Day 7, Boone, Iowa

Thursday June 4, 2020, 60 miles (97 km) - Total so far: 399 miles (642 km)

This has been a win some/lose some day, one step forward/one step back.

I left the shelter at 7:30, with a plan. The day was already muggy. After Bangor, I rode on one road all morning. Marble Rd. took me through several small towns. I was sluggish, trying to keep hydrated. It was hard as it was high humidity and little cloud cover. In Zearing at 11 a.m. I bought a hamburger lunch at a gas station cafe. The lady accidentally dumped my Gatorade when I asked for water. She let me take another.

I headed out and passed a few more small towns. At Roland I sat under a shelter in a nice park and refreshed. I was going west and had just passed a Casey's, my new favorite place when I hear CHINK and my tire grabs. I immediately know what it means: a spoke broke. I brought a spoke wrench but not extra spokes, nipples, or a wrench to extract the cassette. Basically I was screwed. I rode back to Casey's. I wasn't there even 5 minutes before a young woman walked in and I asked her if she was going to Ames. Yes, she said. I explained I needed a mechanic. We had my bags off and were on the road in no time. And just like that I pivoted.

At Bike World (https://tinyurl.com/y2693oco my Google review) the guys quickly got me in and on a rack. Yes, the back wheel is carrying a lot of weight, but I did my Scandlandia trip and last year's Green Mountain tour. Yes, they said and the wheel is showing signs of fatigue. They got me straight and also lubed the chain and tightened/adjusted my cranks in under an hour. They were also EXTREMELY kind about the cost. The kid sort of brought me to tears with his kindness.

With some new directions and a new plan I left around 3, but by now so tired, so hot, and a stiff wind from the south. Which helped about halfway, but when I turned west to Boone, my body was hot and my mouth and lips dry. The 8 miles took me an hour. I'd wash up on someone's lawn for a shade break and lay in the grass panting.

Once in Boone I assumed camping or stealth camping would be easy, or a graveyard. It was a bigger town and for the first time in a long time I was reminded: oh, yeah, there's a pandemic. I tried Airbnb, I tried Warmshowers, I checked out the parks. All closed. Nada. So I rode further south in town to a Super 8. $70, with a seniors rate. I told myself not to worry about the $$. It's just that I didn't reckon for it twice in one week of the trip.

Just saw that we get Continental breakfast. So that's a plus. I'd really like to get back on itinerary tomorrow. We will see. If all goes well I could be out of Iowa in 2 days. Fingers crossed.

*At Bike World I quizzed them on the gravel--one guy responded also with surprise: What the heck? During Covid I think some bored county roads person has decided to dump fresh gravel everywhere.--so obviously they were perturbed too by the amount of loose gravel making travel difficult on those roads.