Day 66- Marshalltown

Sure enough, it was raining when I woke up this morning. A wet tent was the least of my worries at the moment. I was concerned if I was going to ride at all today.

The rain stopped about 8:30 so I decided to chance it and took down my tent and packed up. The weather forecast was for decent weather in the morning and chances of thunderstorms in the afternoon. If I could get at least a few miles in today it would be better than sitting in the tent all day. A few miles might be all I have in me today anyway. My legs are really tired as I started pedaling. Sometimes it starts off that way and you end up feeling better as you get warmed up. Hope that is what happens today.

First I wanted to get to Ames and find a bike shop. I never really got a good measurement on my air pressure in my tire from the flat I got in Columbus to feel comfortable so I wanted to top them off with a good floor pump. Ames was a madhouse today. Freshman registration day! Students and parents everywhere. And I mean everywhere. It took forever to get to and then through Ames. So long as a matter of fact that I ended up having lunch there after only about 10-15 miles.

Finally leaving Ames, I headed out east again for Marshalltown. The land had now turned to rolling hills on my way. And I was watching the horizon for those predicted thunderstorms.

I finally got to Marshalltown, but something seemed odd. There were lots of demolished buildings. I mean a lot. And there was just this smell that did not seem right. Then a guy on a bike said that they had had a huge tornado back in late July and that I was seeing the results of it. It really caused a lot of damage. I saw even more evidence of it as I left town.

Trees that were broken like twigs and trash EVERYWHERE. It was a sobering experience. I have seen and read about tornados in the paper but to see the effects for yourself brought new meaning to the terror that goes along with them. I wish the people of Marshalltown the best as they rebuild.

Well, as bad as that was, I still had about 16 more miles to cover today. The rain never came so that was good. The bad part was that I started to “bonk” really for the first time of the whole trip. For those of you who do not bike, bonking is when you just run out of energy and you can barely turn the pedals. The French call it “Meeting the man with the hammer”. I guess that tired feeling from this morning finally caught up with me. I did eat a power bar and that really helped.

I arrived at Union Grove State Park about 7:15. Much later than I had hoped for, but still in plenty of time to get my camp set up and eat dinner. I felt fairly recovered as I set off for bed. I hope that is the case. I would like to avoid the whole “Bonking” thing tomorrow.