WATERLOO, IOWA: The First Day, In Which You Can See That, Quite Literally, This Sequel Begins Exactly Where The Original Ended

September 11, 2018

Yesterday I drove to my dad's house in Oelwein, the Iowa town where two years ago I rode my bike to a class reunion. I spent the night explaining to my dad the rationale for my trip. He didn't quite understand WHY I would want to ride to some of the most dangerous places in the country. Even when I explained that my intent was to disprove that "most dangerous" bullshit, he just muttered, "if your mother was still alive, she'd be worried sick."

When my family first moved to Oelwein when I was 15 years old, my brothers and I were a little bored. "Is there anything fun to do in this damn town," we wondered? The punchline was, "yeah, go to Waterloo." So, some 45 years later, that's exactly my plan for today--with the added motivation of cycling in America's 7th most dangerous city for bike riders.

Within three blocks of leaving my dad's house, I got my first "good morning" greeting from a stranger. This tour is off to a great start!

A couple miles later I was pedaling in that beautiful Iowa countryside. The sun was low in the sky and the air was cool.

The cornfields are turning brown as summer gives way to autumn.

A short break at the Fairbank City Park gives me a chance to introduce my bike. It's name is The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong.

I'm pretty sure there will be plenty of pictures of farm scenery coming up in this journal over the next week or two--agriculture being the principal Iowa industry--so I'm not going to display too many of them today. But I can't ignore farmland completely since 3/4 of my ride went through it.

Cows all over the country like to stare at me. Iowa cows are no exception.

One of the things I like almost as much as agriculture is heavy industry. The John Deere Company, manufacturer of tractors and combines and other stuff with powerful engines and hydraulics, has a huge presence in Waterloo. I passed three big John Deere facilities during my day of dangerous exploration.

One of the John Deere plants, surrounded by cornfields on the northeast edge of Waterloo.

Trailer loads of tractors ready to be shipped.

The John Deere sites were a fascinating aspect of Waterloo, but let's get back to the evilness of that awful bicycling city. It hates cyclists SO much that it drew me into its downtown area with four miles of bike trail alongside Martin Luther King Road. It was paved with cement and it had benches and rest areas and signage. How DARE they treat cyclists like that?

And there were MORE of those dangerous bike trails all over the city. I even saw a couple of dedicated bike lanes in the downtown area. Oh, the shame!

I rode on almost every downtown street. Never once did I feel afraid. But then, I'm a tough guy so maybe I don't recognize danger as easily as some California-loving bloggers do. Here are a few more scenes from the treacherous streets of Waterloo.

I suppose it's possible a bicyclist could hit that grass on the bike trail and flip over.

Fourth St. is the main east-west route through downtown Waterloo. It's not even busy enough to be considered "dangerous."

Maybe the authors of the "most dangerous cities" article thought this bike trail isn't safe because it runs too close to the Cedar River.

The problem with the Cedar River is that it's currently running above flood stage. Further upriver, it had washed out the George Wyth State Park where I had planned to camp tonight. Billed as an "urban wildlife sanctuary," that park sounded like just the right place for me to spend the night. Unfortunately, the campground was closed. So I reversed direction, explored more of Waterloo, and resigned myself to the idea of staying in a motel.

Wrestling is a big deal in Iowa and Dan Gable was the greatest amateur wrestler of my generation. I was a high school and college wrestler, but I didn't know about this this place until I rode past it.

I guess I won't be touring the museum today.

Instead, I went to the Singlespeed Brewing Company and enjoyed a couple of sour beers from the cask.

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 287 miles (462 km)

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