Day 34/35 - Pella, IA to Coralville, IA

Daily Stats:
Time: 5h22m22s
Distance: 150.79km
Avg Spd: 28.1km/hr
Climbing: 1,647m

"The awesome is killing me.  I need to ride slower."

Those were my words tonight to Karel and Mark sitting around the camp after finishing dinner and reviewing my stats from Saturday's ride.  It was a really hard day.  150km of constant up and down.  And after a day of rest in Coralville I'm still hurting.  I think I might ride with Rachel tomorrow, with the intent to keep our average speed down...  like 25km/hr.  Maybe escaping the testosterone and sprints for country signs that is part of the awesome of team Top Guns will actually make me slow down.

The highlight of Saturday's ride was boterkoek at the last SAG stop, courtesy of Carrie Kooy.

I didn't take any pictures during the ride, but rest assured that Pella to Coralville looks much like the hilly farmland leading into Pella.

We're staying at ST Morrison Park in Coralville, IA which is just on the outskirts of Iowa City.  It is a great little park with a water feature and waterslides adjacent to it.

This weekend was quite relaxed, and I have no big stories to tell:

* I rode to the bike shop and bought bar plugs for the ends of my handlebars

* I ate at Which Wich for the first time

* I read a lot of my book

* I got sunburned, even though it was in the low 70s.  The wind was from the north and made it deceptively cool

* Jeans were worn for the first time since getting off the plane

* I did laundry

New Life Community Church hosted a worship service for us this evening, and the sea of green Sea to Sea-ers over-took the place.

They fed us another spaghetti dinner when we got back to camp that was well received.  Plus a plethora of cookies really ensured a positive response.

Peter and Ellie - two riders I met during Ride for a Reason way back in June - are two of twenty-two people joining the tour today and will be riding with us the rest of the way to New York.

Think that's all for now.  It's going to be a cool night here, so we're looking forward to a good night sleep.  And we'll need it with the long days ahead this week...