Tag: Biketheusforms

MAA – Day 20 – So Long Iowa

Today was another beautiful day, but it was one spent staying ahead of the storm. Luckily the roads were good and I encountered a gentler, kinder Iowa. Still rolling hills, but not nearly as steep as the last couple of days. I could easily use the momentum from the descents to get up and over the next hills. I even had a slight tail wind for most of the day. The only hard part was getting across Iowa City. Somehow I ended up going right through the University of Iowa’s campus.

Then, just as I was rolling into Davenport (about 5 miles out), the storm hit. There was a lot of rolling thunder – no lightning, thank God. And then the sky opened up and I got soaked! Glad I had my rain jacket, but my feet got wet through and through! I happened to catch up with the SAG team just as it was stopping. I decided to catch a ride with them since we were only a few miles from our initial destination anyway – and there were more storm clouds headed our way. Our first stop was on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River to meet up with Gracie Comfort Dog – perfect timing after the storm.

We left Gracie and her handlers and got back to the RV when this happened…

It lasted about 15 minutes and then we crossed the Mighty Mississippi and said “hello” to Illinois. 🙂

Thought for the day: I’m sure glad Mr. SAG decided to get that shoe dryer!IMG_5031

Other pics of the day:

Song of the day:

Ride on!

MAA – Day 19 – What a Beautiful Day!

Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day! I couldn’t get that song out of my head all day. Because it was! Bright blue skies. Temperature around 75 degrees. Slight breeze. And I was on this wonderful bike trail for about 60 miles of my ride today. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It surrounded the greater Des Moines area.

The latter part of the ride was great too. Just more hills, though. Makes it interesting!

Other pics of the day:

Song of the day, of course:

God is good! Ride on!

We Interrupt This Blog to Bring You Random Thoughts From the SAG Team (Squirrel!)

  1. Thank goodness for checklists … So far they have kept us from leaving the important items behind, including the spare bike. We also use them every morning to “launch” Michele to make sure she has all the necessary gear and information.
  2. Scoobert is not an RV size dog …. He takes up nearly a third of the RV. We’re sure he is thinking that “I like car rides …. But this is not what I had in mind!”
  3. Carrying your restroom with you is handy … Now if we could just get Scoob to use it too.
  4. Planning meets reality. Planning on a computer is good, but it lacks knowledge of the actual ground conditions. The road we thought the woman could take, turns out to be a gravel road with ghost towns along it.
  5. Daily Schedule … Get up, help Michele get ready, lunch the her on her way, clean the RV, get provisions, drive ahead slightly, replenish her, drive ahead and set up camp, recover her, feed everyone, sleep, and repeat. We have become the living version of the “Groundhog Day” movie.
  6. Driving on Highway 50 reminds me (Mr. SAG) why most of Nevada is bombing ranges for the military and landing sites for aliens.
  7. Stopped in Eureka, NV and had lunch at the only open restaurant … Was not sure what was going to happen. Ms. SAG said I was being judgmental…. And I was. But out came a wonderfully spiced, pan-fried pork chop and great salsa.
  8. The life of a SAG person is hours of waiting for a few minutes of support …. Move up the road and repeat. Fix flats as necessary. Our motto is LRRR .. Launch, Replenish, Recover, Repeat.
  9. WIND!!!! The wind and been blowing non-stop all day. It made driving difficult and I can only imagine what it has been doing to the woman.
  10. Do you ever wonder if God ever thinks …. “Really? Again?” when we screw up.
  11. WIND!!! … Got up at zero dark hundred and the wind was already blowing. The woman is going to have another tough day battling the wind.
  12. Nineteen days into this … LRRR and waiting has become a way of life.
  13. Had a nice drive into Lincoln, NE and then drove around the town for a bit with Ms. SAG. An RV is not a good tour vehicle.
  14. Riding out a severe thunder storm with straight line winds in an RV is not our idea of fun.
  15. Dog barf in an RV … Somethings should be missed.

SQUIRREL!

MAA – Day 18 – Small Towns and Barns

Today was a great day to ride. The morning air was cool and fresh after the storm last night and it stayed that way pretty much all day. I love getting out there early to ride too. I had the first two hours all to my self. Well, besides the one raccoon I saw.

Iowa has been much different than Nebraska. It is all hills! Up and down again today. Another 4000 feet give or take. It’s very green too. Beautiful to look at. And there are wonderful barns scattered throughout the countryside. Iowa has the best barns! Throw in a cute, friendly small town every ten to fifteen miles, and there you have it. Iowa.

This is what the elevation profile looked like all day – except some hills were much steeper and some were much longer. And this was only at 25 miles.

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The barns (click on any photo to enlarge):

Song of the day:

Ride on!

MAA – Day 17 – It’s All Up and Down

Today felt like a roller coaster. Up and down. Up and down. I climbed nearly 4000 feet today – and I descended nearly 4000 feet. Rolling hills on back country roads with 8-9% grades and a temperature of 98*F.  I’ll take it any day over the wind! I drank almost 2 gallons of water too! There was some meandering along the Platte River thrown in for good measure as well.

Before I even got started – 15 miles into the ride – Mr. SAG saved the day again! Flat #4.IMG_4907

Camp got set up as the rain started rolling in. And then it hit! Wow! We’ve never ridden out a storm like that – in an RV. The thunder and lightning and sheets of rain, we could take. But when the wind started rocking (felt like throwing) us to and fro… Even Katie Comfort Dog’s Top Dog, to the west of us now, checked in to see how we fared! Thanks for the prayers! We were saying some too! Thanks for the welcome Iowa!

Off in the distance:

It’s here!

Pics of the day:

Song of the day:

Ride on!

MAA – Day 16 – Half Way There

Well, we’re half way there now! Wait. What? We’re only halfway there? More adventures await. Tomorrow we head toward Iowa and I have to say, I am going to miss Nebraska! For a cyclist, it’s been a dream. Good roads. Fairly flat, but with enough hills thrown in to keep it interesting.

Today we met up with another wonderful LCC Comfort Dog team. Katie Comfort Dog, and her handlers came down from Fremont, NE to greet us. We had a great few hours of fellowship and sharing dinner with them. What a fun group! I even get to be an honorary team member since they gave me one of their t-shirts and wrist bands.IMG_4885

I also got to see and catch up with my college roommate! We haven’t seen each other in 30 years! She hasn’t changed a bit either! She happened to be driving from South Bend, IN to Nebraska for an interview tomorrow. What a stroke of luck! (or a God thing)DSC01497 (2)

Other pics of the day:

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Song of the day:

Ride on!

MAA – Day 15 – I Love Nebraska!

I never in a million years would have thought I’d say that! I’ve had my best rides so far in Nebraska, though. Today was 111 miles with 100 in under 6 hours! I haven’t done a century that fast in  years! It was great! Good road. Cool temperature. Enough small towns to keep me occupied. And we’re just about half way!

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I had the privilege of meeting more LCC Comfort dogs too! Moses, Eddie and Joy came out to meet us. They brought us gifts too! I received brownies, Nebraska beef (did you know that Nebraska is the “Beef State”?) and a wrist band from Eddie Comfort Dog (don’t tell Aaron). Joy’s handler has MS too. I sure hope we can make a difference with this ride!DSC01453A

Pics of the day (click any photo to enlarge):

Song of the day:

Ride on!

MAA – Day 13 – What if I Say “I love the wind!”?

This morning I had a nice leisurely ride on a country road that started to remind me of the ones I rode through the Midwest years ago. The road hazards were big farm tractors. And I made it back into the land of the huge round hay bales. The winds were there, but only at 8.5 mph., so doable.DSC01365

It was 50 miles of pleasantness. Then the afternoon hit, as did the winds! They gradually increased over the next several hours. and always a direct headwind, until they hit a sustained 18.5 mph. for the last two hours of riding. Ugh! Enough already! Wind

This is what that looks/sounds like:

So I figure, if I say “I love the wind!” maybe my test will be done! 🙂

Pics of the day:

And Mr. SAG offers this one as proof that we really are on Alien Abduction Highway.DSC01374

My song of the day:

Ride on!

MAA – Days 11 and 12 – So Comforting

Day 11 we left Wyoming and headed into Colorado. What a great ride! Beautiful vistas and nice smooth road (a little hairy with the semis at times). I was making great time too. It looked like I would make it to Fort Collins by 2:30 pm. A nice early day (rest day)! The only problem was, we had no campsite reservation and couldn’t find anywhere with an open spot. Mr. SAG had started calling as soon as we changed routes heading into CO.

Back home, we are part of a Comfort Dog ministry team through Lutheran Church Charities. Mr. SAG is a handler for Aaron Comfort Dog and I am one of his photographers. Aaron is one of about 150 Comfort Dogs deployed around the country through LCC. Luckily for us, Cubby Comfort Dog is in Fort Collins! So our “Top Dog” helped reach out to Cubby’s “Top Dog”. We connected and were able to set up camp in their church (Redeemer Lutheran) parking lot. What a great group of people too! We met several from Cubby’s team, were able to worship with them, and went out for a wonderful dinner. It turns out that a couple of people have MS and were excited that I am raising funds for MS research and assistance through this ride.

Speaking of dinner, we nearly had a huge catastrophe! We followed Cubby’s handlers to the restaurant in the RV. About five miles out, a car pulled up beside us honking away. As soon as we heard them, we knew what it was about! My bike had just been bungee corded to the bike rack on the back so it wouldn’t fall over in the wind. It wasn’t secured for driving! Mr. SAG and I were sick all of a sudden. We stopped the RV and ran around the back to survey the damage. Nothing! The bungee cord had held the bike up enough to where it never actually touched the ground/dragged. Wow! God surely was looking out for us! Of course He was shaking His head thinking “Seriously? What’s next?” We needed Cubby Comfort Dog after that! Thank you Kathy, Denny and everyone at Redeemer Lutheran for your hospitality! God is good!

Pics of the day:

Songs of the day:

Day 12 – Onward! Nothing much exciting today except lots of rolling hills and more wind! I dealt with a 10 mph straight on headwind for most of the day. One of the toughest centuries I’ve ever ridden! And according to Mr. SAG, we were on “alien abduction highway!

Pics of the day:

And for Janice – Song of the day:

Ride on!

 

MAA – Day 10 – Back on track and A Glorious Day

When you have a tough day, God follows it up with a Glorious one. And this one was oh so glorious! We re-positioned around the washed out roads and the non-roads. Then I headed out for a mile high century into Laramie. It was a bit breezy and chilly to start but it warmed up right away, and the breeze was a welcomed tail wind. This was the view in the beginning, so I thought it might be a boring day.DSC01274

Wrong! There were so many great vistas and lots of animals. I think I saw over 100 antelope throughout the day.

For Tom J. 🙂

After I stopped for lunch with the SAG (I’m so lucky) at about the half way point, that tailwind started to turn into a cross wind and then headwind. It was sustained over 20 mph. Ugh! You know how I like the wind! The last 15 miles into town were particularly tough. I was spent!IMG_20170609_191636184

Songs of the day:

This first one got into my head this morning and kept coming back all day for whatever reason.

The second one was playing in my ear during the last climb before the run down into town.

Ride on!