Northern Tier: East: Sunday, July 17, 2011 Muscatine, IA 39/98 miles

This antique is still being used. . .

Iowa has gotten HOT! It’s 99 degrees here in Muscatine and feels even hotter. The heat today got to all but a few hearty souls. I believe ten actually rode the entire 98 miles. (Barb rounded it up to 100!) Believe me, I was not one of them. I bailed at 39 miles mostly due to the fact that my helmet is causing pressure on the back of my head and that is causing a very bad headache. That and the heat were enough for me to say, “I’ve had enough.” I’ve got to figure out what to do about the head problem. I can loosen my helmet but don’t want to loosen it too much. The van picked me up along the side of the road where I joined two others that bailed before me. Before the day was over, we had a van full of 10 ladies and 14 bikes. The van stopped at mile 63 next to a restaurant where we had lunch and waited for others to catch up and “give up.” I had planned to make it that far, but just couldn’t.

My sentiments exactly!

Here in Muscatine, we’re at another AmericInn. Mary from Gainesville, FL, is my roommate. She decided to tough it out and finish the ride, so I brought her luggage to the room. She’ll be exhausted when she arrives. Actually, everyone is exhausted, even those who rode shorter distances. I probably would never cycle in this heat if I were at home. The SAG driver and guides were kept busy supplying water and ferrying cyclists and bikes to the hotel.

Beautiful cone flowers

More corn fields today, as well as soybeans and beautiful wild flowers along the side of the road. I’m looking forward to what Illinois has to offer in the next few days. For one thing, I think it will be more of this oppressive heat. I’ll just deal with it as best I can.

Because of the long day, pizza was ordered for supper tonight. Laura Hahn from Iowa City drove over and brought us a really good garden salad, homemade lemon yogurt cake, fresh fruit, and Brownies. She also brought fresh Iowa corn which we’ll have for dinner on another night. Laura was on our trip last summer and did part of this ride earlier in the summer. Thanks, Laura, for the delicious additions to our pizza. When time permits, please send me your cake recipe.

Tomorrow is a rest day, although some fun activities are planned. I’ll write about that later.