June 26, 2020
Day 27 - Maquoketa, IA to Monticello, IA
You can't trust weather predictions
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We left the hotel this morning with what looked like a five hour window between the end of the morning storms and the beginning of the afternoon storms. The forecast said large hail and damaging winds were possible with strong afternoon storms, so we wanted to make good use of our window.
It had recently quit raining when we left, but the sky was still pretty dark. Luckily, our route had us "riding toward the blue" as John says, so we were optimistic.
After a brief stop for a little breakfast, we were on the road about 8:45AM. I saw this at the front entrance to the store.
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We made a quick bathroom stop at about mile 10 and got back on the road. At mile 12, we had another .5 mile 8-9% climb. We were able to power up this one. There was only one other place with an 8% grade today and it was much shorter. So, we were wondering - are these Iowa hills feeling so much harder for us this year because we're: A-old, B-lazy, C-out of shape or D-trying to climb on a loaded recumbent tandem? We decided it's a mixture of A and D. We can't do anything about A and there's not much we can do to lighten D. We keep telling ourselves that every climb makes us stronger - and when we get home in the fall, we'll have blissfully flat Florida routes to enjoy!
Not long after our first stop, a car pulled over beside us. We stopped and the man driving asked about our plans for the night. He warned us about the forecast for severe storms and told us he could get us a cabin at a nearby campground. We thanked him for his concern and told him we had hotel reservation ahead. He said he had hiked around Europe and so many people had helped him, he always wanted to do what he could for other travelers. It was such a thoughtful gesture. I wish we had gotten his name and photo, but thank you would be road angel for your offer of assistance. We really appreciate your kindness.
More pictures from today
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3 years ago
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About noon, we stopped at a bar and grill in a tiny community about nine miles from our destination. We thought we had time for lunch before the weather got bad. As we were talking with a couple of guys inside and waiting for our food, it got windier and darker. They wanted to drive us to Monticello in their truck, but we said we'd be fine. We took the food to go and biked as fast as we could toward town. We had light rain for maybe three or four miles, but it never got heavy. The sky was black behind us and blue ahead. When we got to the hotel, the rain had stopped and we had dried out. We checked in and not another drop of rain has fallen. They're still calling for strong storms tonight, but you never know. We're happy to be here safe and dry today.
I took these two pictures riding through downtown Monticello.
Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 580 miles (933 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
3 years ago
Here in Meadowcrest it was 90 plus degrees and I spent my usual hour in the swimming pool. Lovely, just lovely.
lou
3 years ago