Precarious morning weather conditions put us in a position of questioning whether we would make it to our stayover in time today. We did. Battling through the strongest headwinds of our whole trip the team powered through when times were tough. This is saying a lot since yesterday we had the shorter ride into Des Moines and our bodies were feeling the most rested they had been since Chicago.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 86.6 miles
Elevation: +3,205 ft. / -3,093 ft.
Points of Interest: Rolling Hills of Iowa, Bike Path out of Des Moines, Casey, Casey’s, Adair Water Tower
Tales of the Trail
As you heard from the introduction, today started off with some decision making. Last night, we had been watching the weather and trying to determine what the morning would have in store. Thunderstorms was the answer. Luckily, our ever brilliant ride leader Maaike had the foresight to push the alarms back (all the way to 7:45!!) and gave us plenty of time to sleep.
It was quite jarring to not start our day of biking until 9 in the morning instead of the usual 7. Although definitely necessary as we were able to let the thunderstorms pass before we headed off on the bikes. With mostly everyone donning rain jackets it looked as if rain was on the forecast, however we stayed dry! With a late start to the day and headwinds throughout, we knew that it would become a long day of biking. Throughout the whole day though the whole team’s spirits were still high as we kept trucking along. We had a few hiccups throughout the earlier parts of the ride. Some of the bike trails we were on had been closed, and a few others were very muddy. This became a slight problem for some of our riders who have rim brakes as the mud gunked up their brakes, which took a little bit of time to clean off. Some of the riders enjoyed biking through the mud as we do not get to off-road very often. One of our riders did take a tiny fall in the mud, but everyone was okay.
After this the team got to the first Casey’s rest stop of the day. Which by now has become kind of a staple rest stop for us as they are all over the midwest. At this Casey’s we met two very interesting people: a librarian who got to do a portrait with half the team and was able to tell us all about the kids in her life who have been affected by cancer, and a father and son from Norway who are biking, on a motorcycle, from Boulder, Colorado (which we will be arriving to soon!) to the east coast. The team split in two with about half deciding to go talk to the librarian for a portrait and the other half deciding to stay at the gas station to get food, rest, and converse with these bikers. I was part of the group who stayed and talked to the bikers so I am unfortunately unable to regale the portrait, but I am sure that it will be uploaded to the website to be able to be viewed later. The two bikers were awesome though and even let me sit and take a picture on their bikes! It was so awesome to talk to the dad who was telling me all about the ironmans he has done in the past. (triathlon consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run) This is very convenient as I, Parker, have always said I would love to do an ironman at least once in my life. By now we are very prepared for the biking portion, and a few of my teammates and I always joke about doing an ironman together next year. We will just have to see where life takes us. While not a crazy long triathlon, our ride today being an 85 mile long day in headwinds definitely wore out the team.
The rest of the day was full of headwinds, a few gravel roads, many cows on the side of the road, and an undefeatable human spirit. No matter what the day was looking like or whatever happened our groups were determined to stay in the moment and just focus on what they could control. As it got closer and closer to sunset our groups were still racing against time, and the wind. Eventually one of the groups made it to the stayover at a YMCA. The other group however did not make it in time before it started to get dark, so they had to shuttle. While a little disappointed with not being able to finish the ride, everyone was very proud of the effort they put in and what everyone was able to accomplish today. We definitely went to bed with a sense of camaraderie knowing that we all were able to push ourselves today. Now we will just have to wait and see what tomorrow has in store for us.
Cyclists Corner
Rider: Aadit Kolar
How are you feeling today?
Yeah, I mean, not the best, you know. We weren't able to finish the ride today because we had a lot of mechanicals along the way. That's always unfortunate, and the headwinds were killer today. But you know, we're on this ride to collect portraits for the Portraits Project, and I was super glad to play a part in getting the team or giving the team the opportunity to hear from a wonderful librarian today, who told us about three people she had taken care of that had passed away from cancer, and it was, it was really beautiful hearing from her, and I'm really glad that we got to do that, was definitely the highlight of today
Is there anything that you personally think or like hope that you'll gain from the ride?
From the ride, I was hoping to get better at working with people and being close with, you know, 12 other people in a tight knit group, that we're like working hard every day, or biking hard every day, but also having a lot of fun. It's definitely kind of a trial by fire, because you know, interpersonal issues get magnified when people are tired, but I think it's been great so far. Teammates and I have got along really well, and I'm super glad for that. We've been really bonding well, so that's something that I was hoping to gain out of the ride, is a sense of the ability to form community with people that are very different for me, and I've so far have been doing that.
How have you surprised yourself since New York City?
Kind of in the same vein, honestly, I was scared going in that we would be at each other's throats by now, but people have been great at communicating, myself hopefully included, and I think we've let our differences make us stronger instead of letting them divide us, and I'm glad for that.
Where is your hometown, and then if there was food from there that you could have with you in every town during the ride, what would it be?
Yeah, I grew up in Bangalore, India, the state of Karnataka. It's the fourth biggest city, I believe, in India. Beautiful place, and if there's something, some food I could have from there would definitely be masala dosa, is what we call it there. It's kind of a crepe, I guess you could call it like a savory crepe with potato filling. We actually had the opportunity to try it in New York, some of us, I think Lauren did, so that was really special to be able to share that with people.
How is the ride progressing for you?
Pretty solid. We're on day 25 today, I believe, of 77 so we're a third of the way through the ride. Yeah, pretty much exactly. It's been really good so far. I'm really glad I got a bike fit, really glad I got a bike fit. I was really worried going in that I would get injured, because I have a tendency to get injured pretty easily, but luckily my body's been holding up. I've been feeling pretty good every day, and I've been very grateful that you know I've been able to ride almost every day in good physical condition. So yeah, it's been going good.
What do you think your role for the team has become, regardless of what chore you do?
That's a good question. I like to think I help support the team. I know I'm not always the best team player, but I try to try to lift people up when they're feeling down. I hope I've been able to do that so far, and I like to do that in the future as well.
What has been your favorite snack in the van so far?
That's a good question. It has to be the baked goods that the churches and the beautiful communities have been able to donate to us along our way. It's not just the snacks themselves, but the care that they're made with, and the generosity that people have shown us, that has definitely made them special to me.