Advertisement
Published: July 24th 2012
We left Cherokee-uphill-and we're treated to a magnificent Iowan sunrise. The morning ride took us through the power windmill farms-huge, incredible structures that are interspersed throughout the cornfields for as far as your eye can see. Aurelia, Iowa welcomed us dressed in Dutch garb and the entire town of Hanover ( population 5-seriously) came out with signs, cool water and tours of their historic buildings (all 6 of them). Lunch was true Iowa gourmet-Mr. Pork Chop, a 3/4 lb. grilled pork chop served with paper towels topped off with Kelly 's Pie (not Kelly G.) blueberry, peach berry, and peach/raspberry served in the pie plate. So...the morning was...well delightful and then the HEAT hit. The last 10 miles were BRUTAL-105 degrees and endless sun. We finished and hit the wall-Kely and Ann both were hit with heat exhaustion-cramping, rapid heart beats etc..took them both the rest of the day to cool their core temp down with endless cold packs and lots of water. Highway patrol reported 5 riders died due to the heat. With temps expected to be higher, Kelly and Ann took a rest day today-and are they glad they did. The boys said it was worse today with the addition of hills and wind. As the boys braved the elements in their saddles-Kelly,Ann,Robin and Landon packed up the RV and headed to Webster City. We have a new toilet courtesy of Webster City RV-and wonderful Robin went to the grocery store and had a fabulous spread of grilled brats awaiting the boys when they returned. Landon setup the RV at Faith Methodist church and all is well with Ragbrai. Truly an adventure of a lifetime. Kelly and Ann plan to be back on the bike, early to avoid the heat, and make our way to Story City-Three Dog Night plays tonight-hopefully we will be able to stay awake long enough to go here them.Ha!
From Webster City-you betcha! (in case you wondering that is what everyone out here says)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.145s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 5; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0415s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Debbie
non-member comment
Take it easy'!!!!!!
Love hearing from y'all! Take it easy. The heat and crazy hours of riding could be bad. So glad the toilet is fixed. Sounds like you will gain weight on this trip. Lauren was at her heaviest when she hike 240 miles across northern Spain in about 15 days!!! Locals bring out the good food!! And wine in her case. I think the RV is stocked well. Right?????