 Bloody hell, at least 70k of this  Balltown, Iowas oldest running restaurant |
 Hunters wet dreams centre around these visions. A pet at North Buena Vista  Border Collie welcoming party, a calf was under each of these domes |
15/7/2011 Pikes Peak SP to Dubuque, cloudy, some rain, 25℃
99km, 6hrs, av speed 16.29km/hr, new max 73km/hr unassissted
Total 2633km
Rain didn’t eventuate during the night.This coupled with a light breeze ensured things were dry.
As usual I arose early and brewed a coffee to be enjoyed with oats. A couple of bikers came over for a chat telling me about other good rides and restuarants further south. So many places to see here. I caught up with Mark and Butch next door for a morning chat. They informed me I had a few hills ahead of me. We all said goodye.
Well leaving the park I was confronted by my first climb, It was not excessively steep but didn’t let up for at least 4km. This was the norm all the way to Balltown.
A good choice of music and positive thoughts were required to overcome each of these climbs. With the lowest gear utilized a speed of 6.7km/hr was achieved, slow to the point where balance was often an issue .
A max top speed of 73km was achieved down one of these hills. Utilizing the whole lane was necessary at this speed, hitting debris on the shoulder would have spelt certain disaster. Shirt off, no helmet it was a buzz. The rubber firmly on the road. At the foot of these hills I had blow wave in my hair better than any salon could ever hope to achieve.
A large number of cyclists were heading north, it turned out they were on a three state supported tour. Amongst them a guy in a pickup was on my side of the road, I wanted to know what the sweet acrid smell was nearby , “hogs”, he said. He was a likeable kind of guy involved in the rural servicing industry, we chatted and laughed about stuff for 20 minutes or more. He gave me a card and I in return said have a look at browsinabout.
Stopping at Guttenberg, another quaint river town, I had a much needed brekky come lunch and the usual 5 or more 7ups. I then headed for the local library to avail myself of the net.
Back on the road the terrain had not changed, the great river road was now some distance from the river on an elevated plateau, similar to that around Alstonville overlooking the fertile cane fields, however thats where the similarity stopped, as far as one could see corn and soya beans dominated things above the ground while scattered across the landscape were clusters of sheds with blue and silver grain silos nearby. These silos were like the booster rockets for the space shuttle. Quite fittingly minus the shuttle, now the program has come to an end. Machinery at nearly all properties sported the iconic colours of yellow and green, this is John Deere country big time. From the biggest piece of gear to a ride on, the colours rarely deviated.
Out of north Buena Vista North, water was getting low, a woman was pottering in her front yard. Apart from water I also wanted to confirm this was the way to Dubuque, with hills like these about, backtracking would be morale dampening on a scale unimaginable.
We started chatting about stuff, she kindly gave me cold water and said, “had I seen Elk”, A guy next door at home has them. A look would be enjoyed I said, she had this 12 year old stag with a head of antlers that would cause any hunter to OD on adrenalin if seen in a cross hair.
She later went on to say her son who is in a wheel chair was only meant to live till two is now a mechanical engineer designing backhoes at the big John Deere Plant here in Dubuque. Five or six years ago the plant was moved here from Canada.
Bading farewell, having heard the story about her son , the hills ahead were climbed with ease.
Next stop was Iowas’ oldest restuarant at Balltown. Outside were two guys and their girls on Harleys we had a laugh and swapped itineraries. I think they enjoyed the jargon I was using while referring to the effort required to climb the hills.
The food inside was great and at least another 5 7ups were nailed. The call for sugar is endless when burning energy in this heat.
The terrain was now becoming more rolling in nature.I arrived in Dubuque at 2000hrs found the camp ground by way of asking directions. It was near the Mystique casino.
Asking a guy in an RV and having an inevitable chat finally arrived, $10/night on the MR.
As I was setting, the man I was talking to earlier came by with his wife an they both stopped for a chat. I had bought a litre of Redken shampoo for a ridiculously cheap price as compared to oz and was decanting what I could carry into 2 bottles obtained from a pharmacy.
Then out of the blue they offered to pay for my nights accommodation, no way I said, at that point in time no was not in their vocabulary. This mid west generosity is sometimes embarrasing. Though I feel this embarrasment is only a product of previous experiences of similar situations away from here, or lack thereof.
We said goodbye later and I gave them the leftovers from the large shampoo bottle.
I showered, went to the casino, had a few beers, rang a few people, wasted three dollars in a slot machine, sussed the scene, noted it had no potential and wandered back to the tent .Sleep came pathetically easy.
99km, 6hrs, av speed 16.29km/hr, new max 73km/hr unassissted
Total 2633km
Rain didn’t eventuate during the night.This coupled with a light breeze ensured things were dry.
As usual I arose early and brewed a coffee to be enjoyed with oats. A couple of bikers came over for a chat telling me about other good rides and restuarants further south. So many places to see here. I caught up with Mark and Butch next door for a morning chat. They informed me I had a few hills ahead of me. We all said goodye.
Well leaving the park I was confronted by my first climb, It was not excessively steep but didn’t let up for at least 4km. This was the norm all the way to Balltown.
A good choice of music and positive thoughts were required to overcome each of these climbs. With the lowest gear utilized a speed of 6.7km/hr was achieved, slow to the point where balance was often an issue .
A max top speed of 73km was achieved down one of these hills. Utilizing the whole lane was necessary at this speed, hitting debris on the shoulder would have spelt certain disaster. Shirt off, no helmet it was a buzz. The rubber firmly on the road. At the foot of these hills I had blow wave in my hair better than any salon could ever hope to achieve.
A large number of cyclists were heading north, it turned out they were on a three state supported tour. Amongst them a guy in a pickup was on my side of the road, I wanted to know what the sweet acrid smell was nearby , “hogs”, he said. He was a likeable kind of guy involved in the rural servicing industry, we chatted and laughed about stuff for 20 minutes or more. He gave me a card and I in return said have a look at browsinabout.
Stopping at Guttenberg, another quaint river town, I had a much needed brekky come lunch and the usual 5 or more 7ups. I then headed for the local library to avail myself of the net.
Back on the road the terrain had not changed, the great river road was now some distance from the river on an elevated plateau, similar to that around Alstonville overlooking the fertile cane fields, however thats where the similarity stopped, as far as one could see corn and soya beans dominated things above the ground while scattered across the landscape were clusters of sheds with blue and silver grain silos nearby. These silos were like the booster rockets for the space shuttle. Quite fittingly minus the shuttle, now the program has come to an end. Machinery at nearly all properties sported the iconic colours of yellow and green, this is John Deere country big time. From the biggest piece of gear to a ride on, the colours rarely deviated.
Out of north Buena Vista North, water was getting low, a woman was pottering in her front yard. Apart from water I also wanted to confirm this was the way to Dubuque, with hills like these about, backtracking would be morale dampening on a scale unimaginable.
We started chatting about stuff, she kindly gave me cold water and said, “had I seen Elk”, A guy next door at home has them. A look would be enjoyed I said, she had this 12 year old stag with a head of antlers that would cause any hunter to OD on adrenalin if seen in a cross hair.
She later went on to say her son who is in a wheel chair was only meant to live till two is now a mechanical engineer designing backhoes at the big John Deere Plant here in Dubuque. Five or six years ago the plant was moved here from Canada.
Bading farewell, having heard the story about her son , the hills ahead were climbed with ease.
Next stop was Iowas’ oldest restuarant at Balltown. Outside were two guys and their girls on Harleys we had a laugh and swapped itineraries. I think they enjoyed the jargon I was using while referring to the effort required to climb the hills.
The food inside was great and at least another 5 7ups were nailed. The call for sugar is endless when burning energy in this heat.
The terrain was now becoming more rolling in nature.I arrived in Dubuque at 2000hrs found the camp ground by way of asking directions. It was near the Mystique casino.
Asking a guy in an RV and having an inevitable chat finally arrived, $10/night on the MR.
As I was setting, the man I was talking to earlier came by with his wife an they both stopped for a chat. I had bought a litre of Redken shampoo for a ridiculously cheap price as compared to oz and was decanting what I could carry into 2 bottles obtained from a pharmacy.
Then out of the blue they offered to pay for my nights accommodation, no way I said, at that point in time no was not in their vocabulary. This mid west generosity is sometimes embarrasing. Though I feel this embarrasment is only a product of previous experiences of similar situations away from here, or lack thereof.
We said goodbye later and I gave them the leftovers from the large shampoo bottle.
I showered, went to the casino, had a few beers, rang a few people, wasted three dollars in a slot machine, sussed the scene, noted it had no potential and wandered back to the tent .Sleep came pathetically easy.
