Friday, July 31, 2009
Day 39 -- Davenport, IA
Iowa has no shoulders on the roads. Add fog, a light drizzle, small country roads, and semi-trailers and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Even with a bright orange jacket and a blinking back light, there were a lot of near misses today. On top of that, we had a pile up in the morning when I fell because my front tire slipped off the road and into gravel, causing me to fall over sideways. The two people behind me ended rear-ending me and flipping over me. Luckily, none of us were hurt and none of the bikes were damaged. It wasn’t a comfortable day on the bike. Worse, right as we were rolling into the town of Davenport with a police escort, I hit a pothole and got a double flat. Yes, both my front and back tubes popped at the same time. Since my tires had more than 2,500 miles on them, I decided it would be a good idea to buy new tires (Kevlar reinforced) to replace them and hopefully last me the end of the summer. Other than that, we are staying at a hotel (Clarion) for the second night in a row, a rarity, and we had a friendship visit at a local pool where I had 9 sandwiches for dinner.
Day 38 -- Iowa City, IA
Ever have an off day? It seems as though everyone on the team had one of those today.
In the morning, one of the crewmembers drove their van onto a curb. They got a wheel stuck for a solid 10 minutes before we could get it out. The bottom of the van screeched as it rolled off--it didn’t sound too great. I don’t think we’re getting our security deposits back. You can actually see it in one of the pictures.
Biking felt like swimming because of heavy rain all day. We were in traffic between cities for most of the 30 miles to Iowa City. After waiting in a park for 45 minutes, the police escorted us to the University of Iowa campus. Of course, we got lost on the way and had to separate from the vans to take a path directly across campus to actually get to our destination. We arrived in the direction opposite to the one we were supposed to, so we had to re-arrive in order for the cameras and news crews to readjust.
After our arrival to the old Capitol building (now part of the campus), we were welcomed into the grand hall of the building, where a few speakers had prepared speeches for us. During one of them, the advisor to the Sororities and Fraternities of University of Iowa asked if Ryan Novak (we call him “Slow-vak”), a student of theirs, was present. He answered with a prompt, “wazzup?” * Slaps forehead *
Once we got to the hotel, the rooms were not ready, so we had to wait an hour before 4 of them opened up. We stuffed all of ours things into them and left, in our drenched jerseys, for lunch at the Theta Theta chapter.
Ugh.
In the morning, one of the crewmembers drove their van onto a curb. They got a wheel stuck for a solid 10 minutes before we could get it out. The bottom of the van screeched as it rolled off--it didn’t sound too great. I don’t think we’re getting our security deposits back. You can actually see it in one of the pictures.
Biking felt like swimming because of heavy rain all day. We were in traffic between cities for most of the 30 miles to Iowa City. After waiting in a park for 45 minutes, the police escorted us to the University of Iowa campus. Of course, we got lost on the way and had to separate from the vans to take a path directly across campus to actually get to our destination. We arrived in the direction opposite to the one we were supposed to, so we had to re-arrive in order for the cameras and news crews to readjust.
After our arrival to the old Capitol building (now part of the campus), we were welcomed into the grand hall of the building, where a few speakers had prepared speeches for us. During one of them, the advisor to the Sororities and Fraternities of University of Iowa asked if Ryan Novak (we call him “Slow-vak”), a student of theirs, was present. He answered with a prompt, “wazzup?” * Slaps forehead *
Once we got to the hotel, the rooms were not ready, so we had to wait an hour before 4 of them opened up. We stuffed all of ours things into them and left, in our drenched jerseys, for lunch at the Theta Theta chapter.
Ugh.
Day 37 -- Cedar Rapids, IA
Nothing like going 6 miles off course first thing in the morning. I was in the sweep group today and our project manager forgot to verbalize some directions to us as we left (assuming we’d heard it) and we ended up missing a turn. We followed a main road all the way to a closed off bridge before we realized something was wrong. After that, one of our teammates had to rack at the first stop because he has seriously sick (probably a stomach virus). Around midday, we were pulled over with another group because of a flat when a news crew for the local channel 9 asked us some questions and decided to do an impromptu interview of our group for their station. They had just finished doing a report on a triple homicide at the store we just stopped in front of and then followed us for a couple miles taking shots of our group cycling. What a bizarre day.
We arrived at the city of Cedar Rapids after a few more detours and a 10-mile rack because of bad roads. The local Arc sponsored a friendship visit and dinner as well as opened their doors for the night. We are sleeping in the cafeteria. They told us all about the infamous floods of June 2008 in which a 10 mile block of the downtown part of the city was inundated with 10 feet of water. I took a picture of the flood line in the arc. When we went out to the local piano bar that night, they also had a flood line on their wall to mark the event.
PS. One of our teammates got us cycling caps (a week ago) for the entirety of the north JOH team. I took a picture of myself with it.
We arrived at the city of Cedar Rapids after a few more detours and a 10-mile rack because of bad roads. The local Arc sponsored a friendship visit and dinner as well as opened their doors for the night. We are sleeping in the cafeteria. They told us all about the infamous floods of June 2008 in which a 10 mile block of the downtown part of the city was inundated with 10 feet of water. I took a picture of the flood line in the arc. When we went out to the local piano bar that night, they also had a flood line on their wall to mark the event.
PS. One of our teammates got us cycling caps (a week ago) for the entirety of the north JOH team. I took a picture of myself with it.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Day 36 -- Marshalltown, IA
Great day off the bike! I crewed with Ryan Grumble and encouraged the cyclists all day, especially Bryan who is doing a ride-along on my bike. I marked a few turns and had fun shooting some artsy pictures. I was really impressed to see Bryan finish the 65-mile day without any incident, although he too, like Ross, was extremely fatigued on arrival. I was also glad to see my bike arrive without any scratches!
We had a friendship visit at a Bowling Alley in Marshalltown. I scored a 125 (if you know anything about my bowling skill, that’s a good score). We’re staying in the gym of the local community college. That night, we went out to Sonic (Slushees, of course) and then saw the new Harry Potter movie. We barely it back on time for curfew. The movie let out later than we expected so we had to run back! Good day.
We had a friendship visit at a Bowling Alley in Marshalltown. I scored a 125 (if you know anything about my bowling skill, that’s a good score). We’re staying in the gym of the local community college. That night, we went out to Sonic (Slushees, of course) and then saw the new Harry Potter movie. We barely it back on time for curfew. The movie let out later than we expected so we had to run back! Good day.
Day 35 -- Des Moines, IA
We had pizza for breakfast. Not too much to say about the day besides that. It was an easy 50 miles into Des Moines (which means “Of Monks” in French by the way—it used to refer to the river of monks).
It wasn’t so easy for our crewmember, Ross, who decided to do a ride-along today. He borrowed one the cyclist’s bikes and rode as a cyclist for the entire day. Let’s just say we all arrived hours before he did and had a grand arrival for him and his pace line once he got to Camp Sunnyside. His words—“that was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life!” He almost crawled in up the last hill and could barely talk because he was crouched over his bike for a solid 5 minutes after arriving. His face was covered in salt. The cyclists he rode with had a good laugh because apparently he stopped every few miles on the last 20 and would scream “AH! Cramping!” before pulling off. We all had a lot of respect for him for cycling such a long distance without training. I remember my first 50-mile ride with Tim Lutz after weeks of training and how difficult it was for me.
The camp itself was nice. We had beds in three bunkrooms allotted to us. There was a swimming pool in which we spent a few hours. The shower was a hose dangling from the wall, but at least it was warm! We hung out with the counselors at night (mostly foreigners) and watched “50 First Dates” before going to bed early. I won’t be riding my bike tomorrow because I am lending it to Bryan Janzing, one of my good friends and crew member, so that he can do a ride-along.
It wasn’t so easy for our crewmember, Ross, who decided to do a ride-along today. He borrowed one the cyclist’s bikes and rode as a cyclist for the entire day. Let’s just say we all arrived hours before he did and had a grand arrival for him and his pace line once he got to Camp Sunnyside. His words—“that was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life!” He almost crawled in up the last hill and could barely talk because he was crouched over his bike for a solid 5 minutes after arriving. His face was covered in salt. The cyclists he rode with had a good laugh because apparently he stopped every few miles on the last 20 and would scream “AH! Cramping!” before pulling off. We all had a lot of respect for him for cycling such a long distance without training. I remember my first 50-mile ride with Tim Lutz after weeks of training and how difficult it was for me.
The camp itself was nice. We had beds in three bunkrooms allotted to us. There was a swimming pool in which we spent a few hours. The shower was a hose dangling from the wall, but at least it was warm! We hung out with the counselors at night (mostly foreigners) and watched “50 First Dates” before going to bed early. I won’t be riding my bike tomorrow because I am lending it to Bryan Janzing, one of my good friends and crew member, so that he can do a ride-along.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Day 34 -- Winterset, IA
We woke up to a chilly morning in the small retreat outside of Griswold, Iowa. After a quick breakfast, we packed the cars with our bikes to head down the two mile dirt road that would bring us to a the paved state road. We were all aching to get started, especially since it was cold outside. I left with the first pace-line into the rolling hills of Iowa.
We started biking at 7:00am and pushed ourselves as hard as we could. I was riding with some of the fastest guys on the team. I don’t think I have ever wanted to give up as badly as I did today. It was a grueling pace and I felt on the brink of exhaustion for most of the ride. We averaged 21 mph for the day (on rolling hills, nonetheless) and finished the 65 miles at 10:30. We arrived first at lodging by about 50 minutes, 15 miles ahead of the group closest to us. This is despite the fact we got a flat. The feeling of arriving at lodging at the end of such a tough day was incredible. I was so proud of myself for being able to push as hard as I did and finish the day without slowing down my pace-line at all (not once did I call “steady!” which means “slow down”).
After a quick shower and setting up our sleeping bags, I had a “walking taco” for the first time. It’s a Doritos bag that’s crunched up into which you add beef, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and cream cheese. Apparently, this is a very common dish in the mid-west. It was absolutely delicious. It sounds like a great and easy to make college meal.
In the afternoon, most of the team napped for about 2 hours before an amazing lasagna dinner that was provided by a local Presbyterian church. I went out to the county fair to see the animal shows. At 8:00pm, there was a rodeo and most of the team came out to see the cowboys compete. I had never seen one before so I was thoroughly impressed. We were told by some of the bystanders that this is one of the deadliest sporting events in the country. After seeing a few rounds, I am not surprised. The falls the competitors take made my heart skip a beat. On a few occasions, the riders could not get their hands out of the harness and were literally dragged by the hand on the side of the bull or horse. There were a few other events like a presentation by the equestrian team and some barrel racing, as well as a cowboy-clown that wasn’t very funny. Today was a day for a lot of firsts. I am really getting my fill on this mid-west experience.
We started biking at 7:00am and pushed ourselves as hard as we could. I was riding with some of the fastest guys on the team. I don’t think I have ever wanted to give up as badly as I did today. It was a grueling pace and I felt on the brink of exhaustion for most of the ride. We averaged 21 mph for the day (on rolling hills, nonetheless) and finished the 65 miles at 10:30. We arrived first at lodging by about 50 minutes, 15 miles ahead of the group closest to us. This is despite the fact we got a flat. The feeling of arriving at lodging at the end of such a tough day was incredible. I was so proud of myself for being able to push as hard as I did and finish the day without slowing down my pace-line at all (not once did I call “steady!” which means “slow down”).
After a quick shower and setting up our sleeping bags, I had a “walking taco” for the first time. It’s a Doritos bag that’s crunched up into which you add beef, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and cream cheese. Apparently, this is a very common dish in the mid-west. It was absolutely delicious. It sounds like a great and easy to make college meal.
In the afternoon, most of the team napped for about 2 hours before an amazing lasagna dinner that was provided by a local Presbyterian church. I went out to the county fair to see the animal shows. At 8:00pm, there was a rodeo and most of the team came out to see the cowboys compete. I had never seen one before so I was thoroughly impressed. We were told by some of the bystanders that this is one of the deadliest sporting events in the country. After seeing a few rounds, I am not surprised. The falls the competitors take made my heart skip a beat. On a few occasions, the riders could not get their hands out of the harness and were literally dragged by the hand on the side of the bull or horse. There were a few other events like a presentation by the equestrian team and some barrel racing, as well as a cowboy-clown that wasn’t very funny. Today was a day for a lot of firsts. I am really getting my fill on this mid-west experience.
Day 33 -- Griswold, IA
We woke up early to get a head start on the traffic out of Omaha. Although we spent a majority of the first 20 miles on highways and large 3 lane roads, cars and trucks were sparse (although we did get to roll past some backed up traffic after morning rush hit). We quickly entered the suburbs of the city where we took a small bridge over a river and into the state of Iowa. Naturally, we stopped for a 20-minute photo shoot at the border. Since we didn’t have many accessories for the photos, a lot of us took corn off the stalk only to be screamed at by the crew chief for being irresponsible and stealing property. The next pace line then rolled in, and the only guy from Iowa on our trip jumped off his bike, ran down to the corn, and ripped two huge stalks out of the ground to proudly display them in front of the state sign in a pose as the crew chief nodded in dismay. He then responded, “Its ok, I’m from Iowa!”
The next 30 miles went by quickly and were mostly rolling hills and cornfields. It was interesting to see some fields were leveled into plateaus like rice fields in Southeast Asia. 15 miles outside of lodging, the skies darkened quickly and a wall of rain hit us. After about 5 minutes, it felt like swimming in a pool. Our shoes were filled to the brim with water, our jerseys drenched and glued to our bodies, our glasses fogged up and drenched from the water being projected by the wheel of the cyclist ahead, but most importantly, a smile was plastered on our faces at the hilarity of the situation. It wasn’t as funny after 10 minutes when we got pulled over by our crew chief who was worried about thunder. Although we did spend time in the warm vans, the return to the bikes once the situation was deemed safe was painful. The rain was now cold, the roads muddy, and the conversation down to dull moans and complaints. We pulled up to lodging very slowly only to have to wait outside for vans to bring us across the 2-mile dirt road that brought us to the quaint retreat. We are a couple of miles outside of Griswold, IA.
After washing my bike and a cold shower (of course), I walked around the area and took some pictures of the ducks and hens around the small farm. There is not another house or person as far as the eye could see. In the evening, we went to a sponsored dinner at a stone quarry turned lake where we swam and played volleyball for hours. We had another team meeting and I nominated my friend Joe Borghoff as cyclist of the week.
It’s nice to be out in the wild. It’s quiet and the night sky is beautiful. I’m going to miss days like this.
The next 30 miles went by quickly and were mostly rolling hills and cornfields. It was interesting to see some fields were leveled into plateaus like rice fields in Southeast Asia. 15 miles outside of lodging, the skies darkened quickly and a wall of rain hit us. After about 5 minutes, it felt like swimming in a pool. Our shoes were filled to the brim with water, our jerseys drenched and glued to our bodies, our glasses fogged up and drenched from the water being projected by the wheel of the cyclist ahead, but most importantly, a smile was plastered on our faces at the hilarity of the situation. It wasn’t as funny after 10 minutes when we got pulled over by our crew chief who was worried about thunder. Although we did spend time in the warm vans, the return to the bikes once the situation was deemed safe was painful. The rain was now cold, the roads muddy, and the conversation down to dull moans and complaints. We pulled up to lodging very slowly only to have to wait outside for vans to bring us across the 2-mile dirt road that brought us to the quaint retreat. We are a couple of miles outside of Griswold, IA.
After washing my bike and a cold shower (of course), I walked around the area and took some pictures of the ducks and hens around the small farm. There is not another house or person as far as the eye could see. In the evening, we went to a sponsored dinner at a stone quarry turned lake where we swam and played volleyball for hours. We had another team meeting and I nominated my friend Joe Borghoff as cyclist of the week.
It’s nice to be out in the wild. It’s quiet and the night sky is beautiful. I’m going to miss days like this.
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