A large number of cyclists going down then up a hill in the rural distance.

During the last week of July, with Mrs CBA as car (and moral) support, I rode the (Des Moines) Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, along with 20,000+ others.

This year’s 50th edition was 500-ish miles from Sioux City to Davenport, passing through the big interior cites of Ames, De Moines and Iowa City and small towns like Washta (pop 209), Rippey (pop 220) and Chelsea (pop. 229). We camped a couple hot and shadeless days, the rest we spent in hotels. Nitya got to meet up with an online stitchy friend and her family and we grabbed a couple of beers with my uncle who lives near Ames. I took phone pics of historic downtowns, grain elevators, and corn fields. Three days after getting home “Next time I’ll…” popped into my head. A good time was had.

Day 2 – Storm Lake to Carroll

Day 3 – Carroll to Ames

Day 4 – Ames to Des Moines

Day 5 – Des Moines to Tama-Toledo

Day 6 – Tama-Toledo to Coralville

Day 7 – Coralville to Davenport

The day before in Sioux City

Me and my bike with its back tire in the Missouri River.
The tradition is to dip your bike tire in the Missouri, then front tire in the Mississippi. Did the dip the day before in a small crowd to beat the big crowd.

A woman sanding in front of a four story purple based mural with two people sitting on the head of a bison with an eagle lying over head.
“Koi & Matt” by Martin Ron
A woman standing in front of a three story brick side wall with a tobacco ghost sign and a mural of a boy with a paper and button bird puppet.
“Hope is the Thing with Sequins” by Naomi Haverland

Day 1 – Sioux City-Storm Lake (72.2 miles, 3592 ft of climb)

Iowa map with Sioux City to Storm Lake routemap of Sioux City to Storm Lake, Iowa route
Me and my bike with a brown brick former brewery in the back.
Leaving on a full stomach of McDo breakfast biscuits. The building behind is a former brewery said the local couple parked watching the riders take off.
A stream of bike riders on the street in the morning light.
The crowd leaving town at 7:00 AM
A crowd of bike riders standing with their bikes.
A treacherous railroad crossing on the city outskirts allows me to slip in the instant classic “More like RAGWAI, am I right?” [Editor’s note: W=walk].
A large muber of cyclists going down then up a hill in the rural distance.
The road to Kingsley
A large crowd of cyclists walking their bikes on a small town street
Kingsley (pop 1,396) . First and not last time of walking the bike with the crowd, checking out the food and entertainment of main street. Here I took in the rock n roll tunes of The Senders, “Iowa’s Longest Running Cover Band.”
Crowd of walking cyclists with a classical revival one story and white grain elevator.
First town, first shot of a grain elevator, “The skyscrapers of the prairie”. I used that line later in the week to general approval.
Me looking at the camera with grain facilities and cyclists behind.
Washta (pop 249) Our first lunch meet up, we had sandwiches that we liked so much we had them the next day in a different town. The vendors moved along with the ride.
A brick small town main street crowded with cyclists.
Quimby (pop 249)
Me and a mural celebrating the 125 years of Quimby

Check out the rest of the ride:

Day 2 – Storm Lake to Carroll (57.3 miles, 1778 ft of climb)

Day 3 – Carroll to Ames (86.1 miles, 1564 ft of climb)

Day 4 – Ames to Des Moines (54.5 miles, 1242 ft of climb)

Day 5 – Des Moines to Tama-Toledo (88.9 miles, 4218 ft of climb)

Day 6 – Tama-Toledo to Coralville (80.6 miles, 2881 ft of climb)

Day 7 – Coralville to Davenport (71.2 miles, 1892 ft of climb)

Contact CBA for custom guided rides through Chicago’s neighborhoods and for gift certificates for the cyclists in your life. Also, have a look at The Map, where you can plan your own ride, run, or walk around Chicago.

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