clay and cake.

iowa is a tough state. i've been grinding through it painfully slow and i feel every mile of it. it's not a difficult ride, though it has the rolling hills that ohio, indiana and illinois were lacking. they're not hard by any means, but they still slow you down. it's not for a lack of scenery. it truly does look like a grant wood painting and it turns out, he didn't exaggerate all too much. it's not for the people, they have all been very nice, so far as my interactions have gone. it's just a rough ride. i know i have many more ahead of me, but it's still a hard adjustment.

yesterday was one such tough day. after a good chunk of the previous day being spent in iowa city
and not gaining much in terms of mileage i really wanted to put some saddle time in and get somewhere. around 11am i took shelter in a barn just in time for a thunderstorm. rain on a tin roof will knock you out very quickly. after a furious nap it was time to move on... but i was very much not into it.

the past few days i have not been terribly interested in taking photos. even though i've seen plenty of great landscapes i just have not been interested in stopping and getting the camera set up. towards the evening i spotted a sweet dirt road rolling off into the distance with some great highlights from the setting sun through the clouds. i turned around and started down the road. i got about 100 feet before my bike came to a halt stuck in what amounted to clay. the photo was clearly not going to happen now. no, in stead i had to drag my bike back out to the road sideways because the wheels would not turn. the clay had filled my fenders and clogged my brakes and made a general mess out of everything. the clay was building up on my shoes as i slid about dragging my bike. after about fifteen minutes i managed to get back up to the main road and proceeded to remove the wheels to scrape out the clay. my day was now ruined.

after another twenty minutes of clay removal i reluctantly got back in the saddle and started grinding away. i was in a pretty foul mood and was enjoying nothing about my day when a guy in a pickup truck pulled up next to me and shouted, "you want a piece of cake!?" now, if this ever happens to you the correct, and only answer, to that question is, "yes".  he passed me the cake and sped off. and that was that.

i rode for another five miles, tops to the next town where there was a fairly nice looking athletic field. at the prospect of more thunderstorms that night i decided that one of the new dugouts would provide some sweet shelter. i started making dinner on one of the picnic tables while i waited for some softballers to finish up their practice by my dugout. just as the sunset, and as i was packing up my kitchen, i startled a woman that had showed up to get something from the concession stand. i apologized a few times and she said it was quite alright. after my run-in with the 5-0 in mineral, illinois i figured the possibility that she'd call the cops was likely so i decided i'd move off into the shadows of the dugout.

just as i was setting up my mattress a car pulling into the parking lot. i watched from my shadow as 4 people got out and head over to the concession stand that i had just left. "sir?" said a man. "hello, sir?" i didn't say anything because, who knows? maybe they'd tell me to gtfo and it was after dark, i didn't want to ride any more. "hello, sir? we have a care package for you"... okay, now i doubt they're here to bust my stones. i called out to him and met him on the other side of the field. apparently the woman i startled had seen me riding earlier in the day and then recognized me at the concession stand. she rallied the troops and they came back with bottled water, beef jerky, nuts and home-made cookies. wow. we talked for five minutes and they were really concerned that i had everything i needed. i assured them i was alright and i thanked them profusely for the provisions.

cake and cookies. not a bad end to a bad day.

the daily gear grind.

you know, i thought that leaving my job and hitting the road would provide me with an unlimited amount of time to do whatever i wanted. i thought that i'd have time to sit around, nap in the shade, make elaborate dinners, or just stop and smell the corn. what i didn't take in to account is  just how much riding there is to do. obviously, i knew there'd be a lot, but it really takes up most of my day and when i get to where i'm going all i want to do is eat cold soup out of a can and pass out. it's not bad though, i just thought it would be different.

it's been almost a month on the road and i don't think i've managed to shake the pace of life with a job and embrace the pace of life in the saddle. i really do have time to stop and nap, or just stare at some clouds or those fuzzy caterpillars i see frantically running across the road. there really is no reason why i can't do these things but i just have this nagging feeling that i need to be riding west at all times. i've had a few fleeting moments of clarity where i do actually stop and just do whatever it is i want to do, but it's difficult to downshift into this lifestyle. i guess it really is a grind-it-'til-you-find-it transition... i feel it happening, though, slowly.

cops and amish.

it's been hot. prohibitively hot. the kind of hot that forces you indoors and takes away your motivation to do anything other than sweat and be crabby. it's not fun by any means and i've never sweat as much as i have in the past week or so. i'm disgusting. i guess it's all part of the adventure.

frustrating is a pretty accurate way to describe ohio and indiana. finally the roads have flattened out and i can really start logging some miles except that damned heat stops me in my tracks and i'm forced to spend several hours at a walmart or mcdonalds waiting for the sun to ease up some. i can't help but feel bad because i can waste time at one of those places a few miles from home. but i'm on this bad-ass adventure and i can't do what i set out to do... ride. i know, i know, it won't last for much longer. i have quite a bit of time of what will probably be fantastic riding weather to come, and i'm looking forward to that, but it's hot now. dammit.

all negativity aside, let's talk about the positives... the grass! oh my stars the grass in the midwest is luxurious. ultra-flat lawns, fluffy grass, and apparently no rocks to catch tent pegs on. everything looks like it's been mowed within the past day, and i wouldn't doubt if it had been. i respect the midwest's lawn pride. it's a freedomcamper's dream.

last night i rolled into a town just as the sun went down and spotted a nice patch of grass behind some commercial buildings and some trees. really, around here everything looks mint. i quickly set up my yardsale and called it a night. as i laid there reading my kindle a wicked bright light swept across my campsite and a police office on a quad rolled up. he was just curious as to what i was doing, obviously. he saw the bike and we got to talking. he said he had no issues with me staying there and let me know he'd be around the area if i needed anything and then he rolled on.

a few thoughts on that... since 99% of the campsites you end up using on tour are either private property or are otherwise public and definitely not for camping, you have to be low-profile. set up in the dark. get up, pack up and be off before other people are awake. not the most comfortable schedule, but, eh, you gotta do what you gotta do. if you are discovered, like i was last night, and certainly by the authorities, be polite. be very polite. explain the situation. it's not all terribly odd, if you think about it. you're on a bike tour. you're an adult. you're not some teenager making a mess. clean up after yourself and ride on.

post script. just a moment ago as i was sitting here writing this post an amish couple came up to me and asked about my bike. we got to talking and they are very much into bikes as well. i told them of my tour and they thought it was fantastic. they then handed me two $5 bills and told me to have an exciting adventure. believe me, i tried to give the money back but they refused. now that was amazing. just amazing.