708.6 miles ... Day 9 Complete

  The Holiday Inn was a treat, as we were very comfortable. I took the time to replace my worn chain. It was a little messier than I wanted, but it worked out.

Jordan again spent over half the night in the bathroom.  I feel so bad, but he said sleeping with his legs on the toilet is the wrong way to sleep.  This morning, we woke to rain, which stopped before we started riding.  However, the humidity was unbearable.  We ate the breakfast buffet at the Holiday Inn and were on the road by 9:30 AM.

The roads out of Sioux City are not bike-friendly. We were lucky to do this section early on a Sunday morning, or we may have been at too high a risk.  We were fighting a heavy side wind that significantly impacted the panniers and trailer. 

Trying to get out of Sioux City, Iowa, is baffling!

This is the road out of Sioux City, Iowa.

The first 12 miles were rough, with high traffic and a bad shoulder. We were both really feeling fatigued. We stopped to rest at a nice stream and very wooded area just outside Hinton, Iowa. (It was much later that I realized my nice sunglasses were left there.)  

Floyd River just East of Hinton, Iowa

See the side wind on the flag?

Once we left Hinton, we were on a low-traffic road, yet we still used caution. One thing we were surprised by was the rolling hills in Iowa!  

Scoping rolling hills in Iowa

Even though he is riding 15 mph, the side wind blows the flag more...

As we continued to struggle, we were frustrated when we came upon yet another detour! While it was not long, it was not appreciated. Today was very hard for me. Jordan also has pain in the inner left thigh, which concerns us. This is the first leg pain Jordan has felt the whole trip, or he could be hiding the pain, as Londell has been complaining to him for days, and he keeps pushing and encouraging Londell.

One big thing is that Londell is getting so fatigued that his hand shakes when he lifts his water bottle to his mouth.  He needs two hands to drink.  The arms are so weak, and a side wind affects the bike stability (so do panniers), so the arms were pushed to the limit today.

In summary, we made Cherokee, Iowa, late in the day.  It was the shortest ride for the entire trip, but we were lucky the weather held.  It looked like a massive storm was coming, so we found a Best Western and stopped for the day.  There was a pool, and it was very refreshing.

Our grocery store visit made us wonder if we could push these?

The forecast for tomorrow is thunderstorms but a favorable wind.  Our opinion on that is WHY NOT as every weather obstacle, but snow has been tossed our way, and as I said before, we are accustomed to all the crap Mother Nature has thrown our way, we are beginning to say, who cares, and we just pedal on!

That means we have about 230 miles to go.  We plan 70 tomorrow (but we should do 90).  Shelley is coming to see us on the road.  Bless her heart for taking the Holiday, well, half of it, to give us a mental boost.  I also want to thank those who have commented on the blog, as they are helpful comments.  If you have not read any comments, Carolyn Lane made us laugh the most with one of her comments.  She exclaimed about Jordan and I arguing, "Have a Snickers; you know yourself."

Shelley will take the trailer and most of the supplies.  We decided to stay in a hotel for the rest of the trip.  This will drop a manageable 50 pounds of weight I have been pulling since Colorado.  Well, close to 70 pounds for the first 5 days until Jordan got a rack and panniers.  Do not get me wrong, I love the trailer, but with thin tires and low weight, the trailer can toss the bike around so much, and it was unsafe for Jordan.  I had only minor issues controlling the trailer as I have about 199 pounds more weight and 28 tires. 

Since we had a few detours that added about 60 miles to the trip, we may just hitch a short ride to Fairmont, MN, if she blesses us with a visit late in the day. Jordan and I do not think this would be cheating, as we would have had a shorter ride if the roads were safe or not under construction.

Later, friends, as we are exhausted!!!  I decided it was my turn to sleep in the bathroom.  Here is my bed.

Londell's bed

SUMMARY OF DAY 9:  A total of 57.4 miles and 11.3 MPH (riding time only) and a total on-bike time of 5 hours and 5 minutes.  It was just over 6 hours for the days, with a temperature range of 64 F (and MUGGY) to almost 82 F.  The total ascent (according to Garmin Connect) was 2,119 feet, with a decent of 1,860 feet.  We also CLIMBED a net of 543 feet in elevation for the day, going from 845 feet to 1,388 feet overall.

Our 10 miles splits from MapMyRide (time includes breaks, and mph is based only on riding time) were:

  0-10 in 0:51:13 - 12.8 mph
10-20 in 1:09:51 - 10.7 mph
20-30 in 1:15:23 - 10.1 mph
30-40 in 1:05:56 - 11.2 mph
40-50 in 0:54:54 - 12.4 mph
Last 7.3 in 0:46:00 - 10.7 mph