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DAY 5

Never saw a hill so steep I couldn't walk up it...well, maybe until today.

ROUTE: Dubuque IA to Clinton IA...but we didn't ride in Iowa except in town...go figure.	DISTANCE: 76 miles	WINDS: SSW 10-20
WEATHER: Overcast again which kept the temperatures down until after 3:00 PM.	TERRAIN: Hilly for first 30 miles then flat as a pancake.	TOTAL CLIMBING: 4000ish

RIDE OVERVIEW:

If anyone ever asks you why you would ride a bicycle on a long distance tour or why you even ride a bike in the first place, just have them ride where we rode today...what a fantastic ride. We were blessed with good weather today albeit a bit overcast and on the warm side by late afternoon. Our only challenge in the weather department was the headwinds...if you are keeping count, this is the 5th day in a row...isn't this just day 5? The winds were only about 10 MPH most of the day, but they were right in our face. On the good side, the winds kept us a bit cooler than usual and we rode on shaded bike paths the last 20 or so miles...that helped too. All totaled, we had to negotiate 3 steep climbs and over 4000 feet of altitude gain, but the climbs were rewarded with postcard quality scenery and some fun descents. I took enough pictures today to fill a 128 MG CF card. Every where I looked I saw another gorgeous scene that I just had to photograph...it's a shame photos sometimes don't do justice to actually what you see. That's what I like about this job...I see so much of this beautiful country...it's worth every climb and then some.

Our ride started out crossing the same bridge we came in on yesterday. The title of today's page seems to indicate we rode in Iowa today, but we only stayed in Iowa on both ends...we rode totally in Illinois and if any of you out there believe that Illinois is all flat country, think again. Where we cross Illinois on our cross country ride it's so flat water won't run off it, but in the northern part of the state, it's plenty hilly and much more scenic than the flat corn belt area. But one thing you get when you ride down the river is variety. It was hard to believe we were in the same state after the second SAG stop today...we went from rolling terrain, to hilly terrain, to totally flat after the SAG for the last 25 miles. We also enjoyed about 24 miles of bike path (below right) they have just completed from Savannah to Clinton and in the next couple of years they plan on completing this trail all the way to East Dubuque. We'll keep adjusting our route because it's always more pleasurable to ride along a quiet bike path than worry about highway traffic...pretty soon all our route in Illinois could be on marked bike trails, paths, or routes...GO ILLINOIS!

Anytime we get into the country around here we have challenges. Of course you can see the terrain was a bit on the challenging side, but navigating our way through the maze of country roads sometimes puts even the most experienced riders in the category of "directionally challenged." Most people can get themselves lost without help, but when you ride with someone else and you strike up a conversation, sometimes you ride right past an important turn...after that, the route sheet doesn't make any sense. Luckily, if they kept the river to their right, they would end up in Clinton.

About 10 miles out today, we started getting into the steep rolling terrain that's common in this area. After about 3 miles of "roller coaster" excitement, we were treated with a knee wrenching 15% pitch to the top of the ridge before Galena. At left, Karen, Tim, and Steve record their efforts...don't they look fresh? Well, they're still at the bottom before the climb.

While one would think this would be very strenuous riding, most of the riders were using their momentum from the down hills to eat up over half the climb back up the other side (except for the 15% bump). I think most were enjoying the roller coaster ride into Galena, a small artsy town where Ulysses S. Grant lived after the Civil War. When we left Galena, we rode out Black Jack Road which climbed steadily for several miles before starting to roll. The climb out of Galena culminated with a 3/4 mile, 15% grade (Black Jack Hill) about 7 miles out of town that everyone will remember and which will be the topic of conversation every time someone asks about the ride after we get home. After reaching the top of Black Jack, it was easy to have sensory overload as we rode along the ridge line for the next 13 or so miles before descending into Hanover for the first SAG stop at 32 miles.

After Hanover, our route took us out into the country again away from the river a bit to get off the busy Hwy 84. Of course to get away from the river, we had to go up again for a short punch up another 10% grade for about a half mile to get us on the ridge line again to Savannah. Again, we were greeted with breathtaking scenery and some great descents into a fertile river valley with small farms dotting the landscape with a corn and soybean backdrop. The way they plant their crops here is very picturesque...they strip farm for erosion control and crop rotation. That is, they plant a strip of corn between two strips of alfalfa or other hay crop. It makes for some beautiful patterns on the hillsides...like I said, we had sensory overload most of the morning.

Ever wonder what they do with all this corn? Well...44% becomes animal feed, 25% is stockpiled, 18% is exported, 6% becomes sweeteners and oil, 6% makes starch and alcohol, 1% is eaten as corn (0.2% of that is seed). So now you know. Thanks to Rachel, a rider from last year's ride, for submitting these facts from the state fair.

Karen and I skipped the last portion of hills. We rode to Savannah on highway 84 in order to get ahead of the front of the group so we could mark the route onto the new bike trail. We arrived in Savannah just as the lead riders were meandering through town in spite of Karen having a flat about 4 miles out of the first SAG. Luckily, the lead guys (Julius, Topper, Jack, and Bob) stopped to eat lunch in Savannah (below right) so we were able to get a jump on them with the painting. We exhausted a whole can of Krylon so everyone could find their way along the path. Believe me, it's much easier to follow streets and roads than it is to follow a bike path sometimes. I told the riders that highway 84 bordered them on the left and the river would keep them from getting lost to the right...all they had to do was stay between the two. You'd think that would be an easy task, but we've had riders get lost in the past. Just keep the sun in your face gang! Oh, it's overcast today.

Most of the Great Illinois River Bike Trail is paved with a short section of hard pack to negotiate. It made for a very enjoyable finish to a long day in the saddle. The riders were able to sit up and ride side by side and talk about the outside world as they spun out the lactic acid of the morning climbs...a restful finish that will allow them to be strong again tomorrow. The path took them all the way to the bridge into Clinton and we'll ride out on it tomorrow...nice respite from the highways until the bridge where we picked up urban traffic for the last 4 miles to the motel.

Although it was a hilly day for the early going, everyone seemed to handle the climbs without too much trouble and really enjoyed the scenery...some walked, but they all made it to the top. Tomorrow we ride in much tamer terrain, it's almost flat all the way to the Quad Cities before getting into some rolling terrain closer to Galesburg. Tune in tomorrow and see if they can handle the flat stuff after all this climbing. See you then. M

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY: "I was going so slow up that grade my glasses fogged up."

Steve Mattern at the first SAG: "I could ride up that last hill at 3.2 MPH, but I can walk and push my bike at 3.4 MPH...so I walked to keep my average speed higher."

Cynthia commented when she got to the top of the first steep climb and found a dog panting beside the road: "That's the way I sounded coming up that hill."

DUH! OF THE DAY: Goes to England John...now he's a policeman so it's hard to get something past him. This morning after all the riders had departed and as we were pulling out with the vans, I happened to notice two bags laying on the sidewalk on the other side of the parking lot. I thought to myself, I hate to pull out when I see bags laying around so I checked the sign in sheet to see if it would give me a clue...everyone had signed in so it should not have been ours...but I thought I'd better look anyway. I didn't recognize one of the bags but one of them did look familiar since I load bags everyday...but there were no ABB tags on them to identify them as ours so I went back to the van. Before I could leave, I couldn't stand it any more so I went back and opened one of the bags to see if it contained biking clothes inside...sure enough, it was full of cycling stuff and a rider registration packet with John's name on it...look around, no John...look on the sign in sheet...he signed to signify he'd loaded his luggage. Brain dead I guess. I threw his bags in the mechanic's van and went about our day. When we unloaded the luggage truck in Clinton, of course he couldn't find his bags. I asked him if he loaded them on the truck and he said he'd set them down "near" the luggage truck and when he came back from breakfast he didn't see them so he thought someone had loaded them. We suspect a car had parked in his sight line so he didn't see them...But he signed in...good thing I saw them before we left or he would have been wearing his cycling clothes for the rest of the trip. I guess the British definition of "near" the van is a little different from from where I picked up his bag (maybe that's what Winston Churchill meant when he said we were separated by a common language). To his mates in Great Britain, he was pretty embarrassed by the whole thing so you might want to just keep it low key when he gets home...NAH. I tell them it's their responsibility to load their luggage on the van and it's their responsibility to sign in...John's been working hard since he's gotten here...he's up to 1 out of 2 now...he'll get it down soon.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Karen can now say she's been to the mountain and spoken with the "Dolly Llama." "Oh wise one, how can I climb these steep hills?" "Slowly my child," was the reply.	Tim wasn't sure where he was, but he was at least 8 miles from just about anywhere.
Nancy worked so hard during that climb she peddled right out of her shoes.	While we were waiting for everyone to climb the first climb, we picked up a free loader...Old spot just made himself at home. It took us about 5 minutes to get him out of the van.
As John topped the first 15% incline he exclaimed, "I think the air is much thinner on this side of the ocean." Maybe you are on to something John.	From the looks of this table the locals will go hungry tonight. Don't think these guys left anything but the crumbs. Let's see, 5000 calories times 35 people...the weight watchers guru would roll over in his grave if he saw us all eat.