BigRedOnABike: I made it to Iowa, despite the attractions of Chicago

Milwaukee to Chicago & more Chicago...

After the the excitement of the cycle race not the party obviously), it took me a little while to get going: 11:30 is a new record for a relaxed start to the day. I spent most of the day trying to find trails, as Chicago Roads are scary, as I found out when I headed inland form the lakeshore - 3 lane highways with shopping malls, dodgy neighbourhoods and not another cyclist to be seen. Still, probably not any worse than London.

Wrigly Field = Awesome, The Cubs...

I love Chicago, it seems I just keep on going back and it was great to catch up with old friends and make some new ones too - if only the Cubs could get their act together, a 13-3 loss meant another visit to Wrigley field was more about beers than baseball. A day or 2 of Rest & Recuperation, turned into 3 days running around the city seeing friends and plenty of late nights - let's just say I might have to look to rest up back on the bike. By Monday though it seemed everybody had to go back to work, so i did too, despite the "Heat Wave" hitting the area, I decided 100 degrees means nothing to me (never understood fahrenheit) and gotr back on the bike to head to Iowa.

Chicago to FISH HQ, Ceder Falls Iowa

Hot, Humid, Sweaty & Open, that'd be the basic description of cycling from Chicago into Iowa through Illinois & Wisconsin. 270 miles - 3 days @ 90 miles a day - easy right, I've done more than that before... Maybe not in "ReelFeel" 115 heat... At one point cycling through Wisconsin's rolling hills I was downing at least a litre of water every 10 miles, just to keep going. Fortunately I was able to find some water from a farm I passed (lots of fields & farms), but couldn't find any lunch till 3pm, by which point I was pretty scorched and had had enough of energy bars / gels. The only way to get some respite from the heat was to hit the raiload trails, that normally provide some tree cover, however, not so much when they're called the "Long Prarie Trail"...

Insights from Wisconsin & Iowa:
- They make a LOT of Cheese in Wisconsin, so much that all the roads are paved for the milk trucks
- They grow a LOT of corn in Iowa, but sadly corn can be transported on gravel roads
- Minhas Beer tastes good, especially served for free in an air conditioned beer museum of a hot day
- Sports shops in Iowa have rather large and scary "Hunting" sections, though I'm not sure even their strongest "scent away" products would deals with the product of my sweaty riding
- Beware of Pastors in Iowa, they might be packing up to 4 guns and have a wife backing them up\
- 115 degree heat translates as Bloody Hot!
- Back roads don't have restaurants
- Bars don't open so early when RAGBRAI's not passing through town
- Draft Beer is cheap in Iowa ($1.75)
- Gas stations sometimes display the funniest proverbs