Today we cycled 95 miles through the corn of Iowa. The first 20 miles had corn growing in very scenic countryside.
After that, the corn was growing on land that is basically flat. I rode for the first half with three others, the two I rode in the van with, Paul and Rod. Plus my sweep team leader Dan Keil, who is from Zeeland, Michigan. Sweep team is basically the cleanup crew after breakfast, which means we were the last to leave. Here are the three I just mentioned riding through the flat corn.
One of the volunteers, Billy D, rides along the route on his Harley to check on us. Here he is with his mascot, Arnold riding on the back near the flags.
There are also rest stops set up along the way to offer us refreshment and the opportunity for a "natural break." The driver of the white van assured me he has never pulled out into traffic with an occupant seated inside.
Our group of four split up and I proceeded with Dan the rest of the way, increasing our rate of speed as we neared our stop just like a horse picks up speed when he senses he is returning to the barn for his nightly oats. We passed Bruce Seinkowski, who is doing this week's tour on roller blades:
Then, after 90 miles, we crosses the Mississippi. The water tower of Fulton shown below is very close to where we are camped now. The windmill is one of Fulton's little mysteries
We crossed the big muddy and rode to Unity Christian School, our very gracious hosts for the evening. They put on a huge dinner featuring grilled chicken and pork chops with corn on the cob. And Pie! The agenda offered a praise band, which I thought would the typically lame kind of music usually offered during worship services. We were all very pleasantly surprised to hear a very good group of musicians. Here's a video mashup of their music:
There may have been dancing.
As you can see, I am having a great time.
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