Day 46: A very tough ride to Dyersville

This morning was very foggy again so I started late- around 08:45. I also started late because Steve cooked a phenomenal breakfast for me at the B & B and it took a while for me to eat it all (waffles, cheesy scrambled eggs- he used 6 eggs just for me- sausage, fresh fruit salad, blueberry scones, OJ and coffee). In addition to the fog, it was about 90% humidity, quite warm at the start and hot shortly thereafter! After 2 miles I ran into a detour due to a washed out bridge. The detour took me up and down the bluffs several times and across the hilly top of the bluffs for 16 miles. I developed a new route due to the detour and it was equally hard with many more climbs up the bluffs. The bluffs are only 500′ – 800′ tall, but the roads up and down are the steepest gradients I have ridden thus far. To give you an idea, my previous speed record was 42 mph going down Washington Pass in the Cascades. Today I hit top speeds of 43, 46 and 47 mph going down some of the bluffs! I think 50 mph is achievable! Of course I was doing 5 mph going uphill and butterflies were passing me… I probably climbed 4,000′ – 5,000′ today- all of it very steep. I think this was my third hardest ride so far due to the heat ~88, the humidity ~90% and all the very steep hill climbing. I was sweating so much my shoes and socks were soaked from the sweat running down my legs- I have the blow dryer on my shoes now to dry them out…I did enjoy the scenery and I’m not dead now- which is good because I have another long day tomorrow- so all is good. Daily mileage: 80, trip miles: 2,345.

Steve, one of the proprietors, a great guy and the cook, at the B & B I stayed in last night: 

A nice still, foggy morning: 

Nice, interesting roads with no traffic:

Two signs you do not want to see when bike touring:

The roads on top of the bluffs were quite hilly. And you don’t want to be gasping for breath when you go by a pig farm!
  

Some intetesting patterns in the corn:

Some pretty scenery along the way:

I rode on this nasty road for the last 25 miles today- lots of big cracks and maybe a 2″ shoulder: