10/13 arrival in Bar Harbor, ME.
Looking Ahead: Each of our Adventure Cycling maps typically covers about 400 miles (2 weeks) of riding. The next one takes us through North Central Illinois & Indiana. We enter IL across the Mississippi from Muscatine, IA and leave a few miles east of the tiny town of Iroquois, IL (pop 207). The first town we encounter in IN will be Brook (pop 1082). We exit IN about 8 miles northeast of Monroeville; our first town in Ohio will be Payne, about 5 miles later.
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8/13: An Email from Cousin Steve: Continue to be cautious when facing the three Hs (Heat, Humidity, Hills) all at once: you don't want to STROKE OUT at the 3000 mile mark of your great adventure. That will be one one memory you don't want to review during your golden years!!!
ReplyDeleteCan any parts of your current route be done at night or is that too dangerous?
Take care, Steve
8/14: An Email from Cousin Steve: hey. This isn't a date or a vacation. This is important work going on here!
Have a wonderful time in Dyersville, IA!
Pick you up next week on the outbound leg.
Toodles, Cuzz