Omaha to NYC Day 6
(New duds!)
Animated map: https://www.relive.com/view/vZqN3nrVx3v
SOFAUS Day 06
I woke in the night contemplating my fate. I really didn't want to lose a day. I had a long ride planned. If I spent a lot of time buying clothes and waiting for the clothing shops to open I would be arriving very late. If I stayed too close to Grinnell, it would make the next ride already even longer than today's, even longer.
I woke in the middle of the night. I searched Google maps and poked at Ride with GPS, my route planning app. I found a way! There was a nice looking park 10 miles from Iowa City. I could camp there then opt for a shorter, more direct route to Davenport than the ride I planned along the Mississippi the following day. I don’t (didn’t) have super special cycling clothes so a trip to the Walmart outside of town would be OK.
I went back to sleep refreshed and woke just in time for the Grinellian breakfast. I was the only one at breakfast. And what a breakfast it was. The fresh fruit was the best. It’s hard to get fruit on a bike trip because a lot of it is too squishy or sold it big packages. I eat a lot of apples. Back to the breakfast. It was made and served by Grace who also made the bread herself. She moved to Grinnell a couple of years ago from Omaha and is adjusting to small town life. The love of her life is here and that helps. We chatted about vacation mishaps like when she lost the keys to her rental car in Denmark and how they always turn into funny stories.
Side note: I can’t decide if I should get more pictures of the people I meet because they really are the best part of the journey, but I feel taking someone’s picture, even with their permission, turns them into a means to an end, namely objects in The Story of My Trip. Selfies are best because I can share with my new friends. I still take a few when the opportunity arises naturally like with the Suds of Love folks. What do you think?
After breakfast I set off. The first stop was the Grinnell College bookstore which opened at 8:30 for swag for Erika (don't tell her). What did I see behind the counter, but a cycling jersey! I wouldn’t have bike in a Walmart T-shirt! I also learned it was the first day of classes and the busiest day of the year for the bookstore.
Next I went to the church to let them know what happened. The laundromat was going to get in touch with them and I wanted to close the loop to tell them not to try to track down the clothes. They gave me some money to help buy clothes. I told them I’d be OK, but they insisted.
Then it was a trip across the street for a sampling of Grinnell’s Saints Rest Coffee Shop. It was a perfect college hangout with comfy seating and not too fancy. It is a place where you can have a long philosophical discussion on the aesthetics of 20th century Japanese literature.
By the time I was done with coffee, it was almost time for the bike shop next door to open, I knew from peering in the window that they had bike shorts. I used the church money to buy a pair. Now I was kitted out like a real cyclist! Soon I was on the road feeling so, so aero.
On the way out of town I passed two tractors. That’s cool, a college town where tractors drive the roads. Soon I was back on gravel roads bumping along, the ride unfolding smoothly. I arrived back on pavement on the route of the Old US Route 6. I kept bumping into Route 6 in its current or old form. Iowa is very proud of it. It is named the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. I thought it might have been important it the Civil War, but no, it wasn’t. It was the longest US Highway for awhile. The author George Stewart (The Earth Abides and US40) wrote about it, “Route 6 runs uncertainly from nowhere to nowhere, scarcely to be followed from one end to the other, except by some devoted eccentric”. Kinda harsh, but the part I’ve ridden hasn’t gone anyway big.
I lunched in Brooklyn and had fun sending Jesse and Lize a picture of the water tower telling them I’d had a good day and would be seeing them soon. Back on the road, I passed a succession of towns including Ladora whose grain elevator sat abandoned. There must be winners and losers as businesses consolidate. I passed a travern sporting Chicago team logos and noted the shift from Denver. Still, most people seem to follow college sports more.
I was heading to the Amana Colonies, started by the German Community of the True Inspiration religious sect in the 19th Century. They believed in communal living but embraced technology. One of their members developed the first microwave oven. They also welcome visitors. Now the colonies resemble a mash up of shaker-like architecture, appliance manufacturing, and a tourist trap… er …destination. The established seven villages then get progressively more touristy as you go east. The Community, unlike the Shakers, is still around. Give them credit for being able to balance religious ideas with flexibility. I found Main Amana to be a little too touristy and didn't linger except for trying ciders. The dry hopped was the best.
From Main Amana, it was a short ride on a busy road filled with tourists and commuting Whirlpool plant workers. I made a left turn and was immediately in another world of spicy unimproved road riding. Very cool after the highway. After a couple miles it became a normal gravel road.
Before long I was at F.W. Kent Park. What a beautiful place! Nice prairie and oak woodlands. I found a nice spot. I learned the showers were being renovated so I had to do a bike water bottle bath with my swimming trunks on at the water tap. Not ideal, but I didn't stick to my air mattress that night.
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