Aloha !!

Today was kind of an ALOHA day. It was a day to say HELLO to good friends Barbara, Doc, Kendra and Mike, who I'll be riding across Iowa with the next week. It was also a day to say GOODBYE to my sweetheart Bev, who I won't see for about a month ... Aloha !!

The first photo is Bev and I having lunch at an official "Maid-Rite" cafe. A Maid-Rite sandwich is hard to describe, it's crumbled ground beef with pickles and mustard served steaming hot. A very tasty Mid-West treat !!

Bev and I went to the movies after lunch and watched TED, which I thought was pretty funny. A nice touch was getting a large popcorn, large soda, and large butterfinger candy for under $10. It would have cost close to $20 back home. After the movie we drove down to a park on the Mississippi River, where we took picture #2.

The third picture is Bev showing off her winnings at the Mystic Casino down by the Mississippi River. She's a lucky girl ! I lost about $8, but overall we still came out ahead.

The fourth photo is a group shot of Bev, Kendra, Mike, Bob, Barbara, Doc and Danny. This was shot at the hotel after we all met up this afternoon. Bob and Danny were taking Mike and Doc's cars back to Clinton, so they'll be waiting for them at the end of RAGBRAI.

The last shot is of Kendra and Mike at the Bank bar in Dubuque, taken after we all ate a nice Pizza Dinner. Now it's off to bed, tomorrow we ride to McGregor Iowa, our first day of about 70 miles. Aloha !!

MC Museum Photos #5

These last photos are shots of famous people and famous bikes. I forgot to take a photo of the Evil Kinevil display - it was the biggest there.

Here I have pictures of Steve McQueen's Indian bobber, claimed to be his favorite bike, Peter Fonda's Captain America chopper from "Easy Rider" movie, the "Rat Fink" and Von Dutch display, and the legendary Gelbke "Roadhog", a gigantic home-made motorcycle with a diesel truck engine ...

MC Museum Photos #4

Here are some sweet old antique motorcycles, including the legendary Vincent "Black Prince", a 1906 Curtiss V-Twin, and a 1912 Henderson 4.

The 1912 Henderson 4 (in the case behind me) is completely original, and even has its original 100 year old tires.

MC Museum Photos #3

The old Board Track Racers from the early teens are some of my favorites.

Notice the big motorcycle "Pacer" in front of the bicycle in the display ? This is how motorcycle racing got started, first the motors paced the bicycle racers, then the motor pacers started racing themselves after the bicycle races, and soon motorcycle races we're the headline.

MC Museum Photos #2

They have a lot of race motorcycles in the museum - drag racers, dirt track racers, road racers, hill climbers, salt flat racers and board track racers.

The first photo is of a bunch of antique hill climbers, all in original condition I like the old bikes much better when they are in original, rusty-dusty shape !

The next photo is from the wall in the repair shop, titled "offerings to the gods of speed", with all the twisted & broken motor parts.

The last two shots are of a Chevy V-8 engine powered bike built and raced by E. J. Porters called the "Bloody Mary". The old videos they had of him burning rubber all the way down the drag strip was amazing !

Rest Day in Anamosa Iowa

Today was a rest day, well needed after driving cross-country 1,200 miles the past two days. We visited the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa Iowa.
( http://www.nationalmcmuseum.org/ )

They have over 350 motorcycles on display, and about 30 bicycles. Bev and I spent about 4 hours going through the exhibits, and it was fantastic. I took a few photos of my favorite bikes in the collection.

In the first photo, I am posing outside the museum in the parking lot. The next shot is of a beautiful bronze statue of a 1935 Harley Streamliner that set a speed record on the sandy beaches North of Daytona Beach.

Next are three shots of me next to an old "penny farthing" boneshaker big wheel bicycle - I was trying to pose like the lad in the old photograph on the wall.

We made it to Iowa

We had a long day's drive today, from Nashville Tenn. to Cedar Rapids Iowa. The day started with heavy rain and heavy traffic in Nashville, but the skies cleared up by lunch.

PHOTO 1: We had a great lunch at a Fazoli's in Marion Illinois. Mmmm, breadsticks ! There used to be a Fazoli's right by our house in Tallahassee, and we ate there often with our kids when they were little. Then one day it just closed down with no notice. I always wonderedp what happened, they always seemed to be so busy.

PHOTO 2: Driving thru St. Louis was a thrill. They have about 15 Interstates and major highways come together to cross the Mississippi River together, it's busy busy busy. Bev shot a photo of the Arch while we were stopped for construction.

PHOTO 3: We arrived at Mackey's Union Station Bar and Grill, in Cedar Rapids Iowa, about 8:30 pm, and unloaded the car. Here we dropped off our luggage for next week's RAGBRAI ride, so we got the back of the car all cleared out now, except for my loaded down touring bicycle.

PHOTO 4: We had a great dinner at the Union Station - ate a MaidRight sandwich and drank Flat Tire Ales. It's been a fun trip so far but I can't wait to start riding my bicycle !!

Headed to Iowa !!

Yippee !! I'm officially on the road to Iowa. I drove about 10 hours today, after a nervous 5 hours sleep last night, and made it up to Nashville Tennessee. I wish I had my Ukulele with me, so I could play me some country music.

Here are two photos for today's post -the first one is a group photo from last year's bike ride across Iowa, with good buddies Doc, Barbara, Mike, Kendra, and me.

The other picture is of me and my sweetie, Bev, sporting some nice handlebar mustaches.

Tomorrow, it's Iowa, here I come !!

How to Prepare for a Bicycle Tour

Today's post is a cute video by Michell & Ryan of "America ByCycle" ( americabycycle.com ).  This video tells you how to prepare for a bicycle tour !  

Click on the image below to load their YouTube video ...

 





 

Countdown Starting ... T Minus 5 Days !

Only 5 days until we start riding cycles across Iowa. Let the countdown begin !!
 
Bicycle gear is all ready to go. I'm putting together my clothing now, using my buddy Dennis' advice "one on your back, two in the pack". Dennis is a wise man !!
 
Today's photo is of the rear end of the bike. I got my Adventure Cycling triangle and a few red blinky lights. The round one is new, given to me by my good friend Jimmy Scott - I love it ! I'll be thinking about & riding for Jimmy this tour. He's recovering from a bad infection, and will be laid up a while - Heal Fast Jimmy !!

Today's Test Ride

 


Today I tested out my touring bike with a fun 60 mile ride thru the Havana Hills with good friends Barbara, Doc, Rita, David, and Rita Ann. My Trek 520 worked fantastic - the new chain & cassette were smooth as butter. 

I had the bike about 3/4s loaded, about 70 pounds I think. I can't wait to finish packing and hit the road !!

Bike Preparation

It's a lot of work and worry getting ready for a bike tour. In the past week I've put on new tires & tubes, new chain & cassette, painted over rust & scratches on the bike frame, cleaned & adjusted brakes, put on new handlebar tape, put on a new handlebar bag ( I love my new yellow Ortlieb handlebar bag ! ), and on and on and on ...




I'm just now starting to pack my bags, which is always fun. Luckily I have a packing list I've put together over the years, which helps a lot.  Here's a photo of all my gear drying out after a couple of days of rain on my Blue Ridge Parkway bicycle tour in May ...

It's good to know if you forget anything, there's always a store along the way to pick up supplies, just don't forget your credit card !

Pete's Bike Ride Across Iowa

I'm heading out to Iowa in a few weeks to ride my bicycle - Yippee !!

I'm getting a ride to Clinton Iowa, where I'll meet up with good friends Doc, Barbara, Mike and Kendra.  We are doing a bicycle ride we call IARBGAR ( this is RAGBRAI spelled backwards ).  We'll spend 7 days doing the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) backwards, riding from Clinton to Sioux Center, staying at motels as we ride from East to West across the state.

When we get to Sioux Center Iowa on July 21, we'll turn around and spend the next week riding back to Clinton with our RAGBRAI friends on "Team Sprint", camping out along the way.  We have about 75 wonderful people on our team, and some of them have ridden RAGBRAI 30 years or more !

 There are usually 10,000 to 20,000 bicycles on RAGBRAI each day.  We typically ride from 60-80 miles per day, stopping every 10 miles to eat, drink, and visit with people along the way.


After RAGBRAI, I plan to ride back to Tallahassee on my bicycle all by myself, following the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers down towards Alabama.  This part of the trip should begin on July 28.  I will be following parts of the Adventure Cycling "Great Rivers" and "Underground Railroad" routes.


I hope to post info and photos to this BLOG during my trip - provided I can find cell or wi-fi service !