Northern Tier Day #24 Iowa City, IA to Cascade, IA
Northern Tier Day #24
June 13, 2019
Iowa City, IA to Cascade, IA 83 Miles
Ride Time 7:40
Tour Total 1915 Miles
I slept great last night at Donna and Tommy’s place. I could hear the birds chirping at around 7am and decided to get up. I showered, shaved, lathered up the sunscreen and chamois butter, and packed up my gear. My bike had been out in the back yard last night during the downpour, and my cycling gloves were soaking wet. When I wrung them out, brown dirty liquid from the gravel road dust streamed out. I should have stuck them in washer with my dirty laundry.
It was cool outside but the sun was bright. I had my route tightly calculated to get me from Iowa City back to the ACA route. There would be no gravel roads today. On my way out of Iowa City I hit a big steep hill and, when I shifted down to the front chain ring, the derailleur took it too far and my chain fell off. I nearly fell down. Woah! Things were different after my visit to World of Bikes. I was going to have to be careful.
State route 1 out of Iowa City had tons of traffic, but it had a wide shoulder and was better than gravel. After I crossed north over I-80 the highway went from four lanes down to two. The last time I had crossed I-80 was in Ohio, and this would be the last time I’d see it on this tour. I’m headed north to Minnesota, and then west to the Pacific. I passed a Sinclair station, the second I had seen in Iowa. I was reminded of Sinclair Wyoming last summer.
It rained a lot yesterday, and I had hoped that would change the wind patterns. It didn’t. The wind today was out of the north. I’m on a northern heading for the next several days. County Road F8W towards Morse had no shoulder, but fortunately little traffic. There was this strange cast-concrete tower in Morse that intrigued me. I later learned that it was a former ATT long lines tower. A steel framed cell phone tower had been recently attached to the top of it.
I got on County Road F28 towards Cedar Bluff and Tipton. I was headed north and right into the wind. The road surface was concrete and there was no shoulder. I passed a Trump sign and then a long field full of poppies. I crossed over the Cedar river at Cedar Bluff. I pulled over to put on my sweater because the cold crosswind was freezing.
I stopped at a Casey’s in Tipton. They were done making breakfast sandwiches, so I grabbed a slice of pizza, along with a Starbucks Frappuccino and an orange juice. After Tipton I was on State Highway 130 East. It had a nice wide shoulder.
At last I returned to the ACA route and took a left on County Road Y14, also known as the Hoover Highway. President Herbert Hoover was born in nearby West Branch. It felt great to be back on my route. That said, I was now headed north right into the wind.
In Lowden I stopped at the Cedar Country Store, where I had a fantastic barbecue chicken sandwich and a Gatorade. The clerk and cook were both really friendly. The clerk said that she hadn’t seen too many other touring cyclists this year. She had heard about one a week ago, but she didn’t know which direction they were going.
I stopped at the post office and shipped home my Hamburg Inn coffee mug, my Murakami book that I was never going to read, Tommy Santee Klaws newest cd, old maps, business cards, photo booth pictures, receipts etc. I talked to a woman out front of the post office. She asked about my trip, and then made it clear that I was not getting a fair representation of Iowa in June. I told her that I had gone to school here, and that I knew about the weather and crop problems. She thought that a lot of people were going to lose their farms this year.
I passed a second former ATT long lines tower, also with a steel framed cell tower built on top of it. In Massillon I crossed over the Wapsipinicon River. There was not a single cloud in the sky today. The air was cool. The wind was from the north and it made me cold.
I stopped at the Cenex TLZ Stop in Oxford Junction. The clerk asked if I was training for RAGBRAI. I grabbed a Gatorade and a pack of peanuts. I realized that I would be following State Highway 136 all the way to Cascade, my destination for the day.
I had transmission issues all day long on the new cassette that World of Bikes installed. I regret having that changed. Grind grind chugga grind. My odometer/speedometer was all fogged up from the rainstorm yesterday. There was condensation inside of the display. My original itinerary had me in Stillwater, MN by the 16th. It’s going to be a little tricky with this headwind to attain that. I still haven’t purchased my return ticket from the west coast.
Coming into Wyoming I passed the stone quarry. State Highway 136 is also known as the Grant Wood Scenic Byway. Wyoming is known as the Christmas City. I stopped at Casey’s for a slice of pizza, with a Gatorade and a chocolate cookie with M&M’s.
I rode through the tiny little town of Onslow, population 197. There was a large rock in the center of town inscribed with the town‘s name and a memorial to all of its young men who served in the military. There were American flags every 40 feet on both sides of all of the streets throughout the town. One of the major buildings had recently burned to the ground. There were no services so I didn’t stop. There wasn’t much there.
I rode through the rolling hills of Eastern Iowa with gentle ups and downs. Right before crossing the Maquoketa River I got honked at by an asshole in a red pick up truck. I instantly gave him the finger. As I told my friends in Iowa City, I’m willing to fight anybody who honks at me. I hate car horns. I think motorists should be billed every time they honk for sound pollution pricing. I mean, WTF? I’m seriously challenging myself out here trying to get down the road, and this asshole is all comfy in his vehicle listening to Rush Limbaugh. He’s all cranky because I’m living the dream and his wife hasn’t slept with him in years. So he presses this button on his steering wheel. HONK! What a man. I bet his dick is 3/8” long when it’s hard. What a tough guy. I hope he crashes into a telephone pole.
My cassette keeps skipping, and the second smallest gear is worthless. World of Bikes. Ugh.
I’ve been passing stinky farms all day. They usually reek of animal poo, but one had the distinct odor of animal urine. I learned last night that Iowa groundwater is some of the dirtiest in the country because of the unregulated animal waste. I actually remember that when I lived here the drinking water did not taste good.
On my way into Cascade, I pulled over to remove my sweater. I was instantly overwhelmed by black flies. There was no shoulder and a freshly laid gravel trap to the right of the white line.
I’m staying in Cascade Legion Park near the pavilion behind the baseball field. I contacted the police when I arrived to town, and a friendly officer came and met me. After I set up my tent, I took a shower at the nearby swimming pool and did my laundry. I had dinner at the neighboring Kalmes Club 528, where I prepared this report.
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