Riding Day 40 - July 20th, 2019

Start: Grinnell, IL
End: Cedar Falls, IL
Miles: 77.2
Feet climbing per mile: 49
Record of today’s ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/37512400

My alarm woke me at 6:30 and I was on the road at 7:30. At the suggestion of my brother-in-law Jim Belilove, who graduated from Grinnell College, I adjusted my route to go past Louis Sullivan’s Jewel Box Bank.

Jewel Box Bank

With the morning wind out of the south-southwest I was cruising on the northbound flats at 20 miles per hour. A few hours into my ride I thought I might arrive in Cedar Falls as early as 1:00. But after having a milkshake of peach ice cream blended with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and cherries at Sweets on Main in Traer, the wind was now out of the north.

Thanks to the work of Dr. Mike, the sensation of my right knee almost disappears when I ride, and the arrangement of the bones of my left ankle continues to be good. Both of my feet are healing and I’m becoming more confident that I’ll be happy with the smaller mountain bike shoes I’m now wearing.

While setting up my tent this afternoon at the Big Woods Lake Campground, I realized that my tent feels like home. I can visit friends or family for one or more days, and I can spend a night in a motel, but my tent is the place to which I always return, although in many different campgrounds.

My campsite at Big Woods Lake Campground

After showering and shaving I rode two miles to the Brown Bottle wearing my off-bike clothing and none of my cycling gear (helmet, gloves, goggles, shirt, shorts, shoes). How civilized it felt to eat dinner in a restaurant that offers a cloth napkin.

The campground is next to a beautiful lake, but it’s unlike any campground I’ve ever seen, The section for full hookup has no trees and looks like a parking lot. The section with just electric, where I am, has some trees, but not many.

ADDENDUM ADDED NOVEMBER 29th, 2023:

While on a road trip (by car) with Lori (my wife), visiting family in Minnesota and Iowa, we had dinner at the Brown Bottle on November 21, 2023. As we arrived I remembered the three wild turkeys I had seen there but had neglected to write about, on my bike trip in 2019. I thought that I had met the owner, so I asked my waitress whether he was at the restaurant. He was, and when I told him about eating there four years ago he said remembered me. The food was again delicious, especially the chicken Marsala Lori had.

I was surprised to see that I had written that I wore none of my cycling gear (helmet, gloves, goggles, shirt, shorts, shoes) for the two-mile ride from the campground to the Brown Bottle. When riding to dinner, my practice now is to wear my off-bike clothing along with my helmet, gloves, goggles, and cycling shoes and then to switch to my off-bike shoes when I arrive at the restaurant.