Day 7 Cascade, IA to New Vienna, IA

June 10, 2012

I knew that today was supposed to be another cloudless day and I wanted to make it to a campground just north of Dyesrville that wasn’t so open to the sky. Hopefully a quick and short riding day. I put on my long sleeve Smartwool shirt and the bandana over my head and hit the road by 8:50 (the long sleeves keep the sun off of my skin and cooler over all. It has become some gear that I absolutely love and I completely understand why people in hot climates cover their entire body. Works great for bugs as well!) I turned down onto the road with the old farm dog and the German Shepherd, hoping that they wouldn’t be out today or that I could fly by them with no problem. 

Boy was I wrong. The German Shepherd was on the campground side of the property and he was out to meet me before I even made it to the property line. He got much closer to me today (the little &!*^%#$ wouldn’t leave my side and he got a little closer to my foot than I ever would have liked. And the farmer mowing his ditch just smiled and smiled as his dog (well, maybe it wasn’t his dog) ran me to the side of the road. His tail was slightly wagging so I knew I was somewhat ok but still....)

I finally got passed the shepherd and rode through Cascade. I stopped outside of the Casey’s and debated whether or not to take the long ACA recommended route or the more direct and busier 136 to Dyersville. I looked it over and a man leaving the gas station came over and talked to me. He said the ACA route to Farley was a rough road that needed to be patched. I thought it over and we agreed that maybe 136 would only be lightly travelled on a Sunday morning. (Oh, and the gentleman was very encouraging about my decision to take the trip. Thanks, Greg, and I hope your wife fully recovers.) 

I turned my bike around and went back through town to catch 136. I turned at the stoplight and took 136 north. It wasn’t too bad of traffic but there were some cars headed to US 151 and also up to US 20 near Dyersville. I rode and rode and Dyersville just never seemed to come. At one intersection I came upon a lady that beckoned me over, trying to hold back her tears outside of her car. She was lost and was looking to get to the town of Farley, of which I was supposed to go if I took the recommended roads. I hadn’t a clue where we were on my little limited but detailed maps but I confidently told her to turn right and head north until she hit US 20, and then to turn right there and that her next town would be Farley. I ignorantly told her that it should only be a few more miles to 20 (unfortunately, it turns out, I was off by about 8 miles.) Hope she made it. 

Farm outside of Cascade

After giving directions when I really didn’t know where the heck I was, I pedaled some more and finally came upon a town and was so happy to have finally reached Dyersville. Wrong. It turns out that there is the town of Worthington on 136 between Dyersville and Cascade, and obviously not shown on my maps. Bummer. So I kept pedaling and after a few climbs and descents I actually did reach Dyersville. I stopped for about an hour to eat lunch and to hydrate (I’m moving slower than I want to and its getting hot out.)

I finished my lunch and headed to New Vienna but I saw a sign for the Field of Dreams movie sight. So, I took a few mile detour against the wind and came upon the movie sight for Field of Dreams. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked the movie and it was a cool place and I think that it would be awesome to go to and play a pickup game with some friends or family, but I’m not too sure it was worth riding to today (I wasn’t mentally prepped for going out there and the Worthington thing threw me off. Maybe staying up later than I wanted to last night did too as well as that sun coming through the tent early in the morning. Man, why does it get light out so early?) 

Farm near Field of Dreams movie site

Field of Dreams movie site

Bales and gate near Dyersville

Anyway, I did check it out and then I backtracked to Dyersville. Just before I got to Dyersville, my bike went off of the pavement and down about an inch into the rocked shoulder (I admit, I was looking over at a farm to my right to visually take it in.) I rode a bit further and tried to whip my front wheel onto the pavement with a quick turn. Instead of making it successfully onto the pavement, the sidewall of my wheel caught and my bike went to the side, tossing me into the lane I was trying to get to. I somehow rolled right out of it and was back on my feet instantly. No cuts nor bruises on me (further inspection revealed that I did get a few cuts in my left rear pannier.) Besides being slightly shaken up, the thing that bothered me the most was that the oncoming car never slowed down nor stopped to see if I was alright, despite the fact that it happened within four seconds of them intersecting at me. I had to be in their line of sight. I would like to think that I would have stopped if I saw somebody wipe out right in front of me. (Today’s lesson beside help others out, is that perhaps folly really is the direct result of the pursuit of beauty.)

Farm I was glancing at before I went off the road and then wiped out.

One of the cuts on my bags. Looks like I'll need to patch it.

Back on my feet and on the bike, my slow bum finally made it to today’s campground. There was one other camper there and the place had less amenities than last night’s site (that camper ended up packing up and leaving.) I was pretty fried for what was supposed to be a super easy day. I waited to set up camp and I took a little nap on the picnic bench. I finally got moving and cooked some supper. I checked the weather. Great; potential severe storms tonight. Should I set up camp here under the shady trees or under the low lying pavilion? I removed some broken branches from the tree above and opted for the trees in case I take a rest day here tomorrow I’ll have some shade.

I made my evening notes and went to bed. I slept lightly until I was woken up at 2:40 by thunder. It started to rain and I debated on wether to stay in the tent or not. After a few minutes of indecision, I put my shoes and rain jacket on, grabbed my handlebar bag, and jolted to the storm shelter. The rain picked up but I made it there rather quickly. I stayed in the shelter until 4:00, when the rain died down and it looked like most of the lightning was well to the north and east. I climbed back in my tent and bed and tried to get some more sleep before the sun began to peer in.

Bottom Note: I’m not sure if birds are territorial but these red wing blackbirds kept chirping at me and would follow me a certain length. They occasionally swiped at me but would eventually turn back. This happened all across Illinois and Iowa.

Swooping red wing blackbird.