“The wind was already blowing me around at 8:00 AM as I rode my motorcycle home from work. I have been riding in stiff winds all Spring, so I decided to knock out a dirty metric before supper. The wind was out of the North and was supposed to switch to the NNW after noon. I rode North and then East, passing through Readlyn and then crossed the Wapsipinicon River at the same spot where I had to turn around a month ago because of high water.

I passed a farm wife riding her bicycle and I dodged an angry Chihuahua that was half the size of your average barn cat. The wind was getting stronger and the big wheels and bags on the bike made the cross winds tricky. The road maintainers were out in force and I found a few miles of deep, fresh gravel.  I stopped in Tripoli and bought water and food for the rest of the ride. A lot of farmers were finishing up their corn planting, and many were starting to plant soy beans. I headed South for a few miles and savored the tailwind for a change. I zig-zagged a few miles South and then a mile or two West until I reached the Denver Hills. It was pretty much all tailwind from there. When I got home, I checked the weather and saw that the winds had been gusting over 35 mph. The sun never came out and the wind blew all day, but I managed to ride 66.5 miles.”

-Tony M.