RAGBRAI Week, Every Week

Every week is like a RAGBRAI week since we have been here in Iowa.  In previous years, I would have to spend 51 weeks a year waiting for that one special week of RAGBRAI.  Camping, bike riding, fighting heat and headwinds, encountering friendly Iowans, seeing beautiful countryside, more bike riding--all of what I love about RAGBRAI has been part of our days here.

Training rides in Virginia would get tiresome after while because we would do the same routes and get the miles over as quickly as possible.  Here we get to explore routes that are new to us.  Some of the rides have been with the bike club and some were mapped out for us by Mike, who has ridden just about every route there is to ride around Iowa City.  And then if we don't feel like doing a bike ride there is also the fun of spending time with the grandkids.  Life doesn't get much better than this.


Bridge over Cedar River on ride to town of Sutliff.

Mike met us one day at our campsite and joined us for a ride to Cedar Rapids.

Lunch stop at Blue Toad on bike ride to Cedar Rapids.

Bridge over Iowa River in Cedar Rapids.

North Shore Bike Trail near campground at Lake Macbride.

Lee tried to converse with this Iowan but didn't get much response.

First Day of Summer

Today is the first day of summer and there's no doubt that it is summer here in Iowa.  Since we arrived Monday the temperatures have remained in the 90's with the humidity almost as high.  Having a gusty wind blowing from the south has made it seem even hotter.  There's a possibility of some thundershowers tonight in advance of a cooler weather front.  Except for the fact that we are camping out, it would be a relief to see some rain.

Our four days of bike riding last week on the Katy trail in Missouri were good preparation for the heat and headwinds here in Iowa.  Being on a rails-to-trails bike path meant that we didn't get to experience any hill climbs but, in a way, that can make the riding more difficult.  It's always a struggle when you have to stretch your legs and lungs to pedal up a steep hill, but then there's the reward of zipping downhill.  On the flat stretches of the Katy trail it can get quite tiring to just keep pushing and pushing at the same steady pace as you slowly pass the miles of the same cornfields, wheat fields and river bluffs that were visible the hours before and the days before.

 Somewhere along the Katy Trail in Missouri

Bluffs along Katy Trail

Missouri River visible from Katy Trail

Remains of old clay-tile grain elevator, all that's left of the town of Pearsons along the Katy Trail

The only tunnel on the Katy Trail, just outside Rocheport

Monday evening we arrived in Iowa City, where we are camping at Kent Park. I was happy to see family and excited to get back on my road bike that had been here in Iowa City since the end of last summer's RAGBRAI. Tuesday morning the local Bicyclists of Iowa City bike club had a 30-mile ride scheduled, a perfect opportunity to take the bike out for a spin. Close to 20 riders showed up and it was good riding, as well as good socializing. We fought some strong headwinds but the ride leader had done a good job of planning so that the way back on the loop we had the winds behind us. We got to practice pedaling up a few Iowa hills, as well. And then there was the beauty of the Iowa countryside and the opportunity to wave at some Amish children peering over the fence of their yard watching us ride by.  We also encountered an Amish buggy on one of the roadways.

Thrilled to be riding the road bike again

Time at the park with the grandkids

Enjoying a nature walk in an Iowa City park

RAGBRAI is several weeks away and we will continue our training rides here and our visits with family.  Traveling is fun but it's also nice to know that we can stay in one place for a bit and not have to drive miles and miles in the car.

Vacation Is Over

Our vacation is over and now it's time to get ourselves in shape for the Des Moines Register Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI).  It's true that there are still 37 days left before the ride starts but we do need some training rides that match the conditions on the real ride.  Our travels and adventures over the past 6 months often included bike riding, but we were mostly on rails-to-trails bike paths and we didn't do rides that were very long.  Especially for me, I'm anxious to start using the road bike that I will have on RAGBRAI, instead of the hybrid bike that is the one I've been using on our travels.  It's important to get riding time on the bike that you plan to use for the week of RAGBRAI.

Before we left the West on Monday to make our way back here to the Midwest, we had a wonderful weekend with friends in Boulder, Colorado.  They hosted us for the weekend at their cabin, which is on the eastern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.  The pictures and descriptions of our Rocky Mountain adventure are posted on Picasa.

There are a lot of miles of plains and prairie to cross on the trip from Boulder to Jefferson City, Missouri.  Most of what we did this week was just grind out those miles on the interstate, not spending a lot of sightseeing time along the way like we usually do.  Maybe we have gotten too spoiled by all of the beautiful country we have seen in the West and are blinded to what eastern Colorado and the state of Kansas have to offer.

We did spend one relaxing evening camping at Eisenhower State Park in Kansas.  It was a nice campground on a reservoir about 30 miles south of Topeka.  At the park visitor center we picked up a brochure on Kansas state parks and noticed that not too far away from where we were there is a state park, the Prairie Spirit Rail Trail State Park.  We made plans to break camp early enough Wednesday morning to allow ourselves some bike riding time on the Prairie Spirit Trail.

The weather forecast for Wednesday called for afternoon winds from the south.  The Prairie Spirit Trail has a northern terminus in the town of Ottawa, from where it passes through a number of small towns before ending to the south in the town of Iola.  Given the wind conditions, it made sense to start riding south from Ottawa, pedal for awhile and then when we were ready to turn around to go back to our car, we would have a tail wind.

We got a good workout and enjoyed our day of riding on the trail.  One of the most interesting incidents happened just before we reached the town of Richmond, which was our turnaround point.  On the trail in front of us we saw a parked pickup truck with 2 men taking a lunch break from their task of trimming brush and trees along the trail.  We struck up a conversation with one of the men, who was quite helpful in answering questions about the trail.  Before continuing our journey we learned that we had been talking to the manager of the Prairie Spirit Trail.  What a surprise that he should be out there trimming trees on the trail.  Also, we were surprised by some of the history we learned from him.  The first section of the trail was completed in 1996 and he was hired as trail manager the year before that.  It was the first rail trail in Kansas and those who were advocating for the project met with a lot of resistance.  97% of the land in Kansas is privately owned and its citizens were not ready to accept the idea of a public trail passing through their lands, with people potentially trespassing and/or causing property damage.  As it turned out, the trail has been quite a success and is featured in the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Hall of Fame.

Trailhead of Prairie Spirit Trail at Old Depot Museum in Ottawa, Kansas

Manager of Prairie Spirit Trail and assistant, hard at work along the trail.

Many cornfields along Prairie Spirit Trail

Many wheat fields along the Prairie Spirit Trail

Some of the Prairie Spirit Trail passes through wooded areas.

Wednesday evening we arrived at Jefferson City, Missouri, where we are spending 4 days at a motel.  We will be doing some day bike trips on the Katy trail.  It will then be time to drive to Iowa City where I will be able to get the road bike at my son's house that we left there at the end of last year's RAGBRAI.  Then RAGBRAI training will begin in earnest.  And, of course, the best reason for arriving in Iowa City will be to see the grandkids again!

Memorial Day Marker

For most of the working world in the US, the Memorial Day holiday marks the beginning of summer when kids will be out of school and parents can start making vacation plans. In this year of our extended travel across the US, Memorial Day was a different kind of marker for us. When we left Medford, Oregon, the day after the holiday, our travels across country from east to west officially ended as we turned now back towards destinations in the east.

We continued our leisurely pace of exploration and education, not attempting to make great distances on any given day of travel and avoiding interstates whenever possible. Tuesday we made it as far as Prineville, Oregon, which is northeast of Bend. We took some time on the way to stop at the Newberry Volcanic National Monument.

Obsidian Flow with traces of snow at Newberry Volcanic National Monument

Scenic Overlook approaching town of Prineville, Oregon

Wednesday we continued driving through east-central Oregon, stopping for the night to camp at Unity Lake State Park.  On the way we passed through the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  Unlike what I had imagined, there was not a place to stop and see a bunch of fossils imbedded in the rocks.  The monument encompasses three separate "units" on several different routes, all passing through scenic and colorful geological formations.  We didn't want to take the time to visit everything but were impressed with what we saw at the Painted Hills Unit, the Sheep Rock Unit and the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center.

Painted Hills Unit at John Day Fossil Beds

Sheep Rock Unit at John Day Fossil Beds

John Day River as it flows through Picture Gorge

If we had taken the time to hike one of the many trails in John Day we might have seen areas where fossils were visible in the rocks.  Some of those types of fossils were visible in display cases at the visitor's center, but one surprising fossil that we did see in its natural setting was the Dawn Redwood, Oregon's official State Fossil.  Instead of being imbedded in a rock formation it was alive with fresh, green spring growth in an irrigated picnic area where we ate lunch.  The sign on the tree explained that fossilized remains of this type of deciduous conifer were common in the Pacific northwest.  The species was thought to be extinct until 1948 when it was discovered to be growing in an isolated valley in central China.  Scientists brought seeds and seedlings back to the US and began a replanting program so that the tree can now be found flourishing in temperate environments across North America and the rest of the globe.  

On Thursday we left Oregon behind and made our way to Boise, Idaho, where we visited a nephew and met his wife and 9-month old son.  Neither of us had been to Boise before.  We enjoyed the parklike feeling of the city and the variety of available outdoor activities in the surrounding areas.

Luke, Camden and Sara

Hiking up Table Rock with Sara and Camden for view of Boise

On top of Table Rock

View of Boise from Table Rock

Friday's day of driving took us from Boise to an overnight camping stop at a state park on the Snake River near American Falls, Idaho.  

One of views along Snake River on 1,000 Springs Scenic Byway

Shoshone Falls on the Snake River.  Called Niagara Falls of the West.

View downriver from Shoshone Falls.

Today we drove as far as Rock Springs, Wyoming.  Our goal for tomorrow will be Torrington, Wyoming, for another stop of several days at Barbara's sister's ranch.  I almost said that Torrington would be a "rest" stop, but then I realized that when you are a rancher like my sister there is no such thing as rest.  Hopefully, we can find some way to help out while we are there, but, even if we don't, it will be great to see each other again.