June 28, 2021
Day 22: Cedar Rapids, IA to Dubuque, IA
Hey, I made it across Iowa!
Another day with decent cloud cover, mild temperatures, and no rain – just the humidity! I headed out of Cedar Rapids on a pleasant series of bike trails. These started out paved, then suddenly switched to crushed gravel:
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This was fine, as hard-packed crushed gravel can ride better than a street with potholes, and this was a pretty fast surface. Then it changed again:
This eventually became like riding on someone’s lawn – not exactly hard, but 4 miles of it was a bit much. There was even a fallen tree I had to clamber over with the bike.
Wait, is that a road up there? A PAVED road?
It was, but I took a rest before continuing – going through the woods with no wind at all was pretty damp work. A local farm cat wandered by, but wasn’t trusting enough to let me get close.
The next road took me back to Hwy 151, which I had to follow for 49 miles – almost the whole way. More rolling Iowa farmland. This barn is emblematic of what I think of in an Iowa farm – not all were this cute and some smelled pretty bad. As they say here, that’s the smell of money.
Pick any of the last five days – it’s looked like this to me:
Approaching Dubuque, I was turned onto the old Hwy 151, which ran along a ridge and had some nice views of the Iowa countryside:
I got to my sister’s home about 3:00 pm. They had been watching my GPS progress and were waiting in their driveway.
My sister even baked a birthday pie for me and there were several cards waiting from my family and kids! What a nice surprise!
Best track was “Electric Sunset” by Twanguero. Great song for riding or driving.
Tomorrow is a rest day, which (after 9 days straight of riding) I need. Then on Wednesday, I head up to Mineral Point, Wisconsin…the home stretch!
Today's ride: 66 miles (106 km)
Total: 1,157 miles (1,862 km)
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