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.