One Week of Riding ..In Summary

Monday
Fremont to Sioux City 90 miles, The first day was difficult; I was jumpy and nervous, but I pulled out of Fremont and at the first turn (that I missed!), I joined up with another rider, Nancy Neiwenhuis. She took me out to the hills of Nebrasaka and we spent most of the day riding together. I was grateful to have her by my side as I was feeling awfully twitchy from lack of sleep and the anticipation of getting on the tour.

Hot weather, but no rain, nasty headwind coming into Sioux City….tired, but still good,and still willing to take on the next day.

I tried that night to sleep on the gym floor (disaster!) Swam in the community pool for 10 minutes, showered and washed out my things…then dinner and off to bed with no success. They couldn’t turn out the lights in the gym. I had managed to get a rx for ambien that my gracious Dr. had called in. I still only slept 4 hours, but better than usual.


Tuesday Sioux City to
Dordt College 63 miles, hills, but lovely ride and good weather and scenery.
Rode with Nancy Niewenhuis and had some good laughs. What a fabulous day of scenery, stopping when necessary and not necessary…We made a good show of the hills that day and it was a pleasant distance.
At one point we were headed up a hill. In shifting, it felt like my chain had derailed….so I called it out…oh no, my chain is off!,,,,It was not. Then immediately, nancy, who was riding her beautiful lime green and black carbon frame Orbea just 4 feet in front of me, literally shifted and lost her chain and down she went. I fell over her and we lay in the gravel laughing hysterically. I have never fallen with such a laugh before. We had to humiliatingly declare our fall at peloton meeting that night which was held in front of the entire Dordt community at the celebration rally.

I have another question…who says we are in the plains?
When I think of plains, I think of flatlands….these lands are NOT flat…far from it. Seems most days have included about 3500 ft of climbing…Yes, they do include 3500 feet of falling too sometimes, but the point is, you still have to climb it! The corn fields are surprisingly interesting. They are not straight and flat and they are speckled with spots of those really cool tall power generating windmills.
I have a new appreciation for energy conservation and it usually involves conserving my own energy for the hills. I ride easil down and hope for the best on the return uphill and don’t push it beyond the point of disrepair.
Wednesday 118 miles
Out the door in the rain, it was exceptionally difficult to get going and by mile 24 I was suffering beyond repair. I hate riding in the rain. The only consolation was that we hadn’t had to camp the night before. We had spent the night at Dordt in a dorm. It was a lovely bed, but I still hadn’t gotten enough sleep. I was toughing it out when Mark came alongside me in his recumbent; I think he knew I was down. He encouraged my spirit. It was wonderful and more than I could’ve asked for. I spent the first stop that was hosted by local church on the floor of a shelter, stretching my leg and seriously thinking I was not going to make it. A little sustenance later, I was able to pull it together and pull out the door.

Thursday 115 miles
Today I joined a paceline to cut the distance and hack out the miles in good time. I was done with the ride by 4. This is particularly amazing to me b/c I have never ever finished 65 miles before noon and today it was possible b/c of the paceline.
I rode with Leanne Geisterfer, who is eaqual to me in strength and ability. It is quite interesting. She and I joined a line just outside of Sioux Center. We asked “Permission” but the line got horribly long and a little too treacherous for those who had formed it originally. By mile 45, they wanted to drop all of us extras and so we split into 2 groups. We were then 4 riders and finished the day in about 8 ½ hours on the bike. But after 115 miles, it was still a long day.
I couldn’t get a ride into town to buy batteries for my mattress, so after that long day, I still had to ride my sore butt into town to get new size D batteries for my air mattress. My mattress inflater had gone dead during the day when it turned on accidently in my gear bag. Oh well. I had read recently, that it is really a good thing to ride for a few minutes hours after the “main” riding is done so that you can restretch your muscles a bit before ending the day. Surprising, it does work….who would’ve thought that I could manage 3 more miles after 2 –100+ days. But then you do tell yourself, hey, what’s 3 more miles after I’ve ridden 115. It’s all a game of the mind, isn’t it?


Friday 100 miles (actually riding 72).

Okay, I copped out today…or that is what I’m telling myself. The guilt heaps up on you and you say, I am not going to call it a day early. I WILL NOT call the sag wagon. But frankly, my judgment was off and I was supremely exhausted. I didn’t feel entirely safe on my bike b/c of my tired state and I was on “sweep” duty that night, when I saw Walter in my rear view mirror in his motor home (he runs one of the sag stops and he was headed to camp for the night), I opted to give a thumbs down sign and have him pull me in… It was convenient and I was safe..suck up the pride and call it a day, oh well.

I had just crossed the Mississippi, after taking an hour nap in a park next to the bridge. I had watched thetraffic on the bridge for some time…noticing that it was stopped for well over 15 minutes. It seemed a good time to take it on when traffic wouldn’t be screaming at me from behind. I had hoped there would be a shoulder since I saw some other bikers clear the bridge earlier with stopped traffic. There was a construction crew on the bridge doing repairs and traffic was closed in 2 lanes, so only 2 lanes were open and we had to entirely occupy the only eastward lane that was open..Every 250 feet or so, this lane also had drains that couldn’t be traversed by bike that were 3 ft wide, so we had to choose to occupy the entire lane and go around the drains. I was feeling confident having gotten halfway over when someone swore at me from the oncoming lane“get off the xxxxen bridge!”…Wow, that was really unjustified. He must’ve thought I was the cause of the stopped traffic, when actually I was moving faster than the stopped traffic!

I crossed at a higher speed than was my usual and my heart was pumping; seems adrenaline had kicked in. Even tho I was feeling pretty good, I thought that a steep uphill climb lay immediately in my future (our maps had indicated one) and my knees were serving me notice. So I knew I would peter out soon. Then Walter appeared and decided that was a good moment. I called it a day. I never felt so glad to sit on the lovely soft fur covered seat of his motor home than that moment. It sure made a sore bottom feel good even if it hurt my pride to call in early!

Saturday 76 miles
Hampton to Madison:
It was the last day of the week for riding and everyone was feeling good about being done with the 100+ days. It seemed we were all in high spirits about the day...in our terms it would be a "short day"....wow, someone says it feels as if you've been brainwashed by believing 100+ miles is a normal ride. Then you get a day that is 3/4 of that and you think it will be a short day!

So off we went through the hills of Wisconsin. It was a supremely pelasnat day ...We passed thorugh small towns and saw lots of beautiful dairy frms. We were loving every miniute of our ride... I was on and off with people and that was fine. I rode alone and with others and joined some of the girls for lunch at a cafe in Mt. Horeb Wisconsin. It was a little scandinavian baker and we were making quite a splash in town.there was lots of interest in what we were doing and some of our riders even got treated to a free lunch.....plus, it seemed that Wisconsin was a wonderful place to ride -- wide shoulders just for bikes and loads and loads of riders. The hills, though challenging, were spaced just right. The road was good and we were all feeling happy for the Sunday that was coming...Two nights in one place seems like a vacation after a long challenging week.I made a wrongturn at one point and took a few riders with me. I had to stop at a nursing home to get directions...Oh well,
add one mile to the road.

I had dallyed a little, getting off a little late and then I needed to catch up with the group at a county park just a mile from the church that we were staying at. They wanted to ride in as a group together b/c the church was hosting a reception for us

Wow, they sure did...we rode that last mile together in our jerseys and we looked quite something riding together...it seemed rather inspiring to see us a la peleton.
The churches' efforts came together in a wonderful way. They were cheering and we were cheering them...plus, they had a New Orleans style jazz band playing us into the parking lot. Wow, they put so much effort and class into it...and the kids banging on their drums were fun to see.

Sunday, August 10
I am finally getting a day of rest. Its been a long week with lots of intense riding.
I’ve done some pacelining, but am riding alone as well.
I found yesterday to be particularly enjoyable. We were travelling into Madison Wisconsin and spent a good day in the hills of Western Wisconsin just east of the Mississippi River.
I am now a seasoned veteran at this thing…It is interesting to see the change that happens quickly within the course of a week. I now have gotten my system down…I lay out everything I will need for the morning, pump up the tires on my bike, make sure it is shifting properly and well lubed. Get my gear in my back bag and try to consolidate my campsite so all I have to deal with is my gear bag after I’ve packed up my tent.
In the morning, I first deflate my mattress, and then fold up the contents of the inside of my tent and get dressed. I put all this in my gear duffel bag. Then I pull the gear bag into the grass (hopefully at this point it is NOT raining….even tho the tent is wet, I pull all the stakes out, fold the fly, pull out the poles, then lay the fly in the middle and fold the tent (wet with dew) and throw it into a garbage bag and then the gear bag….We lack ceremony in this process since the tent won’t have chance to dry out until the next night when it will again be set up. So this process will begin again for the week tomorrow morning.

Then I take my tray for b-fast, make my lunch from the lunch table and then get my b-fast. Since last Thursday, I’ve been missing my plate and utensils. I had to take a trip out to the store to get new ones. Oh well…who knows how they’ve disappeared. I was missing my charger for my phone for 3 days and that was a little traumatic, but it turned up after they cleaned the gear truck last night. I was almost gleeful when they found it…so good to finally have my charger back b/c without it I had to keep my phone turned off to conserve battery energy.
Sunday was a good rest day…so nice not to pack up my tent and make sure all the things were ready for the next day. A day of rest takes on new meaning now.
We are in Madison Wisconsin…staying at a CRC church called Crossroads. The people, again, have been amazing and we are so encouraged. We had such a great group ride into the church, complete with New Orleans jazz band welcoming us in. Wow, for such a small church to lay out such hospitality is amazing. We are leaving a rather large footprint too. We are all over every room of this church. Using their phones, using a special “communications rooms for the internet” -- wow, and they have fed us with brats, and food and food; they have entertained us with tours of the city, films, music and a special worship service. They have shuttled us to showers and laundromats and have given us free access to everything. We, I hope haven’t taken too much advantage of their tremendous hospitality.

I had a delightful tour of the capitol bldg with our hosts Roland and Joanne, who shuttled, Terry x, Clarence Doornbos and Cory, the sag driver (he drives the “honey wagon” which is a portapotty on wheels ). We stopped for ice cream at the U of Wisconsin student Union situated on the largest lake in WI.

Monday … August 10
Madison (McFarland) to Woodstock, IL
It was the most beautiful day for cycling I have had this year…wow! The temperature was just right, the weather was perfect and we were on our way early at 6:45. Leanne Geisterfer and I spent the day together cycling thru some pleasantly rolling hills of Southern Wisconsin…thru a few small towns and really beautiful farmlands. Horses and sand hill cranes….The horses in the fields were beautiful…obviously some of them were race horses since there was a practice track nearby…and one lovely foal was playing and frolicking with a large “soccor” ball. Even the birds seemed joyful.
I had to remind myself to slow down and see the scenery…It has become an awful habit of mine since last week to count down those miles and focus too much on the clock…how far can we go before lunch?, can we get in 60 miles, can we get to point A before 1 p.m…. when will we reach camp? How fast can I go today?. I tried to spend more time today enjoying my day and appreciating the scenery and the creation and remembering I was not in my usual spot. It is a privilege to vacation and today was truly a vacation day …I was away from work, away from my family and loving the flow of the bike and the pedaling. A soft tail wind would occasionally push us forward and make us extra fast…we joke that our skills were improving because we were faster today than we had been…how wonderful that was to get a little push. I still struggle tho to remember that it wasn’t about the miles or the effort. It was about seeing a new part of the country I had never experienced.

The passing cars and trucks always give me pause and stress me out a bit…I go faster to try to ward them off, but they come up on me when I don’t even realize they are there…At first you feel panicked that perhaps they will push you off the road. Then I remember my bike safety class…be predictable, occupy the lane, let them know you are there and what you will do and they will slow and take the necessary measures to pass you appropriately.
After a lunch at a church in Delavan, WI (wow..what a lunch…beef sandwiches and lots of side salads and lots of ice cream and brownies..)
Leanne and I spent the day conversing about lots of things.. we talked a lot about how we wanted the group to go to Roseland and visit the Ministry Center there. The route had been changed for safety reasons a few months ago and they had eliminated the route thru Roseland. We felt that this was sad…we wanted to share our City of Chicago with our group and show them the vital work that is being done there. So we spent every sag stop talking to people about going to the city and considering taking the alternate route with us. When we had peleton, Aaron and Leanne and I spoke…she spoke eloquently about the changing city and Aaron told others about the condition of the unique area of Pullman. I told others of the route. It was accepted by 60 others and we were excited. Now I just need to get into Trinity to produce the cue sheet tomorrow. I suspect we made some people mad tho…I think there is some political underpinnings not to go that way…they resisted, but we were convincing.
Please God, let others see the city and learn from it.

We crossed over into Illinois today too. The road immediately changed and shortly thereafter, Cory was waiting with his yellow port a potty on wheels for us and a handmade sign saying “Welcome to Illinois” since no sign appeared at State Line Rd.
We had a fun remaining ride although I was bothered by the traffic from behind, it seemed to fade as we entered Woodstock….and there, less than a mile from our end point was a dairy queen. How fortuitous…I ordered a large Moolate. Unthinkable…I would never do that at home for fear of gaining weight, but the tour has made me eat and eat and eat….I drank it all and ruined my dinner . It was delightful.
Peleton meeting was long tonight and now I am sitting in my tent and am intent on writing down everything I will see.

I pray God that I will not tire of the wonderful love that surrounds me. That I will enjoy tomorrow and not be pressured by the ride ..that I will know that the cue sheet awaits and you have taken care of everything and will guard us with your hand.
Good night moon. Tomorrow rain is forcasted late.

Tuesday,
Woodstock, IL to Trinty Christian College, Palos Heights, IL.
82 miles.
Okay, I knew today's traffic would be challenging. We were looking at a ride that would bring us into the northwestern suburbs of Chicago via the Fox River trail. The trail was 38 miles long....and it was fun, but it was long. We got turned around a few times...there were lots of options to go different directions. They trail was rather rough in spots and later in the day many of the riders complained of flats. The roads also did us in.
We ended the trail in Aurora and headed thru town, the first 10 miles were fine, but when we turned onto 75th street, the shoulder was supremely messy and the road was very busy. We lost our shoulder a number of times and had to vacate the road for the sidewalk ....it added lots of time and was risky b/c we were dealing with cars pulling in and out of driveways and storefronts.

I so much wanted people to see the best of Trinity since I work there...but the difficulties of the roads surrounding Trinity made things rather challenging and our next major road, they were laying tar down that stuck to the wheels and made us pick up lots of debris. We then headed to the highway that brought us into Trinity. I had ridden unusually hard that day in my eagerness to get in to Trinity and see my husband and friends, was making me a little frazzled. I tried to calm down. When I was just one mile from campus, I had to go under a rail bridge and that made things rather difficult when the road narrowed and an SUV refused to let me in and forced me into a pot hole to avoid being side-swiped. By the time I arrived, I was beyond where I should've been...the miles had taken their toll.