Woke to sound of rain on roof. tried jumping out of bed and threw a new cramp in left inner thight that wouldn’t stretch out. I am paralyzed listening to rain that is falling on the bikes. Cramp let loose and rain abated also but put cover over bikes as precaution. It did rain lightly sporadically until I left.

Slept in as stayed up till almost midnight.

Stopped at co-op & bought local beer, Hub City, a Brown Ale.

Plan is to ride Yellow River SP trails. get there, it has been raining off & on & trails are just horse trails. Decide to bag it w/o even getting bike off rack.

Drive to Dubuque where info on IL rides resides w/ 2 guys that deke turned me onto. Called Frfee Flight cyclery to learn more. Drove to store. Info these guys had was for WI actually so that flopped. Turned me on to a local riding area near by.

Followed instructions, dfrove down a slippery muddy 2 technical features road hoping that i wouldn’t get stuck & that I could get back out. Cloud burst before leaving. Headed out. A tgrail system that plays across the hill sides on either side of a small stream. Tighter that Decorah but more open than Maplelag. However the tread was wet and slippery. High humidity. I understand why Specialize includes posts for their shoes. Might have to use them. Trail beat me up. Way slippery roots & mud. I saw several about 14′ square frames w/ fencing  laying on the ground. They covered these sink holes where the underlaying rock has dissolved and the ground falls in.

Way muddy & it stuck to me & Spot. washed bike & shoes off in stream.

Drove out successfully, slithered & slid by 2 road concerns. Stopped @ gas station to learn of location for a shower. Told me to go back thru town the way I came for a XG on the Miss. Got lost in interchange. Ended up back in WI. Turned around & got off @ same intersection. Went into gas station to ask for directions to XG. 3 young guys listened to exchange and offered a shower in their motel room. Free shower. Drove back thru town to almost where I did my ride. 1 guy had a mixed martial arts fight later that evening and they were chilling before the fight. They were also mtn bikers which created the bond after they saw my van.

Drove back to bike shop area to the Courtside a sports bar to watch the OSU/USC football game and a tavern dinner. OSU was horribly outplayed in first half when i left for bike shop dirtbag.

On drive to Dubuque I stopped at several river cities. At an overlook A woman & I struck up a conversation that turned to the Postville kosher slaughter house running afoul w/ the Imm igratgion Dept for employing illegal aliens, all 400 of them. Postville was less that 40 miles from where we were speaking. She gave me a book about Postville community and the slaughter house Jews. Book was published before the raid that occurred just months prior.

Had interesting discussions again w/ non bikers. And thought provoking.

No pictures taken.

Riding is getting tougher. I am behind the curve but showing progress. I chicken out but today it made sense how slippery surfaces were. There were several crossings where painted boards were laid down. They were snot slippery. Made sense to walk.

Flies in the van. Think I have a farm in here. They fly in & don’t leave. Tomorrow it is fly paper.

Sunday is Rock Cut in Rockford, IL.

Fat from french fries stirred my acid reflux up.

Hate humidity. land is all green photosynthesizing bio mass. All farmed land is in corn and soy beans. And then there is the river. This place is probably more humid than the Puget Sound. Add high humidity to the long list of undesirable criteria. Yay for the Palouse. Wonder about the Black Hills?

Off for ride research

I camped right near a bridge X a river w/ no name. There was quite a flood here this spring and the bridge and approach road were underwater. i saw a tree limb in the bridge deck.

Drove into town looking for Oneota River Cycles to learn of trails. My research from the web said just go to town & ride trails.

Arrived b4 shop opened, walked town streets. Town is viable and downtown is healthy. Deek opened his shop and we engaged in biking conversation for some time. 29ers hardtails are most popular bike. Learned a bit of physics on tire design. I am so out West biking. They ride big round tires as most tires as their trails are side hill off camber and this design of tire doesn’t force bike up into hill.

Deek gave me several maps and a ride suggestion.

I paid for camping @ Pilot Rock city XG outside of town. Quite packed but I was placed in a quiet spot because i did not need electric.

Rode for XG to trails. All close in to town. Again small area with small intestine layout trails. The ride is about the ride and not where I go. Twisty woods riding. Dirt is black and deep. Oak acorns. Switchback roots, finesse moves. Walked my normal blind logs wheelies. Good ride. Again design & execution is fantastic. Didn’t travel far but rode 21.68 miles & 2044′, some of the ride was pavement to & from and recovering from being lost on way back to XG.

Bought cluster, will replace it & chain tomorrow as cluster is toast. Lesses model of SRAM chain wore prematurely & I didn’t stay on top of wear.

Nice unlimited shower.

Dinner & walk into town for a beer @ T-Bocks. A young man approached my table & asked me how long it took to grow my beard. This opened the door to a free ranging conversation. later his girlfriend and her girlfriend arrived and the conversation kept going. The 2nd girl worked at Gothic outside of CB this summer and she studied aspen, woodpeckers, & fungus. We shared same places same time which was fun.

Back to XG.

Going to ride  1 more day in Ia at Yellow River SF as they have 40 miles of good trails per Deek who also gave me some Il contacts.

Gotta research.

Spent night in County XG. Paid $16 & still had trains.

Up and out early for epic and drive to IA.

TH nearby, daily fee is $3.00. Well mapped, at most intersections a map was posted with a red dot you are here spot.

Fun ride, way more open than Maplelag but this place has 133,000 acres. Forest is mostly oak w/ some conifers thrown in that must have been planted after the original “harvest” & these trees are now being cut on the trail.

Trail climbed up onto mound for some really interesting trails. Trail designers did a wonderful job. Soil is decomposed sandstone with lots of acorns marbeling the tread. Up on the Mound the trail hung against the rock outcropping on ridge.

More pictures will be posted in future when I achieve faster internet speed.

It’s the old axiom: dance with who brought you. I ride what is on earth and the locals have made in some cases lemonade from lemons with their local terra firma. This system has 17 miles of ST and more being added. So it is in WI with no mountains but creative trail design milks climbs. 15 miles and 1200′ vert for the ride.

Ride it again? sure, if I lived nearby.

All alone out there. Weather spit rain off and on but in deep deciduous forest I remained dry.

Drove back to XG for shower and laundry. And it rained. One second nothing and the next the skies just opened up. Happened several times.

Stopped by Bruce Mound Winter Ski Area that is a local downhill ski slope. Have pictures on other camera to share. Tbars. Several short step shots and maybe some gentle cruisers that I couldn’t see. Again, you work with what you got.

Off to Iowa for Decorah trails in the NE corner of the state.  10 states ridden in so far.

Hunkered down outside Spring Grove typing this. Have to leave soon as it is closed during sleeping time.

X’ Mississippi going back to MN, heading West. Fought urge to keep going in that direction.

Earlier I parked on a side street along the Miss River. A guy came up to my van and we chatted for quite awhile. He saw the back of the van and it piqued his interest. He envied me and wished he could do the same. He treated me to a macro Bud Light. I am accepting things that I would not normally as it bonds w/ the giver.

Off to research Indiana rides.