osceola, ia

pace getting down to 55 miles or so per day. daylight waning. roads
today were a c minus at best. same stuff to see. i try to look for
things that stand out of the ordinary but am pretty unsuccessful.
farm, cattle, buick, buick. i really enjoy riding when the roads are
good but it's frustrating when they're not. the worst is when i'm
struggling up a hill and eddie money (or as the dj says, "the money
man") comes on the radio. i can't stop moving so i have to suffer.
eddie money, i curse thy name.

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Creston, IA

Made it to Creston, IA today. I finally got a map that showed which
roads are paved. That would have helped earlier (oops). So I found
some good roads, paved, without much traffic. It's definitely not
Indian summer anymore. It's blustery and chilly with a few snowflakes
here and there. I bundled up and was OK, although I probably looked
even more ridiculous to the farmers.

I saw a lot of the same. Farms, a few houses every mile or so.
Hills, lots of them. Some cattle. It's kind of strange being
completely by yourself and then realizing that 50 animals are all
looking at you. A couple of dogs chased me (they seem to love me). I
just yell at them as loud as I can and they stop in their tracks. I
saw a guy driving at 50 mph sitting in the passenger seat, reaching
over to steer. Don't know what that was about. Maybe he was the
mailman.

There's a town in about 50 miles and one in 75. If I'm ambitious and
stay warm I can make the further one.

pics and a video from the last few days

Pit stop at the Walters home in Lincoln.











Toll bridge over the Missouri, south of Omaha. 50 cents.






Outside of Omaha. I guess it's hard to tell, but it was so windy here that I could hardly ride the bike. I made the following video, sorry you have to look at my face but that's the only way I could get the mic to pick up anything:














This is my pad for a couple days in Atlantic. My storage/bedroom has seven oil lamps, nine mirrors, a set of golf clubs, five chairs, boxes of old dried flowers, and a nice cool breeze.


I think I will try to ride tomorrow. It's supposed to be NW winds of 20-30 and a high of 34. Hmmm. Winds at my back, sounds OK.

busy-ness

i've noticed on this trip is that america is a very busy place. there
is industry everywhere. from the endless farmland to the towns,
people are working. all the land is spoken for and being worked. the
roads are alive with commerce. people aren't lazy around here. there
aren't many people just hanging around in the park. america works
hard.

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Atlantic, IA

The last couple of days have been slow going. I started off from the south Omaha suburbs into high winds and heavy traffic. I wouldn't say that area is a biker's paradise. No sidewalks, only the big road with fast cars. I crossed over the Missouri on a toll bridge. 50 cents. Once I got into Iowa the traffic lessened, but the winds got worse. I got onto Hwy 92 which had no shoulders and an abrupt dropoff on the side into loose gravel. The winds were so ferocious that I was being blown out into the lane out of control.

This wasn't working, so I switched over to the gravel side roads. It was slow but safer. The roads were better than the county roads in Nebraska, but still highly variable. It's very hilly here and I ended up pushing my bike up most of them. I couldn't make up any time on the way down because the winds were howling so bad that my tires couldn't keep me from going sideways; I had to slowly ski down through the gravel with my feet as outriggers and the handlebars whipping wildly. This was exhausting and unrelenting. I finally made it into Griswold, IA after dark under lightning and a tornado warning.

The storm that passed over the Rockies is headed this way, so I think I need to hole up for a few days. This morning I cruised up to Atlantic, IA which has a movie theater. Sold! I need to work on my bike as the seat back has torn from pushing against the pedals so hard. This leaves my spine pressed against the seat bars.

In Atlantic, I am staying at a huge old mansion that is pretty cool. It's filled with pianos and gas lamps and National Geographics from 1977. It may be a good candidate for a haunting; I'll find out tonight. I will probably be here until Saturday morning, when the snow is past.

special thanks

I had an excellent stay with Mr. Walters in Lincoln. I ate and slept
well. It's wonderful to receive such hospitality.

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"charlie's fixin his van with the left arm tan"