Week 7, July 12 to July 18: Vermillion, SD to Dyersville, IA

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Click on the picture for each day to link to Picasa Web Albums then click Slide Show.

Total mileage to date: 2,551.5

Day 49, July 18: Waterloo to Dyersville. Distance 64.4 miles, Temp in the 70s and low 80s.

Weather had us up early to see if the forecasted thunderstorms would prevent our start. The radar showed that the thunderstorms were south and moving east of us so a window of opportunity to reach Dyersville before afternoon thunderstorms existed. Our route turned out to be a little longer than expected and Miriam completed her first century. We traveled through the small towns of Hazleton, Lamont, Dundee and Petersburg on our way East. We passed many Amish farms and saw some deer, saw damage from the tornado that traveled our path earlier this spring, saw the oldest Catholic Church in Iowa and the movie location for "Field of Dreams”.

Day 49, July 18: Waterloo to Dyersville. Distance: 64.4 miles, temperature in the 70s and low 80s.

Day 48, July 17: Iowa Falls to Waterloo. Distance 57 miles, Morning temperature: 70s - low 80s.

We added a new rider, Chuck to our ride group for today’s ride. Chuck is from Seattle, WA and is riding to Chicago to visit family. Jim met Chuck yesterday at a convenience store on the route and welcomed him to join our group for some common traveling. So Chuck joined our group last night and rode with us today to Waterloo. After lunch Chuck pressed on to Independence, IA to meet some cousins today. We enjoyed your company Chuck and wish you happy tail winds. Our route today took us through Ackley, IA, Stout, IA then into Cedar Falls and finally to Waterloo. Iowa's annual RAGBRAI, (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) begins Sunday and many folks asked if we were in that ride. RAGBRAI is sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper and is a very popular event all across Iowa. Our arrival time at Waterloo was early. About 4:00 PM we had a thunderstorm in Waterloo. Waterloo was affected by spring flooding earlier this year and is still recovering from the flood. The end of the day was a great meal at a unique restaurant, The Paca Restaurant.

Day 48, July 17: Iowa Falls to Waterloo. Distance 57 miles, Morning temperature: 70s - low 80s.

Day 47, July 16: Fort Dodge to Iowa Falls. Distance 55.7 miles, Temps in the 70s and low 80s.

Some surprises from today, relatively cool although humid, relatively flat with few rolling hills, and a little under the estimated 55.7 miles. The early birds left before 6:00 AM and arrived at the motel before rooms were ready. Some folks watched Toure de France in the lobby and some went for a swim in the pool and then a cat nap. Our route carried us over rural roads skirting north of Webster, over Interstate-35 and through the little town of Alden just 6 miles from Iowa Falls. Not much to see other than cornfields and soybeans. It was an enjoyable ride with lots of time to relax.

Day 47, July 16: Fort Dodge to Iowa Falls. Distance 55.7 miles, Temps in the 70s and low 80s.

Day 46, July 15: Storm Lake to Fort Dodge. Distance 61.8 miles, Temp. in the 60s to 80s.

Today was a beautiful day for a bike ride. Most of the route was flat, unlike yesterday’s roller coaster ride. Also today the roads were smooth and we had a nice 15 mph tail wind out of the south-west to help us along. I opted to leave early and catch breakfast 20 miles down the road in a little town called Fonda. This was a good decision as several other riders arrived later and met me at Margies Diner and Cafe. We got to meet lots of local folks at Margies. One couple, Dell and Annie Reiff, invited us to their home to check out Del's restoration project. Annie also has a stained glass business just up the street from where they live. Del is a certified flight instructor and airplane mechanic. Both Del and Annie are pilots that fly for the humanitarian organization, Wings of Hope. After breakfast and visiting in Fonda we followed route C63 east to Fort Dodge passing through more windmill farms and the small town of Clare. We arrived in Fort Dodge about 12:30 PM.

Day 46, July 15: Storm Lake to Fort Dodge. Distance 61.8 miles, Temp. in the 60s to 80s.

Day 45, July 14: Sioux City to Storm Lake.Distance 65.5 Miles, Temp 60s to 80s

Rolling hills and a beautiful day greeted us as we left Sioux CIty. Our route was over many county roads with a brief connection to US 20 in a generally easterly direction. We traveled through the small towns of Kingsley, Washta and Quimby. We passed many corn fields and many soybean fields. As we approached Storm Lake, we saw many wind mills used for generating electricity. We arrived in Storm Lake in the early afternoon with temperatures in the high 80s. Storm Lake is Iowa's 4th largest fresh water lake and covers 3200 acres.

Day 45, July 14: Sioux City to Storm Lake.Distance 65.5 Miles, Temp 60s to 80s

Day 44, July 13: Sioux City Rest Day

Today was spent in visiting a church, writing post cards, cleaning and lubing my bike, riding into Sioux City for some pictures, taking a cat nap in the afternoon and doing this blog. It was another gorgeous day with sunny skies and light breeze with temperatures in the 70s and 80s.

Day 44, July 13: Sioux City Rest Day

Day 43, July 12: Vermillion, SD to Sioux City, IA. Distance: 61.8 miles. Temp. 70s-80s

This was our last day in South Dakota as we ride across the Sioux River into Iowa. The weather was sunny with mild temperatures and a nice westerly breeze that helped push us along. We stopped in the small town of Elk Point and had a hearty breakfast of scrapple, eggs and homemade potato bread toast. Our route took us down State Road 10 through Elk Point and Jefferson. From Jefferson we took some rural roads north and east to cross over the Sioux River and enter Iowa at the intersection with US Route 12. Route 12 took us south to Sioux City where we connected to the Riverside Bike Trail that ran about 7 miles along the Missouri River. It was a delightful day of riding, eating, more riding and visiting the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the Sgt. Floyd Memorial

Day 43, July 12: Vermillion, SD to Sioux City, IA. Distance: 61.8 miles. Temp. 70s-80s