Iowa mission #5 completed

So I woke up at 4 am on Sunday and had everything ready to go. Made a mocha pot, loaded my bike in the Bu-Bu and headed to Sycamore to our meeting place. As I pulled in Cookie showed up and we loaded my stuff into his car and away we went. Man, it really is a gift to have a reliable riding partner.  About 15 minutes ahead of us was the Bonk-King blazing down the road on the Exploder. He was desperate for some gravel and could not get there fast enough.
     We arrived at SF secret meeting place around 7:30 am and rolled out at 8:00a.m. We headed west into a stiff, humid wind. The initial hills bit our legs good and the cold that we felt soon mellowed out with the heat we were producing. We did one roller after another. Cookie and I were on Salsa single speeds running 34x18. Bonk King was on his beloved Titus MTB. 
     At 8:35 a.m. we stopped to catch our breath after the initial hills and had some Whiskey and Jerky. I later commented how it would of killed a bunch of roadies if they had to eat and drink what we just had. We also dealt with an unusual amount of loose dogs all day long. Non of them bothered us but I was a bit concerned when two rottweilers came off a porch in a hurry. I did not stick around to find out whether they had the Magic fence or not. 
     As we reached our furthest west point we started to return east bound with a calming tailwind. We stopped at a Casey's and bought Chips. We ate some sandwiches I had brought and I slipped some chemical warmers in my frozen feet. They quickly warmed up and away we went. 
     The return route was amazing with beautiful roads going through wooded areas. We were blessed with the presence of 2 beautiful bald eagles. The gravel all day was supersoft. It had rained plenty and our going was super hard and tiring. The bikes got heavier and heavier as we rode and the hills continued to be relentless. 
     We finished our awesome ride and thanked each other for  the good company. No flats, no mechanicals. After the ride we had some pizza and pop and booked it home. 
63 miles covered on soft gravel. Did almost 6 hours with an average speed of 11.1 mph. Max speed was 36mph. We ended up doing around 1500 ft of climbing in the 63 miles. 

Beautiful roads. I did not realize we were going to climb so much. 

Saw a lot of these T.I. style grinders. Non existent in Illinois

The start of our ride was like a rollercoaster.

This one took for ever.

Cookie with a loose cage. Gravel rattles everything loose. Including your brain. 

Bacon King and the Hormels. 

We stopped and stared at this view for a long time. 

That hill in the back ground would prove to be the toughest one of the day. 

Bonk King, Lieutenant , taking photos for the future. 

The emotional guys from Rapha would have cried if they saw this.  

Here it is again , just in case. Rookies prepare!

The last strech of headwind for the Bonk King. He rode a solid  4 hours and booked it home. Good Job!!!

I would lay here and take a rest. Hopefully we will find one like this  at T.I.

Cookie and I took this wonderful trail heading back. I envied  Cookie's Barmitts all day. 

Hello Hills. 34x18  all day long. 

Bye-Bye. 

 Thanks for reading and looking . By The way this is Post # 801.

Ari