Dyersville, IA to Wyoming, IA

Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Distance Cycled: 41 miles
Total elevation gain: 1,575 feet
Our Total Flat Tires on trip to date: 1

Thanks to Lyle Theisen at the Dell Crema Bike Shop, our bicycle was fixed at 11:00 PM last night. He installed and adjusted the new rear derailleur. I slept in until 8:00 AM since I was very tired from the day before and solving all the problems associated with the broken bicycle chain. The breakfast at the Super 8 Motel was so bad that I skipped it and we stopped at a grocery store on our way out of town. We then rode our bicycles approximately 7 miles on a bicycle path to Farley, where we ate breakfast. Finding a restaurant in Farley that served breakfast was difficult. We tried 3 before we found one that would serve breakfast. After breakfast we turned south and began to fight a wind that was 15 to 20 miles per hour, gusting to 25 miles per hour. For the next 34 miles we continued to fight the wind. On some steep down hills we could not get going more that 17 miles per hour and on some up hills that we could normally travel 10 to 12 miles per hour we were reduced to 4 miles per hour. When we stopped for a snack at Cascade the waitress stated that there was a wind advisory. Meaning the winds were 20 to 30 miles per hour and all small things, such as lawn chairs needed to be tied down. So we continued to ride our bicycles. We crossed the Maquoketa River, one of the many places where we stopped and rested in our battle against the wind.