Day 18 - Vermillion, SD to Denison, IA

Bittersweet day...

After three long, rough days we were treated to near perfect cycling conditions as we left South Dakota and entered Iowa. The roads were smooth and clean and the scenery much improved from our last two days. The cold front that moved through overnight swept away the heat and most of the humidity. We enjoyed temperatures in the 80s and the wind at our backs when we turned south. Western Iowa is well known by cyclists for its rolling hills and we rode many "rollers" as we traversed the day's 127 miles and 5,000 feet of climbing.

I was treated with a visit from Mary and Ed, who drove up from Omaha and had dinner with me and visited for a little while. Olivia is at a dance camp at the University of Kansas, so she wasn't able to make it, but I know she still cares... We had a nice dinner with Rick, another rider, at a local restaurant. I had the chance to introduce Mary and Ed around and show them some of the Pac Tour operation. I really enjoyed seeing them and miss them (and Molly and Moose) very much.

On a less happy note and after considerable deliberation, Dave ended his ride today and returned to Omaha to be with his family. He rode with us to Denison and enjoyed the ride, but he knew his heart was no longer in it for the long haul. He didn't anticipate the extent to which he would miss his family when we embarked on this journey. It was a pleasure to ride with him for over 2,000 miles. He was a great roommate and friend and I'm going to miss him as the rest of us continue east.

I'll end today's post with a few pictures. The first is a sign I'm sure all cyclists would like to see on the side of more roads. I have to say that the drivers in Iowa seemed to genuinely care about the safety of cyclists and took caution when passing, especially on the rolling hills. As opposed to the woman in the white minivan in the oncoming lane yesterday who decided that she couldn't wait to pass the vehicles in front of her as we cycled by in the other direction. It continues to amaze me that some people aren't willing to sacrifice a few seconds of their day to make sure they don't put cyclists and other drivers in danger.








One of the hazards of cycling in the heat is that the combination of sweat and sunscreen can combine to make hands and water bottles slippery. A dropped water bottle in a group of riders can cause serious harm. A dropped water bottle on a quiet rural road in Iowa on a day when everything seems to go right doesn't threaten anyone with harm and rolls gently into the hay collected on the side of the road so that its careless owner doesn't have to climb down into the drainage ditch to retrieve it, but can simply reach down from the edge of the pavement and return it to its rightful place.

Our last SAG stop of the day was in a small town called Ricketts. Some of the local kids turned out to watch the cyclists roll in and out. In the meantime, they checked out the bikes, helped themselves (with permission) to snacks and drinks, and chatted with us as we ate and re-filled bottles. One little girl in particular was a one woman welcoming committee. She chatted with everyone, offered to help fill bottles, and took pictures. Her name is Savannah and she was another bright spot on a very good day.