Spirit Lake Iowa on the 4th of July

Iowa is very bicycle friendly. I would surmise this is because of RAGBRAI, or the “Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa”, a cross-state tour started by the Des Moines Register years ago. It is so popular that now the participants are selected by lottery, and is limited to 8,500 riders, but in reality  an estimated 15,000 participate because many of the party just don’t register. And that is just what it is; a party. They take a week to cross the state we are crossing in three days, and furthermore do it with the prevailing winds of this time of year. It is an economic boon and logistical nightmare for the communities it invades. We were approached by Daniel Davis, Marshal of Forrest City during our visit, who shared RAGBRAI from his point of view. The population of Forrest City is 5,000 when the college is out of session, so an additional 15,000 coming into town for one night is quite a challenge.

Making our way from Forrest City to Spirit Lake Friday was a pleasant ride. Here in the Midwest the rolling open farmland is traversed with lightly trafficked roads mainly following the four points of the compass. There were some winding roads around lakes that included beautiful parks, but for the most part we crossed miles of corn and soybean fields for as far as one could see, and over them towered windmill power generators. Today’s wind was out of the south, so we had a crosswind building all day that I’d estimate currently is a steady 25 mph. Crosswind isn't particularly hard to deal with. Instead of a direct pace-line wheel-to-wheel we stagger diagonally, sometimes overlapping wheels to create a bit of slipstream. This can be tricky in a gust, for crossing wheels will cause the following rider to crash. Also, this puts us across the lane filling it, and though we are very conscientious about staying out of the way when vehicles approach from behind sometimes we are preoccupied with conversation and are overtaken by surprise, or just don’t get over fast enough to clear entirely. This is where Iowa steals my heart; not yet have we been harassed in any manner, but offered gracious accommodation.

Then more gracious accommodation is being provided by Emmanuel Lutheran Church. This is the third consecutive night we are being hosted by a church of that name. This particular church actually has showers in the building, not down the street! What a luxury! Since it is July 4^th I imagine most folks have other activities to attend, but some have come by to provide dinner as well. Meals are a great act of charity, for with this type of support our expenses are kept to a minimum so that resources can be used directly for providing affordable housing.

This is probably the toughest week of cycling I've done and we have tomorrow with close to 100 miles to do. The riders don’t have the energy to deal with another day of headwind like we had earlier this week. We are tired and sore, and in dire need of a day of rest to let our bodies recover.

Tomorrow begins with rain.