Let me get a couple of things out of the way quickly: pie number 25 yesterday was of the pumpkin variety. I am done with pie for a long time. I am still open to a good corn on the cob, though. I don’t feel I have thanked enough people enough. Chris in Ottumwa was a [...]

A couple of days ago, I decided that it wasn’t a good idea to mention each of the host families, in order to protect the innocent. I will break my rule one time to mention that if I move to Indianola, Iowa, I hope I get adopted by Elodie and Sandy Opstad. Before describing today’s [...]

Today (Monday) was harder in several ways than yesterday. The ride was longer (about 77 miles on the odometer), steeper climb (about 5,000 feet of climbing, instead of yesterday’s 3,700), and it rained for most of the afternoon. But, don’t cry for me, Argentina, or any other foreign countries. I have a Cry America policy. [...]

The day started off beautifully, as the fog filled the valley behind our hosts’ home. We drove to the start, which for us was the Nebraska side of the Missouri River.   Here Mitch and I get ready to cross the bridge to … Iowa.   After about seven miles we stopped for breakfast at Farm Boys. Great [...]

 I have a feeling I’m not in Kansas anymore. Of course, I never was. I made it to Iowa after my plane was delayed getting out of Washington, DC. I had to sprint (still less than 8 mph) to make my connection at O’Hare for Cedar Rapids. For those of  you who know Iowa geography [...]

I hope Lance Armstrong doesn’t mind me sharing the title of his book for this blog entry. After all, he and I have a few things in common. For example, we will be riding our bikes on the same day and in the same easterly direction. Alas, I was never a competitive cyclist. And, Darryle [...]