Challenging Days

We have had 3 days full of challenges. To begin one of our cycling friends has had to go home early due to unexpected surgery. Kathy is one of those rare people who comes into your life, leaves footprints on your heart and you are never, ever the same. Her smile is contagious and she has the most positive, adventuresome spirit. We will all miss Kathy.

Our second challenge has been both hills and head winds. On Monday we had headwinds of 25 mph. On Tuesday the winds went down to 15 mph. Both of those days we also had hills. They describe them as rolling hills. I'm guessing that means one hill after the other. Both days were 60 mile days. Both of those days we averaged only about 10 mph.

Our final challenge is the rain. On Wednesday we had two of the biggest hills I have ever seen. Pat and I both rode on a 6 percent grade hill when we rode the Tri-Island Trek several years ago. That hill was referred to as Character Building Hill. Today's hills were both mostly 10 percent grade incline with a small part being 12 percent incline. In addition they went on forever!!! But we made it. Then it started to rain. That makes going downhill a little tricky. To get out of the rain we all went to a wonderful little restaurant called The Twisted Chicken in McGregor, Iowa. Thursday is expected to rain all day. That's my birthday and I would prefer a really nice day.

The past couple of days we have moved away from the Mississippi but by Wednesday we have rejoined the river. In addition we have seen some of the most beautiful farm land. I have stopped to take several pictures but none of the pictures show how beautiful it really is. As the roads are rolling hills so is the land we see along the way. It reminds me of the scenery in New Zealand. Except that land is dotted with sheep. This land is either corn or cattle.

Tuesday was made wonderful by a visit from my Iowa friends Frank and Betty Smith. They live about an hour from Dyersville, our destination for Tuesday. Frank and Betty also live in Arizona and he is a member of my bike group. They took me out to dinner and we had a wonderful visit for a few hours. It was so good to see them. It's like a little bit of normalcy.