PALM 2025

 Pedal Across Lower Michigan (PALM) 2025

Friday, June 20

Corky arrived at 11 or so and we packed up and headed down the road.  We stopped on I-55 at Wally's, which is essentially the same as a Buc-ee's with a bear instead of a beaver. Construction and traffic in Chicago made us lose probably an hour, so we rolled into Stevensville, Michigan kind of late.  There was no one at the school where the ride was to start, so we couldn't camp there.  The campground at Weko Dunes was full.  We went to a hotel.  They were full, and said nearly all the others were full too because of a softball tournament.  One hotel might have rooms for >$400. I thought we would be sleeping in the car, but I called the Super 8.  They had rooms for $150, so we took one. We had a beer at the local microbrewery.  We ate dinner at the nearby Coach's, which is a chain, apparently.  Their hamburgers are really good. 

Saturday, June 21: Pre-ride

We made three attempts to dip our tires into Lake Michigan.  First, we rode our bikes down Glenlord Ave., which was right near the hotel.  It ends at the lake, but there is a 40-food cliff, and no legal public access. We took pictures. We asked a lady there where we could access the lake.  She told us at the state park.  We rode down to Grand Mere State Park.  The path to the lake did not allow bikes (or alcohol), and we walked our bikes until it turned to deep sand. We carried our bikes for a ways.  I was game to continue, but another guy told us it was still another mile to the lake, so we gave up and reversed course.  On our third attempt, we rode down to the Weko Dunes campground we had visited the day before.  Part of our path was on a lovely national bikeway (#35). U.S. Bicycle Route 35 is a 500-mile route that runs from Indiana through Michigan to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, generally following the Lake Michigan shoreline and through the eastern Upper Peninsula.  The road ended at a public beach. We took off our shoes, dipped our tires and got photos. 

It must have been the all-town garage sale weekend, and we stopped at many on our way back to Stevensville.  I passed on good deals on skis, a kayak, and scuba gear.  We got lunch at the Dog Slinger and ate it at the microbrewery.   We went back to the hotel and took naps. We swam in the pool.  We went to the registration and meeting at the school and had dinner at Coach's again.  Awesome black bean burrito.

29.26 mi

Sun, 6/22/2025 PALM Day 1: Stevensville to Dowagiac

We got up at 6 a.m., left the hotel and went to the school for breakfast. I buttoned up the car and left it in the parking lot. We got our bags on the trailer by 8 and began the ride. There was a southwest wind, so the headwinds were harsh whenever we were on the early southward legs.  We stopped at an open air market so Corky could use the Kybo.  We didn't buy anything.  Somebody was playing cartoon theme songs on the PA, including The Bullwinkle and Rocky Show as we left.  We took the optional route for more mileage, and it was very scenic.  We saw two fawns, butterflies and swamps.  Part of our route was a state bike route.  The streets of Buchanan were all torn up. There was a detour around it, but we found our own way, since we could ride our bikes where cars can't go.  We got water from a firefighter who was filling cans from a hydrant.  We stopped at a convenience store for snacks. I got lemonade and an apple pie.  Part of this route was along a river, and very scenic.

We cut off a seemingly superfluous rectangle from the route, but overran our turn onto Snow road and unnecessarily climbing and large hill. Now back on the main route, we stopped at Nikki's diner in Berrien Springs for lunch. I ordered lemonade and an omelet, but could not eat it all.  I left one of my water bottles there. We never saw any other riders on the optional route.  We crossed the bridge over the river and, preparing to turn left, Corky looked back and yell, "Clear".  As he moved over, a white SUV roared up from behind and locked up its brakes for a second.  We found Tim, Julie, Mary and Rhonda  at a SAG stop and talked to them a bit. The last 12 miles went very fast, being flat and having tailwinds. A bridge was out in Dowagiac, and we detoured around it, but it turned out we could have taken the intact sidewalk. I was at 61.75 miles as we approached the school, so I continued up the road and came back and ended up with about 62.  

I found my bags, stacked them, and went to the bathroom while Corky found a camp site in the shade of a building. The family next to us was entertaining, as 9-year-old Natalie asked if I had forgotten how to set up my tent, then if I had put my mallet in a different compartment.  Right on both counts. We got showers, then dinner, chicken, rice, beans and pasta salad. All good. I ran into a guy who said he had my water bottle, so I followed him to his tent and retrieved it.  We were going with Tim's crew down to the Wounded Minnow for a drink, but I didn't get out of the parking lot without noticing I had a flat.  I changed the tube for a TPU tube, with help from Natalie and her brother Chase. There was a tiny wire in my tire that had caused the puncture.  I joined the others at the bar and had a couple of beers.  Across the street was an ice cream vendor, and I got a chocolate-peanut butter malt. I bought a charging cable at a convenience store, then a comb and a battery at the Dollar General.  The battery was for my cadence sensor, which had stopped working.  We returned to the school. I sat inside in the air conditioning for awhile before bed.  It was hot and I had trouble going to sleep. 

62.19 mi

Mon, 6/23/2025 PALM Day 2: Dowagiac to Sturgis

As always, we had breakfast at the school. It was fairly hilly on the initial stretch. We were passing a lot of people. We came upon a young lady on a Univega Maxima Sport on the side of the road.  Her chain had jumped in the front. Corky got her chain back on and adjusted her front derailleur. We rolled up to a guy with a huge trailer with his smoker on it, selling barbeque.  But it was only 9:30, and none of his meat was ready anyway.  We continued to the Baptist Church, which had cold sandwiches, etc. , for lunch.  We ate, even though it was still only 10:30.  We made good time for a while, and got on the optional route again.  It was flat and fairly fast.  We caught up to a couple, the first people we'd seen on the optional. We were resting in the shade on a corner when the SAG car came by.  We tried to flag him down to get water, but he didn't see us.  We continued and went through the Langley Covered Bridge, which provided blessed shade, if only briefly.  We were getting desperate for water when Corky asked a guy who was watering his lawn if we could have some.  He, Bob, agreed, and gave us well water from a hose.  His wife, Marlene, came out and gave us some very doubtful looks.  She said repeatedly we were crazy for riding in this heat.  She wanted to give us bottled water.  Bob offered us to take a dip in the St. Joseph River behind his house, and I took him up on it. We took selfies with them and left. 

It was very hot and there were hills leading into town.  I saw a school and thought we were at the end, but it was the wrong school.  A few miles later and we were there. We set up our tents in a place that would be shaded in a couple of hours, but it wasn't then.  It was brutally hot, and I did not enjoy it.  We took showers, had dinner, and rode down to a bar (Wings?) for a beer with the gang.  This turned out to be the hardest day of the ride.  

78 mi

Tue, 6/24/2025 PALM Day 3: Sturgis to Coldwater

We rode out of town and stopped for water at the town of  Burr Oak. We talked to a SAG guy, Dennis, for awhile, who said he was going to see his brother in the next town. Dennis told a story about how he fell through the ice when he was a kid.  We stopped at a bar named Curly's for lunch.  A guy started talking to us about biking and how his brother was a bicyclist.  His brother walked in, and it was Dennis.  I think the brother was the town drunk.  I had fish and chips.  It was excellent. It began to rain, and I stopped to put on my disposable poncho before I got soaked (as happened last year in Oklahoma).  It made a hell of a flapping noise going down the road, and stretched out behind me like Batman's cape. I tucked the back of it under my butt to hold it there and protect my fanny pack and phone from the rain.  After the rain stopped, the plastic was hot against the sides of my face.  I came up to a SAG stop, where Tim and the gang were.  They pointed out that in my haste I had put my head through the arm hole of my poncho! I bought lemonade from the kids at the stop.  I had to use the bathroom pretty badly, but none was available so I went out behind a shed and did my business in tall grass.  Corky and I spotted an animal in a distant field and discussed what it might be.  I thought it was a deer.  Then an actual deer bounded across the field.  After it turned and walked a bit, I saw that it was a turkey, as Corky had suggested.  

We continued on and finished the ride at the next school.  I was .2 miles from 65 so I rode up the sidewalk and back.  My helmet fell off (I had not snapped it), and when I stopped I gouged my right leg with the chainrings. It left a bloody streak, but it wasn't deep at all.  We soon found all our bags had been left out in the rain.  The Scheel's bag was fairly waterproof, protecting my sleeping bag, but my backpack was not.  All my T shirts were soaked, as well as my jerseys and biking shorts.  We camped in the lee of a gymnasium near a door that gave us easy access to air conditioning, electricity for charging our devices, and the cafeteria.  I took a shower in the aquatic center across the way, but my shower head put out water in a single jet like a drill. Dinner was by Chartwell's, the same company that we contract with at Quincy University.  The chicken was dry.  Worst dinner of the trip!  We didn't go out drinking, as we knew we had the century the next day.

65.00 mi

Wed, 6/25/2025 PALM Day 4: Coldwater to Addison

We had gotten up early and got out at 7:15 in the morning. Right as we were about to leave, it began to rain.  Not again!  I ducked into the gym, and it subsided after a few minutes.  I went ahead while Corky went to air up a tire. My cadence sensor wasn't working again, which really annoyed me because I wanted to know my pedal stroke count for the century.  I stopped at the first SAG and he caught up.  It was hilly on the first part of the ride.  We stopped at a gas station where the guy was playing hard rock inside.  He had a custom painted motorcycle tank and fender on the counter inside. I got a snack and we continued, soon turning off on the optional route for the century.  The roads were fairly flat, but poorly maintained.  We went through Amish country.  Corky got ahead of me.  I turned a corner and I didn't see him though I could see the road for several miles.  I suspected then that he had taken a wrong turn.  I called him when I got to Reading.  He had missed a turn.  He continued to Camden to get back on route.  I had a sandwich at Subway and bought one for him.  There was a lovely moth (the modest sphinx) on the wall where I ate lunch.  Corky called while I was riding and said he would back track from Camden until he ran into me.  While I was talking to him, I passed a woman on the route, the only other person we would see. We learned later her name was Kate. I saw a big hound dog as I turned a corner.  I tried talking nice to him, but he barked aggressively.  As he ran up, eyeing my tender calf, I was just preparing to kick him in the face when he finally backed off.   I met up with Corky and we stopped in the shade in front of an Amish house and leaned our bikes against a wooden fence.  He ate part of his sandwich.  An Amish girl came out of the house, saw us, and ran out to the barn where presumably everyone else was working.  Sounded like a sawmill.  She kept shooting looks at us.  Eventually, the Amish quit working, came out of the barn, and gave us a hearty greeting as we pedaled away.  

Camden road was really rough, with a furrow all the way across the road every 20 feet. Even though it was flat, we could not make good time, going thunk-a thunk-a down the road. Corky rode in the sand/gravel on the side for parts of this stretch.  We suspect the locals do not invest much in road maintenance.  We stopped at a Marathon gas station and got ice in our water bottles, which was very nice.  At the next stop, about 20 miles later, we stopped at a store and refilled our bottles from a tap. We found as we rode away that the water was hot.  We passed a house with a "Fuck Trump" sign, which I'm sure was unusual in that area.  We met a SAG guy and got some water from him.  I told him that a woman was still behind us.  We ran into him later and he said he had gone back 5 or 6 miles and hadn't found her.  When we finished the ride, we went in to check in after the century, writing down our finish times. I saw that Kate had not checked in.  I told the guy and he said he knew her and would call her.  I figured it was in good hands.  I found out she checked in at 8, and had run out of water long ago.  No one called her.  She was pretty salty about it.  No one at the desk told us to go to the meeting or anything. We were even discussing with them how RAGBRAI has a century patch.  It turned out that at the meeting they gave out medals to those who completed the century.  We gave them our addresses so they could send them to us.  We didn't feel too bad physically after the century.  Dinner was good Chinese food, but the showers were cold. My towel had been wet for days by this time, and was beginning to smell like a dead mouse. We rode down to a bar for beers with the gang.  

104.63 mi

Thu, 6/26/2025 PALM Day 5: Addison to Dundee

I left without Corky again, but he caught up at the first water stop. My cadence sensor started working for no obvious reason.  We passed Manitou Beach and Devil's Lake, a quaint vacation community.  We diverted onto the optional route, which was a closed loop this time.  We stopped on a little bridge over a stream.  There was an old stone arch bridge a bit upstream, and damselflies were busy below us.  The loop went around Loch Erin, and at one point we came down some sweeping curves with a great view of the lovely lake.  We had a short stretch on a busy highway, but at least it had good shoulders.  We stopped at a gas station.  Corky got a sandwich and I got some trail mix and gatorade.  On the wall of the gas station was a Giant Leopard Moth, an arctiid I'd never seen in real life before.  

We took off down Pentecost Highway.  It began to rain at some point, and I stopped to put on my poncho.  It stopped raining shortly.  I stopped again to take off the poncho while Corky continued ahead.  After awhile it started raining again, and it grew steadily harder as I rode through Adrian.  I saw a SAG sign and two guys huddled under the eaves of a bank.  I pulled in and joined them just in time, as the rain became a powerful thunderstorm and downpour. The were both from the east coast, and one was collecting all 48 contiguous states.  We watched as the torrents of wind-driven rain came down.  The parking lot filled with water and the drain in the middle became a big whirlpool.  Cars going down the road made huge splashes in the full gutters.  I had to go to the bathroom pretty bad, but the bank had no public bathroom.  As soon as the rain let up, I left the other two guys and headed out.  I road through 6 inches of flood water.  It was interesting.  I stopped at a little store with a bathroom. Whew!  I found that my saddle had come loose, and tightened it back up. I figured Corky was way ahead of me by then.  I got behind a couple of women.  One set a really nice pace of 17 mph down a flat with a modest tailwind.  At one point we crossed railroad tracks and I saw her tires slip on the wet rails.  The same happened to me.  We learned later a couple of guys hit those tracks and went down. I stopped at the Methodist Church in Deerfield.  I checked my messages and got a text from Corky.  He had ridden the storm out at the school in Adrian.  I thought he was still ahead of me though, so I pressed on to Petersburg.  Another storm was coming in.  At first I thought I could beat it, but a mile out of town the lightning came too close and the rain too hard, so I turned around and went back to town.  I got soaked.  I took shelter in an outdoor power store.  I ate the rest of my trail mix and sat on a bucket.  The place smelled like motor oil. The guys there were cool with me hanging out though, and gave me some paper towels to clean my glasses before I left.  After the rain let up, I rode the remaining 6 miles to Dundee in a light sprinkle.  It turned out the Corky was actually behind me.  He had the luck to ride out the second storm in a bar, drinking beer.  

They put our bags indoors and let us sleep in the hallways because it was supposed to storm that night, which it did.  The high school was huge.  I found a good spot with an electrical outlet, but it was across from the bathrooms. Dinner was pulled pork, mac and cheese, and lots of fruit.  I went to the meeting at 7 to get all the details for the end of the ride the next day.  We walked down to a bar (Uncle Lyle's) for drinks with Tim, Julie, and Alex. We came back at 11:30 and the hall lights were off, except for our hall. There was frequent traffic to the bathrooms too, but I slept as well as I could.  Corky found an empty office and slept within. 

70.45 mi

Fri, 6/27/2025 PALM Day 6: Dundee to Luna Pier

Breakfast was biscuits and gravy.  Very hearty.  We didn't have any tents to break down, but we still didn't get out until 8.  It was a very flat 22 miles to Luna Pier.  We passed a lot of people that we hadn't seen on most days (including the Univega girl).  We're fast, but we always started late and took the optional route.  It's a small, slightly touristy place on Lake Eerie, but at the time it smelled like dead fish (perhaps because of actual dead fish on the shore).  Corky and I dipped our front wheel and took photos. Mayflies were everywhere.  I bought an ice cream bar. Alex gave us beers and we drank until the parade at 11:30.  Everyone had worn their official PALM T-shirt, and we had a police escort as we paraded to the school.  We ate box lunches.  I took off my pedals and taped pool noodles onto my bike frame and loaded it into the truck. I took a shower and helped Corky prep his bike. We were done by 1:30.  We waited patiently for the the bus, which was supposed to arrive at 2 and take us from Luna Pier back to the start of the ride at Stevensville.  There was no air conditioning in the building.  By 3:00 we were pretty exasperated and we heard the news that the bus had gone to Stevensville instead of Luna Pier.  People were pretty hot, in more ways than one.  Then we heard that a new bus was coming by 5.  A guy told us that the weight room was air conditioned, and many people moved there. I found a comfortable bench on a leg press machine.  At least we were cool.  Corky and Alex walked to the Dollar General, but I stayed, as there was nothing I needed.  We all regretted not getting one of the extra box lunches that was leftover after lunch.  I went to the lobby to use the bathroom at 6 and as I came out I saw the bus coming up the road.  Finally. Four hours of my life wasted on someone's screw-up.  We loaded onto the bus.  I ate the remnants of my box lunch that I had fortunately saved: chips, carrots and an apple.  Alex gave me another beer, which was nice.  We didn't stop for dinner, but we stopped for a rest room break and another time because someone had pressed the emergency button in the bathroom (Alex?). We rolled into Stevensville almost at 10 p.m.  We loaded our bikes on the car and our bags inside.  Fortunately, the car did unlock and start.  I was afraid it might not because my smart key had gotten wet in the rain earlier in the week.  I had made a reservation at the same Super 8.  We went to Coach's for another fine dinner, then to the hotel to crash.  

 Sat, 6/28/2025 The return

We got up at 6, packed up and left.  We stopped at a convenience store, got gas and donuts for breakfast.  Corky drove most of the way home while I slept.  There was still construction, but not nearly the traffic in Chicago.  Just before Pittsfield, Corky said we were low on gas.  The gas gauge showed no bars and the gas light was on.  I pressed the trip meter until it showed the remaining range. It showed "--", not even a zero.  Luckily, we exited at Pittsfield and got gas at some ag station.  Whew!  I drove the rest of the way home.  We moved Corky's stuff into his Explorer, said our goodbyes and he went home.

Reflection

Michigan is a beautiful place, with lots of rivers and lakes, as well as fields.  All the streams are clear. The southern part of lower Michigan is fairly flat, which made for easy riding much of the way. There are chipmunks everywhere, and lots of other wildlife, including innumerable raccoon and opossum roadkills. The ride was well organized for the most part, though there were definitely times when they dropped the ball.  It really is family friendly, and lots of people towed their kids in trailers. They had kids activities every night. You really do need to go to the meeting every night. There was no alcohol allowed at the schools, so those who wanted to imbibe had to leave to get beer.  There was no live music. The tour is relatively inexpensive.  It was not a difficult or long drive to the start. I would do it again, perhaps in a few years.

Link to photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/uoPtPbEBwVZaQdXB6

2025 Lewis County Century

Cyclists ride 100 miles in Lewis County

Recently, two Lewis County residents rode their bicycles for 100 miles in one day.  And they did it all within Lewis County.  Known in bicycling circles as a century, a 100-mile ride is a bicycling milestone.  Mary Kay Lane, of Canton, and Joe Coelho, of rural Lewistown, completed the ride.

Coelho laid out the route two years ago.  "I planned the route using the website gpx.studio. It lets you plot your course while it calculates and displays the mileage," he stated.  "There aren't that many paved roads that are ideal for cycling in Lewis County.  I avoided Highway 61 for obvious reasons.  I also stayed away from Highways 6 and 16 because they have no shoulder and lots of traffic."  

Starting in Canton, the bikers rode northeast on Highway 81, turned west on Route E to Williamstown, then southeast on A to Monticello, where they took a break at Murphy's.  After a short leg on Route 16, they headed northeast again on Route Y to Deer Ridge, then South on K to La Belle for a quick lunch at Casey's.  They continued south on D, turning east on Highway 156 to Ewing.  At the Dollar General they met up with Cindy Kell, who had ridden from Canton to Ewing to meet them.  The threesome then rode east on Route C to La Grange, and North on B back to Canton.  

"The original route that I had planned was to take Route P from La Grange to Canton.  Even though it is nice and smooth from being recently repaved, we were tired of climbing hills, so we took Route B, which is flat.  Another course deviation was that I had 97 miles when we reached Canton, so I continued north on B for a bit to pick up the last few miles," said Coelho.  

Kell concurred, at least the out and back portion of the route Kell completed was in fact hilly. Kell was grateful the consensus was to head back to Canton via Highway B through LaGrange. Besides seeing a variety of birds, Kell encountered a box turtle and later a black snake crossing the road while riding 50.15 miles for the day.

"We saw considerable nature along the roadside , including beautiful purple coneflowers, as well as toxic wild parsnip and poison hemlock," related Coelho. "At one point we were riding along and I saw a large, rust-colored object ahead in the road.  I said, 'Look, Mary Kay, a deer.' 'Oh, yeah,' she said.  But when we got closer, we saw that it was actually someone's mailbox. Later we saw an actual deer, a big doe showing off with high jumps through a bean field. She stopped to look at us.  She was in the lovely rust-red coat of a whitetail in summer."

"It's a great route that showcases Lewis County with beautiful scenery, low traffic, and mostly smooth roads," said Lane, who has completed many centuries. "But it's one of the more challenging centuries I've done, with lots of hills."  According to Coelho's cycling computer, they climbed 4140 feet.  Other challenges including riding through clouds of gnats while on 81, and increasing heat as the day progressed. The temperature reached 91 F. Fortunately, winds were light, so they never had to fight against stiff headwinds.  Coelho's average speed was 13.8 mph, with a maximum of 34 mph. The whole ride took 8 hours. According to his cadence sensor, he made 25,768 pedal strokes.

Joe Coelho is a Biology Professor at Quincy University.  Mary Kay Lane is the Director of the Canton Public Library.  Cindy Kell is the Director of Public Works for the City of Canton.

The Lewis County Century route.

Mary Kay Lane, Cindy Kell, and Joe Coelho

The RAGBRAIs: 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024

2018

RAGBRAI photos are included in the monthly summary, July 2018 here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qdQEQt4xeVdDYAom6

Finally, we decided to ride RAGBRAI.  This ride is legendary.  I had even heard of it in California when I was in college.  I hired a friend (Cade) to drive me, Savannah and Jacob, out to Onawa, Iowa. We saw lots of wildly painted team and charter buses on the way.  We met Corky and Janet at the camp site.  

July 22 Onawa to Denison

We headed out. There were some hills to climb out of the Missouri River floodplain. We stopped at Josh Schaben's house on the Loess bluffs.  He was my student and a classmate of Savannah's.  She ended up buying a Viszla from him years later.

July 23 Denison to Jefferson

We went through the Iowa corngrowers' display to get some corn propaganda, then a free ear of sweet corn.  We stopped at the distillery at Templeton, where I bought a cheap T shirt.  

July 24 Jefferson to Ames

At Iowa State University they routed us through the stadium while blasting Pink Floyd.  It was awesome and unforgettable. That night I saw the Spasmatics.  They were very entertaining, playing a lot of nerd rock, even the intro to Rush's YYZ.  I met up with the rest of our gang and we walked to where a shuttle was supposed to take us back to the campground.  No such vehicle appeared. Savannah stated emphatically, "I've been waiting her 45 MINUTES!" and we laughed at that.  Corky called an Uber and we took that back.

July 25 Ames to Newton

We stopped in Colo, one of the pass-through towns.  It's named after a dog. There was a petting zoo of farm animals. Savannah picked up a squirming pig, but didn't hold onto it long.  We camped at a park in Newton that had a really nice statue of a rabbit out front that I forgot to photograph.  That night right as I was going to sleep, they rousted us and made us go to the shelter because of bad thunderstorms and tornado watch.  Corky had earplugs in, and, hearing nothing, slept on. 

July 26 Newton to Sigourney  

When we pedaled out in the morning there was half a case of Hamm's on the ground next to the sidewalk.  An old dude with an already heavily loaded bike picked up all of it.  I came upon a couple riding a tandem and towing a trailer with a small dog inside.  I talked to them a while and got a good photo of them.  The dog was a Havachon (Havanese-Bichon mix) that they had gotten expressly for this purpose.  I ran into them again four years later when they camped next to me and Corky.  

July 27 Sigourney to Iowa City

We stopped in Riverside, the hometown of fictional character Captain James T. Kirk.  They milk that for all it's worth, holding an annual Trekfest and having a large model of a starship much like the Enterprise.  It was neat to see.  

July 28 Iowa City to Davenport

There were some great prairies, and I saw a couple of guys riding unicycles.  That had to be tough.  Not sure which day it was, but I saw a few triples, and even talked to the captain of one.  I think his wife and daughter were the stokers.  I talked to a guy who had used vintage Honda motorcycle panniers on his bike.  It looked pretty cool.  His giraffe theme not so much.  We reached the river and dipped our wheels before Davenport.  There was a guy driving an amphibious dune buggy in the river there. Stacey picked us up and drove us home.  We had done it!

2019

Again, I had Cade drive us out to Council Bluffs. We camped in a field that had just been mowed, but the plants were really thick-stemmed and pokey.  So unpleasant!

Sunday, July 21: Council Bluffs to Atlantic

I believe this is the time it rained almost all day. We got soaked through the pants, but it wasn't cold and didn't make the ride any more difficult. We stopped in Avoca and took photos in front of a "150" sign. I don't recall the significance of it, but is was made of little bicycles.  

Monday, July 22: Atlantic to Winterset

At Casey, there was a big steer on a trailer.  We stopped and had Beekman's home-made ice cream.  You can hear them from miles away because they use old, loud engines to power their ice cream machines.  The ice cream is good, but expensive and usually the lines are long.  We stopped and ate lunch in Bloomington, which has a beautiful courthouse.  I remembered being there years before with Stacey; we had taken a photo of Big Guy with his head hanging out the window of the Taurus.  We saw a covered bridge in Winterset. It's John Wayne's home town, and there's a statue of John Wayne in a park.  Corky climbed it, then fell off.  We joked, "John Wayne's dead, and he still kicked your ass!"

Tuesday, July 23: Winterset to Indianola

We stopped at one point and listened to The Loudmouth Brass Band.  There was one dude pulling a big trailer behind his bike that held his horn.  He joined in. 

Wednesday, July 24: Indianola to Centerville

We had breakfast at Casey's, but this was the year we figured out that eating egg dogs was the best.  I think Mo's was the name of the place, with their distinctive striped umbrella.  Centerville also has a very nice courthouse.

Thursday, July 25: Centerville to Fairfield

There was a lady towing a big trailer with a 60-lb doodle in it, Beatrix.  Lovely dog, but I wouldn't want to pull all that weight.  

Friday, July 26: Fairfield to Burlington

When we got to Burlington, there was an option to climb the incredibly steep, brick-paved, Snake Alley.  We all did it, but it took all I had.  We got free slap coozies for our efforts.  Keep in mind these are designed to keep your can of beer cold.  Afterward we ate at the Methodist church.  One of the ladies asked us if we had ridden Snake Alley.  When we replied in the affirmative, she asked, "Then where are your wrist bands?"  We had so many laughs about that afterward.

Saturday, July 27, 2019: Burlington to Keokuk

At first I thought this part was a waste, since we had already reached the Mississippi River and dipped in Burlington, but it turned out to be one of the most scenic legs of RAGBRAI ever, following the river road south. At West Point there was a tower made of bicycles, and a giant ear of corn made of milk jugs painted yellow.  At Donnelson, someone had a sign that said Welcome to Keokuk.  Like the ride was over.  We went to the campground at the high school in Keokuk.  The festivities were somewhere down by the river, but we never went there.  We ate dinner at Dr. Goodwells, and went back to the campground.  In the morning, everyone was gone, so we got hot showers at the high school.  What luxury.  

Sunday, July 28, 2019: Keokuk to home, the RAGBRAI extension

Janet had come to meet us in Keokuk, and followed us back home.  It would have been only 45 miles by gravel, but we weren't on gravel bikes.  About halfway through the ride my body suddenly quit, so the last few miles were agony.  We stopped at Murphy's in Monticello and got milk shakes.  

I now tell people we basically got dropped off in Council Bluffs and rode back to my house.  It was 555 miles total, a RAGBRAI plus one.

2022

Sergeant Bluff to  Lansing. Overnight in, Ida Grove, Pocahontas, Emmetsburg, Mason City, Charles City, and West Union. Lansing.  I rode this one with Corky Clanton. 

Day 0, Friday, July 23: Sergeant Bluff.

 I had Nathan Smith drive me out to Macon, MO, where I met Corky and Janet.  I put my bike and bag on and in their car and we drove to Iowa while Nathan drove my car home.  We ate with Galen somewhere near Omaha, then continued to Sergeant Bluff. There was hardly anyone in the campground.  We met a young woman who was doing it for the first time.  Her front derailleur wasn't working, but I don't think we fixed it. We rode down to the Missouri River, on considerable gravel, even though I was on the Litespeed bike.  Janet drove us back to the campground.  We met a couple of guys from California, which was interesting because we're a couple of guys from California.  We went to the Bike Expo, where I bought a complete set of 2019 RAGBRAI kit because we had ridden that one.

By that night the campground was absolutely full of tents.  

Day 1, Sunday, July 24: Sergeant Bluff to Ida Grove.  Miles: 53.2

We stopped to see some llamas and a giant bicycle with hay bales for wheels.  That night we camped next to a family (or church group) who had never done RAGBRAI before.  They were debating whether to put the rain fly on the tent or not, and Corky urged them to do so.

Day 2, Monday, July 25: Ida Grove to Pocahontas. Miles: 71.2 

In the morning, they were glad they had put the fly on their tent because all the tents were soaked with dew, which is normal.  We rode to a Casey's.  I parked my bike on the side of the store, and when I walked around the corner to the front I saw Ryan Van Duzer (a famous cycling YouTuber who I follow) there.  I got a quick selfie with him.  We saw him repeatedly for the rest of the trip. We stopped at a farmhouse that had a huge slip-n-slide.  I can't remember if we went down it, but we watched a lot of people try.  A few guys went down it naked.  Extra points or applause were given when descending while carrying a beer without spilling it.  When we rode into Pocahontas, kind of late, all the campgrounds were full.  We pitched our tent on the grass in Senior Housing, which the manager said was OK.  We were sponging power from one of the housing units when we were told to move to another.  I said I thought there was no one living in this one, but they assured us there was.  In the morning there was a cat in the window, which confirmed the occupation.  

Day 3, Tuesday, July 26: Pocahontas to Emmetsburg. Miles: 56.4 

We got to see the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, and impressive religious shrine made of rocks, geodes, agates, crystals and other somewhat precious minerals. It's quite large.  At Emmetsburg we saw the Pork Tornadoes, but we only stayed for half their set.  

Day 4, Wednesday, July 27: Emmetsburg to Mason City. Miles: 105

The baggage drop line was pretty long, as it was almost every day. This was the century day.  We had favorable winds and flat roads, making it the easiest century of my life.  I lost track of Corky halfway through.  They ran out of patches but sent them to us in the mail later.  In Britt they had closed off the downtown to traffic and all the vendors were there.  An old police car from the Andy Griffith era was parked there.  We ran into Ryan Van Duzer again, and Corky talked to him about his bike. That night we saw Sugar Ray play.  They were remarkably good, and rocked harder and louder than they do on their recordings.  The opening band was a funk group that was good.  They did a lot of songs I had not heard covered before. 

Day 5-Thursday July 28: Mason City to Charles City.  Miles: 47.9

We stopped at a big quarry that was now a State Park in Floyd County where we were able to look for fossils. This was the first year they had lifted the limit on tickets, and there were a LOT of people on the ride. The pass-through towns were really packed.  There was a lot of the typical limestone stuff, such as crinoids.  I put a small one in my bag, but never found it later.  Charles City has a river running through town, and a lovely bike bridge over it to get to our campground.  

Day 6-Friday July 29: Charles City to West Union.  Miles: 63

Leaving Charles City we saw the whitewater course that runs through the middle of town.  There were some people jumping from a bridge to swim in the stream. When we got to the campground in West Union, we set up our tents and I noticed a blue tandem with a little trailer and a dog.  The rig looked familiar and I talked to the people.  They were the same I had met and photographed 4 years before on the 2018 RAGBRAI.  I'd remembered that the little dog was a Havachon.  

Day 7-Saturday, July 30: West Union to Lansing.  Miles: 65.4

At some point I lost Corky again.  But later I finally ran into Julian Landsom, a young friend who I knew was on the ride, but had not managed to meet up with.  He had had some mechanical problems (broken derailleur hanger) earlier in the trip, but was back on his own bike.  I caught up with Corky in Lansing.  We dipped our tires in the Mississippi River, then rode up Mt. Hosmer, which is basically the bluff of the river there.  It was very steep and quite difficult with the high gearing on the Litespeed. There were some great overlook views on that bluff though.   Nathan had driven my car up to pick us up, so we found him and drove home.  

2024

Day 7-Saturday, July 27: Mt. Pleasant to Burlington.  42.81 mi, 3:28:09 moving time, 827 ft of climb

I had hoped to go up on the Thursday night to Ottumwa to see Night Ranger and ride the last two days, but those plans didn't work out.  Instead, Stacey and I drove up on Saturday morning.  She dropped me in Mt. Pleasant at about 9 a.m. I had decided to take the new Cannondale gravel bike so I could do the gravel segment (for the first time on a RAGBRAI). Right away I saw a sign by a body shop: Enjoy your last day on the RAGG!  Pretty funny.  

I knew that starting so late I would be near the back of the pack.  I began by passing people, thinking everyone at this end would be a slow poke, but it turned out to be not the case.  I pushed myself too hard for the first 5 miles and I think that hurt me in the end. The headwinds were moderate but tolerable. The hills were mostly long and not very steep. I passed one improvised stop, and, before you know it, Mediapolis at 20 miles.  There were lots of people there, but I didn't need anything, so didn't stop except to change my music.  I did talk to a guy on a mountain bike.  Asked him if he was going to ride the gravel.  He didn't know what I was talking about.  Turns out he was a RAGBRAI virgin, and was only riding one day, like me.  The bike was borrowed.  I informed him on the gravel loop and other customs of the ride.  

Shortly after Mediapolis I turned off on the gravel route and stopped to air my tires down to 35 psi with the battery-powered pump.  The gravel was not bad, though there was some washboard in parts of it.  There were few other gravel riders, but I caught up to one guy who I talked to for quite a while.  Turned out he was from Bedford, Indiana, where Fanta C Giant Schnauzers (our breeder) is located. He had a real gravel bike, but a couple of other guys I ran into had skinny, smooth tires.  I don't understand it.  There was a nice downhill coming off the bluff, but otherwise it was fairly flat. The area was mostly corn and beans, but there was a nice part along a stream for a bit.  We stopped at some farmer's house and got some water.  There were only about 2 miles of gravel after that, then paved road leading into Burlington.  I didn't get a gravel patch because you had to scan a QR code on a sign and send it in.  I was not a registered rider, so I wasn't getting one.  Plus, only the first 500 riders would receive one.  I pumped my tires back up to 70 psi again.

I pedaled into Burlington, passing the old guy with the hockey helmet that is on all these rides.  He was the only person I recognized all day.  I rode into town and headed straight for Snake Alley. I had planned to stop and empty out my water, but I had so little left I didn't feel that would make much of a difference.  I shifted into my lowest gear and started the climb and a slow pace.  It was fairly easy until about the last two switchbacks.  I was huffing and puffing at the top, and hit my highest heart rate there, 167.  There was no armband hand out this year.  I rode down to the vendor area and looked at the old jerseys.  All the middle sizes were gone, and they were $50, so I left.  The line to dip tires was super long, but I had never planned on doing that on this trip.  I rode down and found Stacey at the BNSF building.  I loaded up the bike and we went to lunch at Mazzio's Pizza. She drove home and I napped.

I was more tired than I thought, but my average speed of 12.3 mph showed me that I had pushed myself a bit hard, even on the gravel.  I never took a long rest and my legs felt tight a lot of the way. The next day I was fairly stiff.

Pedalers Jamboree 2025

I spent the week before Ped Jam packing and preparing, knowing that my brother Mike was coming out to join us, as he has the last couple of years.  I put a rack on his bike and made a little fender in anticipation of the forecasted rain.  But the day before departure, he called to say he couldn't come.  I was disappointed. Savannah said that they probably weren't coming, or maybe they would only come to visit on Saturday.  So plans changed.

5/22/2025.  I left at about 12:30 p.m.  It was very windy on the way down, which is not fun when towing a travel trailer. There was a bit of a traffic jam on I-70 around the bridge over the Missouri River, causing about a 30-minute delay.  I met Corky at our usual camp site.  He was already set up.  I pulled in and set up my camper.  We had dinner at the new Mexican restaurant in Boonville, then went on a short ride over the bridge to the markers for the old town of Franklin, which no longer exists.  Interesting history.  It was the starting point of the Santa Fe trail.  We rode back over to Boonville and checked out the old railroad bridge.  

5/23.  I slept until 7, which is quite late for me.  It helps when I don't gave to get up at 6 to feed dogs.  Corky cooked a hot breakfast.  We rode to Pilot Grove on the Katy Trail, seeing a snake and a box tortoise on the way.  Our favorite place to eat there, Katrina's, had sadly closed.  Instead we ate at Deon's Bar and Grill.  The food was good, but it took an hour to get it.  There were only 2 people staffing the place, and they had kind of a rush.  The waitress had interesting tattoos.  The ride back to Boonville was much easier because it's mostly downhill.  We checked out the Visitor's Center, and read some of the history.  

Savannah, Jacob and the girls showed up shortly after our return. They had decided to come down and ride on Saturday.  We went for the traditional dinner at Maggie's--beer and burgers. Good thing we got there early, as they were swamped when we left.  We went back to camp and chatted awhile.  It began to rain and we deployed our awnings.  That's when I discovered the holes in mine.  I suspect I hit a tree branch coming out of our driveway.  I also found the the big tupperware tub of silverware was missing.  I couldn't find it in any compartment, and still haven't at the time of this writing.  That night the kids slept in pack-n-plays on top of the big bed.  Savannah slept on the folding couch.  Jacob slept in the top bunk, I slept on the bottom one.  

5/24.  We all got up at 5:40 when the girls did.  We had a breakfast of pumpkin bread and strawberries, which Stacey had thoughtfully prepared.  Me and the whole family loaded into my truck and drove to Columbia.  Corky had to take his own truck because we didn't have room for him.  It sprinkled a little on the way.  We found the parking lot, got a spot and unloaded the bikes.  Jacob and Savannah rode their tandem, pulling a trailer carrying Cleo and Gwen.  We rode to Flat Branch Park where it starts, then met Corky.  We rode the MKT out.  There was some deep gravel on the trail, and at one point I saw a child on a small bike hit that gravel.  His bike slid out from under him and he slammed into the ground.  It was ugly. His Dad was right behind him and provided immediate aid.  We rode hard to McBain to see Pat Kay play.  I had never seen him without the full Kay Brothers band, but he was great solo.  He plays guitar (or banjo), a base drum and harmonica at the same time. A bald eagle and a couple of flocks of geese flew over us.  Cleo was obsessed with a tiny grasshopper that she held for a long time.

After the concert we rode on to Rocheport.  We heard a band play while we ate hot, fresh pizza.  So good.  It was still cool and mostly overcast at this point.  We rode on to New Franklin.  We rested and saw the Katy Roundhouse and a couple of bands.  The sun came out and it was warmer.  I took off my rain jacket.  We rode the final leg to Boonville and back to camp.  A lot of people were walking their bikes over the bridge, so it was a good thing we rode on the roadway instead.  We watched people ride in to the end of the route, which is always interesting.  I took a shower and we went to the venue. Got some good BBQ for dinner and a chocolate-dipped frozen banana (with nuts!) for dessert.  The kids were really tired, so Savannah and the Zimmerman's went back to camp. The fireworks show was good, and a dude sang the Ped Jam song. I recorded it.  We saw three bands: 1) country band.  Pretty good. 2) rock band. a bit too screamy. 3) The Big Dam Band, the headliner.  The guy had a unique blues guitar style.  He had a drummer and then his wife on washboard.  They sounded good, but wore thin after 3 or 4 songs, so Corky and I went back to camp.  It rained overnight.

5/25.  Jacob went over to the venue and brought back pancakes and sausage for all of us.  The kids were going home that day.  Corky and I headed out about 9:30.  It was cool, so I was in leg warmers and rain jacket again.  We made good time, 13-14 mph for long stretches, except when we had headwinds.  We stopped briefly in New Franklin.  We stopped in Rocheport long enough to pee and hear one song from a washboard band.  I took off my raincoat, as it had warmed up. We rode on, and stopped to photograph the plaque on the bluff.  I saw a red-tailed hawk fly by and spook some pigeons off the rocks.  When we got to the MKT, it was sprinkling hard. I put my rain jacket back on for the final leg.  When we got back to the parking garage, I could not at first find my truck.  I hit the lock button on the fob and heard the horn, so I knew it was there.  I had mistaken which side it was on.  Anyway, I did a Savannah and peed in the parking garage.  I loaded up the bike and headed out.  Bought gas in Columbia and drove to Boonville in what was now a driving rain.  I made a sandwich for lunch.  I hitched up truck to trailer and struck camp.  I took a shower, said my goodbyes to Corky, and headed for home.  It wasn't a bad drive.  A little windy, but not much traffic.  

There were a lot more ebikes this year, and, interestingly, cargo bikes. At one point we passed a guy who had two kids on his cargo bike and was pulling a trailer.  He was a big dude, but that is a massive load.  Most of the cargo bikes were ebikes as well.  The camping area was extremely crowded this year.  Good thing we got there early.

Here's a link to a small photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/D4ce63hkLBxsJhH77

Bike Lewis County

    I have now ridden every public roadway in Lewis County, Missouri, USA. Although I have lived here for 25 years (having first moved to Canton in 1999), I’ve been riding mostly the same the local highways and byways. This project began in 2023. Once I decided to ride the whole county, I determined very quickly that I had already ridden most of the paved roads, so I got a gravel bike (Poseidon Redwood) to handle the rest. Lewis County has LOTS of gravel roads. Later that gravel bike began to feel inadequate, and I upgraded to a better one, a Cannondale Topstone 2.  Other bikes I used over the years included a Univega rigid mountain bike, a Trek hardtail mountain bike, a Litespeed titanium road bike, a Fuji road bike, a Kestrel carbon fiber road bike, a Motobecane fat tire bike, and a Univega tandem.
    Gravel has a lot more rolling resistance than pavement, so I only rode half the distance I would normally ride, like 20 or 30 miles instead of 40 or 60. The roads vary from nice, packed earth to big, chunky cobbles. Sometimes there were muddy stretches, big ruts or potholes, but they were not a problem unless I was screaming downhill at high speed. Traction was always a concern, as it’s easy to slide on gravel. My only crash was while turning at low speed on gravel. My front tire slid out and I went down. Fortunately, my gloves and arm sleeves protected me and I only got a mild scrape. Mechanical failures included the sole coming off my shoe and a pedal coming apart. I kept getting flats with my first set of tires (WTB brand), and switched them out for a set of Schwalbes.  Never had a flat after that. One innovation that helped a lot was a battery powered bike pump with a pressure gauge.  That device allowed me to run high pressure (70 psi) for low resistance on paved roads and low pressure (35 psi) on gravel for a smoother ride. I often used a Monster Boomerang bluetooth speaker so that I could enjoy music without affecting my ability to hear traffic. These rides are always hard, but they are great training for the bike tours I do each summer, such as the Big BAM and RAGBRAI.

To keep track of my rides, I used primarily two digital tools. I used the Strava app to record my rides, and downloaded a gpx file of my path from that. I uploaded the gpx file to a website, gpx.studio, to examine the routes I’d already ridden. It displays them all at once, and I could plan the next route.  I rode much of the southwest corner and middle of the county just by taking rides from home. The southeast corner I completed by having Stacey (my wife) drop me off in Quincy, Illinois when she went to work, and riding home via indirect routes. For the northwest corner I drove to La Belle, Williamstown, Monticello or Deer Ridge to park and ride. For the northeast corner I mostly parked in Canton.

    One curious thing happened fairly often: I planned a route, only to find during the ride that a road, or parts of it, no longer existed. Many of the county roads have been converted to private ones or even to fields. I also found a few new roads that did not appear on the maps. Our maps, especially those available online, are out of date. I had to make some changes to my routes on these days, sometimes with considerable frustration if a loop was interrupted.

Lewis County is only 511 square miles in area, unlike the huge counties in western states, and doesn’t contain any large cities, making the project fairly tractable. There are approximately 1000 miles of roadway.  Of course, many roads had to be ridden multiple times to reach the unridden roads, and all dead end roads had to be ridden down and back. In the cities and towns, I criss-crossed east-west and north-south to get all of the streets and alleys done. It took almost 1900 miles of riding to complete it.

    I did some bonus routes that were not public roads, such as all of the trails at Wakonda State Park, a couple of mountain bike rides on the trails at Deer Ridge, and the roads through about every cemetery that I passed. I rode the levy trail in Canton and all the trails on our farm. The only road I did not complete was Highway 61. I had to ride a few short segments of it for some rides, but it feels too dangerous to try to do the whole thing. Trucks flying by at 70 mph are not fun for the cyclist.

It was an arbitrary goal to ride all the county roads, but it gave me motivation to ride, and let me see a lot of the region.  I declared it like a New Year’s resolution, but I knew it would take more than one year. I thought I might conceivably get it done in two, but I’d have to work at it. I finished a couple of months short of two years.

The gravel roads get very little traffic, so they are safer than many paved highways.  The only traffic I saw were friendly farmers and their families. I was been chased by many dogs, but never caught. If a dog looked friendly, I stopped and made friends with it.  If it looked slow, I outran it.

The scenery was great while cycling the countryside.  It was peaceful and there was a lot of wildlife.  I saw a deer on almost every ride. I’ve seen uncountable bald eagles, snakes, turkeys and all the typical wildlife.  I’ve seen a lot of the rarely observed species too, such as river otters, western kingbirds, and bobolinks. Roadsides are also a great place to see wildflowers, such as spiderwort, blazing star, sensitive briar and wild petunia.

Map of Lewis County, Missouri, showing routes ridden.

Although I did not take many photos while on these rides, they added up to quite a few. I collected the best into this photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZgiQn7CeCmphwmfy6

The Oklahoma Freewheel 2024

 

Given the massive crowds and other problems with RAGBRAI in recent years, my riding buddy Corky and I decided to do something different this year.  After examining all the rides offered in surrounding states, we decided to ride the Oklahoma Freewheel.  It would start and end in the same town, forming a loop; therefore, we would not have to be shuttled to the start or end town.  Corky had heard good things about this ride, and we were looking forward to seeing some new country via bicycle.  We expected there would be many fewer people, and we were right, as about 140 were registered (compare to ~30,000 on RAGBRAI last year).

I left the house early on May 31 and arrived at Corky and Janet's sometime after 10.  We loaded up Corky's bike and gear and headed toward Oklahoma.  Corky did most of the driving, which gave me an opportunity to nap. We stopped at Buc-ee's outside of Springfield, MO, and it was packed with people.  I got a burrito and overstuffed myself with it. We rolled into Pawhuska, found the Constantine theater and got ourselves registered.  We ran into a Rooster Cogburn impersonator and I told him the story of Corky falling off the John Wayne statue in his hometown of Winterset, Iowa. We had said, "John Wayne has been dead for years and he still kicked your ass!"  We checked out some of the interesting stores on Main Street, including the Buckin' Flamingo, which held many amusing novelties.  We set up camp at the school.  I saw some people with wristbands, and recalled that we didn't get any in our registration kits, so I went over to the little shelter where the ride organizers were set up, and got mine put on and one for Corky.  The Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were numerous at the school and they put on some antics around dusk.  Not sure what they were doing.  We spent the night in our tents under the bright street lights. 

Day 1: Pawhuska to Pawnee. 49 mi, 2000 ft of climb. We packed up, threw our bags on the trailer and headed downtown for the mass start.  There was hardly anyone there.  A few people accumulated, but there were still only about 20, as most of the people had left much earlier.  The organizer, Paul, mentioned the location of nearby bathrooms, so when he gave the official start, we didn't leave.  Instead, we went back to use the bathrooms.  As a result, we started at the back of the pack.  Gradually, we overtook people on the route. We saw about 5 roadkilled tarantulas, and finally a live one.  We stopped to photograph it and get it safely across the road.  They don't occur where we live, so I get pretty excited about them.  I saw a number of interesting roadside flowers, and photographed them for later uploading to iNaturalist.  We passed a lot of wind farms, and we could hear the blades swoosh as they turned.  

In Fairfax we stopped at the main intersection and photographed the old buildings, many of which had their old vintage signs still painted on the windows, even if different businesses lived in them now. We headed over to a converted gas station. It was named Treats. I thought I could get ice cream there, and Corky thought we could drink beer at their picnic tables.  We met Carol Connor, who operates the county paper, the Fairfax Chief.  This is her retirement gig, as she used to be a research psychologist.  We exchanged stories about running small newspapers, such as the graduation edition, legal notices and advertising.  She was a fount of knowledge on the local history.  It turns out the Killers of the Flower Moon had been filmed in Fairfax, as that was where many of the events in the book had actually occurred. There was currently an effort to save the Tall Chief theater, which had been built by an Osage man named Tallchief. Across the road was the Baptist church, which had been founded by a chief who quit the Catholic religion in favor of keeping his two wives. We spent a long time chatting.  I got an ice cream (free!), and we drank our beers.  Corky and I each bought necklaces for our wives from the gift shop.  

We continued on the route to the overnight town, Pawnee. There were lots of rolling hills. I had not ridden this bike with the new saddle and my butt was hurting.  Later I adjusted the angle and set-back, which helped a lot. We set up our tents right next to the courthouse to get out of the wind. The local paper there is the Pawnee Chief. We walked to the local motel, where the organizers had arranged to get our showers.  We got a room key from the dude outside, who just decided to start calling himself Tader, and got nice, hot showers.  What a luxury! The high school athletics group was selling food in the park.  I got a good burger there.  A band played in the bandshell.  They were country, of which I am no great fan, but they played a lot of stuff I like, and played it well, including the Eagles and Jimmy Buffet.  Then they played "Poke Sallet Annie," and I loved it. It was fairly windy overnight, but it did not blow us away.  It pulled a few of the guy line stays off of Corky's tent, though.  

Day 2: Pawnee to Perkins. 36 mi, 1700 ft of climb. There was rain in the forecast that morning, but I left my rain jacket in my bags.  We were 5 or 10 miles into the ride when I began to feel drops.  They evaporated as soon as they hit me so I wasn't worried.  Then the drops became larger and more frequent.  We stopped because Corky had plastic ponchos in his bags, but it took so long to find them that we were soaked before we got them on.  Still, they kept us warmer as we pedaled along through a driving rain.  I was more worried about the occasional lightning than the heavy rain.  We stopped at the fairgrounds and stayed under a lean-to for awhile. The rain let up a bit and we continued.  Then the rain started again and got heavy.  It was interesting going fast downhill in such conditions.  I actually overran the end of the ride and had to backtrack to Oak Lodge, a Methodist events center.  Corky had gotten us a private room for the night, which was really nice.  I've never had such luxury on a bike tour.  We got showered and found lunch at a food truck that was set up on the grounds. We had a nap, and walked down to the Dollar General to get beer.  I also got a pair of shorts, as I had apparently not packed enough for the evenings. I got an insulated bag to put the beer in and we got some ice from a convenience store.  We dried our rain-soaked clothing in the sun. We ordered pizza for dinner. We talked to the director of the Oak Lodge.  It used to be the local summer camp for Methodist kids.  The local church bought it and uses it for various ministries, such as feeding children once a week, and rents it out as an events center.  It has a lot of buildings and grounds, so it's quite a task to take care of it. I photographed a huge jimsonweed growing next to the lodge. The seeds are hallucinogenic but also potentially lethal. It was probably planted under the ornamental name, "moonflower." We were the only ones drinking beer at the group meeting that evening, but I think that broke the ice, as we saw more people drinking beer after that.  I had a great night's sleep in an actual bed.

Day 3: Perkins to Prague. 52 mi, 2500 ft of climb. The story of the day was wind, wind, wind. We were headed south, but the wind was headed north.  It was a grind for about 30 miles, then we had a crosswind for 10 more.  The wind speed was so great (10-20 mph?) we couldn't even coast on the downhills.  At one point there was gravel all over the road.  We found a thin strip down the middle where there was less gravel, and shortly found a bottom-dump gravel truck on the side of the road.  The driver was climbing on top of the trailer and on the phone to someone.  Guess he lost his load.  At some point we met a young (well, younger than us) woman named Dot.  After awhile I learned that she had been trained as a botanist.  We had some interesting exchanges about plants.  Sadly, she has never been able to work in the discipline. We had lunch at Lawsons, a convenience store and cafe.  Corky had a gigantic ham sandwich, and I had perhaps the best cheese steak in my life. We ate them outside, sitting on a curb, drinking beer and swarming with flies. Since the rain on the previous day, the streams were running high and red, a result of the red Oklahoma clay.  We had cold showers in the old gymnasium that night, but it was the only time we had cold showers. It must have been the old junior high gymnasium because the mirrors were far too low. There were some food trucks set up across the road from the park we were camping in, and I got a really good chicken and bean burrito, as well as some caramel kettle corn (and beer) for dinner.  A big storm was predicted for that night, so we set up our tents under a picnic shelter. About 10 o'clock the storm hit.  It rained really hard for about 2 hours, with plenty of thunder and lightning to go with it.  I mostly stayed in my tent, but some of the other guys stayed up and watched it from the shelter.  I guess it flooded pretty badly in some parts of the park, but I knew we were on high ground, or concrete, and pretty safe.  

Day 4: Prague to Drumright. 39 mi, 1700 ft of climb. You know you got a lot of rain when a crayfish wanders into your camp. That's what greeted me outside my tent, which was fortunately intact, if not dry. We packed up and were late for breakfast at the school cafeteria but still were served. The biscuits and gravy were hearty. On the way out of town, I saw a couple of huge earthworms on the road. Although our route had turned north, we had headwinds again. Fortunately, it was a short day in terms of mileage. I crossed an intersection and saw a box tortoise in the road. It pulled its head in, so I knew it was alive.  I turned around, picked it up and took it to the roadside.  It peed on me.  We had Casey's pizza for lunch. While we were standing in line, a guy walked in and paid for everyone in line, including our lunch. This had never happened to me before. We got to Drumright and set up our tents in what would be shade in a short time.  I took a righteous nap. We were in a park, not near a school, so they had arranged a shower trailer. It was very nice.  This night was the free catered dinner, and the barbecued brisket was delicious. There was a live band that was a bit southern rock, blues, and country. They played some Jimi Hendrix, which I do appreciate. The singer was funny too.  Dot sat with us and it was revealed that she had been a punk rocker in a previous life.  I related to her some of my punk creds, such as seeing the Dead Kennedys play on the eve of the new year 1984 in a nearly destroyed roller rink.

Day 5: Drumright to Pawhuska. 60 mi, 2200 ft of climb. We got an early start. We had a pancake breakfast at the Masonic lodge. The first 40 miles went fast, as we had light winds and mild hills. There were some nice country roads, smooth pavement and long downhills. I even saw two live tarantulas. At one point I saw a pair of scissor-tailed flycatchers harassing a crow in a field. There was a looong bridge over the Arkansas River near Cleveland under construction. We had to go about a mile in a single lane against traffic.  I waited for the wide loads to pass first. After awhile, I noticed my right leg and foot had become sunburned.  There was a nasty headwind the last 10 miles.  I met Corky at the school at the end. I took a shower in the school and the water was blazing hot. It's the only time I ever took a Navy shower because the water was too hot.  We loaded up and hit the road. We stopped in Vinita at Clanton's Cafe for a late lunch.  Corky's last name is Clanton, so this is a big draw for us.  The food was good.  We stopped at Bass Pro Shop in Springfield to pick up my reel.  I spent the night at Corky's house, and drove the last leg of the trip the next morning.

It was a great trip. I saw quite a number of Mississippi kites (a life bird for me), upland sandpipers, and numerous roadside flowers that I have yet to identify.  Upon my return, I found that my wife Stacey had a copy of Killers of the Flower Moon.  I read it in less than a week.  It was timely and relevant, as I had just visited many of the places mentioned in the book. 

An online photo album of this bike ride can be seen here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NsfwtLVgVLFz3MPU6

Sketchbook profile

For Member Mondays, I composed this dog biography.

Joe Coelho grew up in a dog-crazy family on a farm in California, where his mother was a poodle breeder and all-breed groomer.  Stacey Nicholas grew up in an animal-loving family in rural Indiana, with a variety of mixed breed dogs in the house.

Joe and Stacey had hunting dogs for some years, including a Britany mix, a Golden Retriever and a Standard Poodle. One day, after the last of these had died and we had been dogless for several months, Stacey found a lost Miniature Schnauzer.  The owners reclaimed it, but we were smitten with the breed, and soon obtained a puppy from a “rescue”.  Gretchen is a typical mini: high energy, lots of prey drive, and very affectionate.  A couple of years later Stacey became aware of a black Giant Schnauzer in need of rehoming.  100-lb Big Guy joined us and soon became our soulpet. More years went by and we started thinking that we needed a Standard Schnauzer to complete the trifecta. About that time, Big Guy died of lymphoma and left us heartbroken.  Shammy Johnson connected us with Liz and we all went down to Columbia.  Liz showed us a pair of nearly 1-year-old females, and we took them both (Shammy got a Picard, but that’s her story to tell).  

The standards were full of energy and spent many hours running and playing in the  back yard.  We called them the Sisters of Chaos.  Indigo (Sketchbook Wheel of Fortune CGCA CGCU TKN) is the black sister, and as adorable as they come.  She has the friendliest temperament of all our dogs and doesn’t know a stranger.  She passed the canine good citizen tests (CGC,  CGCA and CGCU)  and is registered with Therapy Dogs International.  She makes a monthly visit to our local nursing home, and sometimes serves as a model for Joe’s presentations.  Last year, while Joe was giving a talk on dog anatomy, a student walked in and said, “Oh, my God, that is the cutest dog I’ve ever seen in my life!”  Don’t let her sweet disposition fool you, however.  She is known to give love bites, especially in the morning when trying to get Joe out of bed.  If she is really enamored with a new person, she will sneak up and bite them on the rear.  Hence, one of her nicknames is “Butt Biter.”  She is also a stone cold killer. Blessed with a strong prey drive, she has vanquished a number of mice and moles, as well as putting the finishing bite on a few squirrels. She does well in barn hunt practice, but we haven’t made it to a competition yet. She is smart, but resistant to obeying commands. In spite of this stubbornness, she has passed the Novice Tricks test. Among all our dogs, Indigo tolerates wearing clothing the best, and she and Joe have won best costume at the kennel club Halloween party two years running.

Isabel (Sketchbook Who Wants 2B a Millionaire CGCU NAJ TKP) is the pepper/salt sister.  Just watching her run, we could tell she was physically gifted. Her solution to nearly any problem is to jump.  High.  The first time our physicist friend saw her, he said, “What a powerfully built dog!”  We started training her for agility, which led to our joining the Quincy Kennel Club. We added a tricks class to her schedule and found that Isabel is not only smart, but very biddable.  She will do just about anything we ask of her.  She progressed through the AKC trick titles to Advanced Trick Performer and we are working on the Elite title.  She has given 17 public performances to date. Her routine includes lots of jumping tricks, but also scenting and floor work such as leg weaves. Yes, she performs while wearing a red cape! She knows so many tricks that we can’t squeeze them all into a performance.  Isabel has titles in three different areas, which collectively qualify her as an AKC Achiever Dog. Fun fact: Joe’s greying goatee sufficiently resembles Isabel’s beard that they once won an owner/dog look-alike contest.

Joe and Stacey live on a farmlet in Lewis County, Missouri.  Like Liz, they have chickens.  Their current pack features one Miniature Schnauzer (Gretchen), three Standard Schnauzers (Isabel, Indigo and Luna), and two Giant Schnauzers (Miss Kitty and Delta). Through the good people on the Sketchbook team we began volunteering with Boxer/Schnauzer Rescue of the Ozarks a few years ago.  We have fostered about 20 dogs, including the recently adopted 3-legged wonder, Miles (a mini). Stacey is Coordinator of Community Outreach Initiatives at Douglass Community Services.  Joe is a Professor of Biology at Quincy University.

Rather than upload a ton of photos to FB, here’s a link to a variety of images of Isabel and Indigo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/p46d2aaMGxGwqiiS6