Two days age we were in Dubuque in a hotel where we stayed and the sun came out. As we were looking through info about Dubuque we found that there was a local bike club and found a name and email address. Since we needed help finding a better way out of the city than riding through all of the traffic, we decided to call him, Ken was his name. It was about 9:00pm by the time we called him. Hap asked him bicyclist and his reply was "does a bear.......in the woods!" Hap said he knows they do in Montana where we were last yr. We decided Ken was an alright guy. After talking for a couple of minutes, he said how about if I just come over and bring some maps? He came over, we figured out a route and then Ken suggested we go for a beer. Now we really like him. He was planning to ride a very similar ride that we just did. Davenport IA to Dubuque this weekend.
The next day we left Dubuque on a bike trail and rode to Sageville. We are still riding north on the Mississippi River. It started out sunny, but as the day the went on it became overcast. It was VERY windy all day. Mostly a side wind. We had checked the weather before we left and there were tornado warnings out. Supposedly it was going to start storming at 3p or so. The route was gorgeous! We rode up and down some ridges with great views of the river. The biggest problem was the SIDE winds hitting us on the downhills. Alittle sketchy from the stokers point of view. Ken had suggested we stop at Breitbach's bar in Balltown. The oldest bar in Iowa. We talked to the owner Mike and his wife, ate a piece of pie and headed into the storm. When we reached Guttenberg we stopped at a grocery store. We planned to go about 20 miles further but about 5 people stopped us and said there is a tornado coming towards us. We called the campground we had planned to get to and she said it was thundering and lightening there. So we decided to stay inside once again. We stayed at The Landings, a beautiful old building right on the river. It used to be a button factory. They made buttons from the shells in the river. We walked down to a restaurant for ALL YOU CAN EAT shrimp and salad bar. We watched a huge barge come through the locks that were right in front of the restaurant. Of course by this time the sun was shining! The storm somehow had missed us.
Today, Friday, it was a beautiful sunny but cooler ride from Guttenberg to Lansing. We had a major headwind (of course). We did alot of climbing up and down the ridges again. But it really was beautiful. Traffic wasn't too bad, although we did have alot of truck traffic. We stopped for lunch in McGregor and had mexican food. It was a neat little river town. It would have been fun to do some exploring, but with our weather record we thought we should head out. We had another 30 miles or so to ride to Lansing. I can't say enough about how pretty this area is. The views of the river were awesome.
We are camping tonight at the Red Barn campground just outside of Lansing. It is a really nice campground. As were were riding to the campground we met some other cyclists who were headed this way. Hopefully they will come here to camp. Tonights dinner is mac and cheese, spinach, pears and chocolate milk. Mmmmmmmmmm....
Later
The next day we left Dubuque on a bike trail and rode to Sageville. We are still riding north on the Mississippi River. It started out sunny, but as the day the went on it became overcast. It was VERY windy all day. Mostly a side wind. We had checked the weather before we left and there were tornado warnings out. Supposedly it was going to start storming at 3p or so. The route was gorgeous! We rode up and down some ridges with great views of the river. The biggest problem was the SIDE winds hitting us on the downhills. Alittle sketchy from the stokers point of view. Ken had suggested we stop at Breitbach's bar in Balltown. The oldest bar in Iowa. We talked to the owner Mike and his wife, ate a piece of pie and headed into the storm. When we reached Guttenberg we stopped at a grocery store. We planned to go about 20 miles further but about 5 people stopped us and said there is a tornado coming towards us. We called the campground we had planned to get to and she said it was thundering and lightening there. So we decided to stay inside once again. We stayed at The Landings, a beautiful old building right on the river. It used to be a button factory. They made buttons from the shells in the river. We walked down to a restaurant for ALL YOU CAN EAT shrimp and salad bar. We watched a huge barge come through the locks that were right in front of the restaurant. Of course by this time the sun was shining! The storm somehow had missed us.
Today, Friday, it was a beautiful sunny but cooler ride from Guttenberg to Lansing. We had a major headwind (of course). We did alot of climbing up and down the ridges again. But it really was beautiful. Traffic wasn't too bad, although we did have alot of truck traffic. We stopped for lunch in McGregor and had mexican food. It was a neat little river town. It would have been fun to do some exploring, but with our weather record we thought we should head out. We had another 30 miles or so to ride to Lansing. I can't say enough about how pretty this area is. The views of the river were awesome.
We are camping tonight at the Red Barn campground just outside of Lansing. It is a really nice campground. As were were riding to the campground we met some other cyclists who were headed this way. Hopefully they will come here to camp. Tonights dinner is mac and cheese, spinach, pears and chocolate milk. Mmmmmmmmmm....
Later
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