Chugged back to the Quad Cities last weekend to do a bike tour -
Tour of the Mississippi River Valley - with my dad and brother.
Rolled into town at 2:00 a.m. and up at 6:00 in the pouring down rain. In wet wind, we scooted a 120 miles north to Dubuque, IA. This set my new personal daily total milage record on a bike.
Setting a another personal record, breaking my previous attempt of zero, I had the reluctant pleasure of riding a bicycle with speeding automobiles on an open 4-lane divided highway. Three times.
I'll be the first one to tell you that I do not make smart choices on a bicycle. But what I witnessed on this trip made me look like a bicycling honor student.
The first time riding on a 4-lane, while biking down the on ramp, the 50 year old guy I was riding with yelled over, "Whatever you do, DON'T ride on the sholder!" I proceeded to watch him merge with 60 mile an hour traffic and pedal down the middle of the right hand lane. Like he was off to the market and this was just a typical thing for truckers to see on the interstate.
I was so freaked that I shoved it to the sholder and rode a half mile on speed buzers while trucks and SUVs came close enough to spit gravel against my shins.
Arriving at the overnight location, I drank three beers while watching old, white men dance to a Jimmy Buffett cover band. Two hours later, I was asleep with a half a Clif Bar in my hand.
The next day faired better with weather and miles. We took the shorter route, ending in Preston, IA. Although we caught the sag wagon the last bit of the ride, we put down around 175 - 185 total miles - not a bad outing.
