I had a few good titles in mind, but I forgot them.

So after leaving the library in Muscatine (my last update), I realized that my bike pump was missing its outer ring on the nozzle. I must have lost it at my last stop after pumping my tire (the pump requires that you loosen it), or it fell off along the way (it was strapped to my bike frame). I really need to stop loosing things!!! That meant that if I got a flat somewhere, I wouldn't be able to fix it. So I searched out the bike shop in Muscatine and starting walking there to see if I could get a replacement. It was super hot and humid, and Muscatine is all hills. As I was walking past a parking lot, a guy in a truck pulled up and asked if I had mechanical problems. I said yes and no, I'm taking a break from riding, but I need to get to the bike shop to fix my pump. Brent was a really nice guy and offered me a ride. He was on the way to the gym and was stopping to get an energy drink. During the ride he told me he used to bike about 100 miles a week but gave it up a while ago. He said he would love to do a cross-country ride some time. We got to the bike shop, but they didn't have any replacement ring covers, so I had to buy a new pump:/ Being out on the road alone makes you shell out lots of money because you don't want to get stranded somewhere because you didn't. Unfortunately, this new pump is nowhere near as good as the Topeak Road Morph I had before. Hopefully I won't have to use it though (cross my fingers- it's been 3 days and no flats- i think it was my tire liner that was causing the mystery flats, i took it out). Brent gave me a ride back to my bike, and I gave him the address to this blog. However, on walking away, I realized that I didn't exactly write too many nice things about Muscatine a few hours before... Which makes me realize the audience I have been writing for in contrast to the people I am writing about/touring past. Whenever I travel, I really try to avoid the "touristy" aspects of traveling- that is taking tours, showing visible signs of being a tourist (carrying a camera on my neck), I try to stay in a place for longer than a few days, etc. But the nature of bike TOURing means that I can't help but pass through places, just taking quick glances here and there- even though it's slower than a motorcycle, or any other motorized vehicle. Nonetheless, I've fallen into the trap of being a tourist in my essentialization of certain places for the entertainment of my audience of friends and family "elsewhere". I don't know if I can help it much as a bike tourist, but I'll try to be a little less obnoxious and closed-minded just in case I do end up sharing this blog with locals. And so, on that note, sorry if I offended you Brent!

I decided to stop at a park 10 miles north of Muscatine that day. I set a new rule for myself to not be riding past 8:30 pm (sunset). So I stopped there and had a nice evening relaxing on the river. I built my first successful tarp tent to improve on my bivvy sack. However, when I got to the park there were no mosquitos, so I didn't bother making sure it was completely sealed. Man, was I wrong. The moment the sun set, one mosquito landed on me, and then I hear this droning sound coming from the woods, and I think to myself "O shit, they're coming!!" haha. Though these mosquitos weren't as frenzied as the ones on the I&M Canal, there were lots, and they were hungry. I climbed into my tarp tent, and started trying to seal off all of the holes, improvising with anything that could act as a clip. I spent a few hours laying around and killing mosquitos inside the tarp, then waiting in silence, and hearing a few more coming in from somewhere unknown, trying to plug that place up, and repeat, over and over. Also, closing up all of the air holes meant that the tarp tent got as hot and steamy inside as the bivvy sack, though with more room. Eventually I got tired of my mosquito tarp game, and went outside, set up my bivvy on the river, and just settled. It rained at night, and I slept decently.

In the morning I packed up and left (still trailed by more mosquitos), and biked to Riverside, IA. Still more hills. The highlight of the ride was seeing lightning storms and rain in the distance over farmland far away. You could see clouds rolling in as if they were being sucked in to where the storm was. You don't really see that outside of open lands. Another fact for you all is that there are a decent amount of insects on the highway! Butterflies like to rest on the warm pavement (though they get crushed by cars), I saw a caterpillar trying to cross, and a dragonfly was using the highway, but going UK style in the wrong lane with me, lol. By noon the sun was beating down on everything with a bat. I stopped at a gas station got some orange juice and beef jerky, and found what little shade I could, trying to resuscitate myself. I wished for rain- and I got it. By the time I left the gas station 40 min later, clouds were rolling in. The reason I stopped at Riverside was to go to a library, but there was none (though apparently there's a big star trek community- there was a float, and a star trek cafe). So I decided to get to Kolona 10 miles away. On the way there I could see lightning storms in the distance at the top of hills, and it started raining. Luckily I got to Kolona right as the center of the storm hit. I drove into the city park and waited out the storm under a shelter. It was really nice having a shelter, watching rain, smoking a cigarette. I took a nap, and when I woke up, I decided to stay at the city campsite in the park- it even had a shower (though they charge $18 a night- I didn't pay (too much, I don't even have an RV)- in fact, I haven't been charged for any camp sites yet... lol. I get in too late, or there's no one around/I don't have correct change).

Kolona, IA is a town with a big Mennonite population. There are plenty of Mennonites on horses and carriages, and the kids where overalls and straw (?) hats. There have been thunderstorms passing through here since last night, so I decided to take my day off today instead of tomorrow. It's strange for me in this small town with Mennonites. It's a bit eerie, especially since I'm just passing by, and don't really talk to anyone. However, I did talk to a guy named Bob, picking up cans at the park as I was packing up. We had a short chat about bikers apparently coming through the park and trashing it (sounds weird to me...), and how people aren't allowed to sleep under the shelters (because they were trashed). Bob is a butcher who lives in Kalona, but was raised in a smaller "hick town" (he said it) not too far from there. He collects cans on weekends (he says he collects 165 per hour- that's 16.50 an hour if deposits here are .10 like in MI). He said there was some unemployed guy that bought 5 Cadillacs picking cans. That sounded a bit off to me. When I told Bob I'm from Chicago, he said he's been there once and won't go back. I asked why, and he said (sorry for the language) "Because of all the niggers" and some more pretty nasty things. He also said he hated the Mennonites because they think they're better than everyone else, and look down on people. He said they look down on him for trying to mow his lawn on Sundays because "they spend all day in Church" and don't work.

Another thing I'm keeping track of is patriotic kitsch. I noticed a woman coming out of a car wearing an American flag shirt. I wonder if the Mennonites are as patriotic.

That's pretty much all for now, though another thing to note is that I've been feeling consistently tired, weak, and light headed. Though I've been eating what I think is normally, I think I need to start eating more. I'll update on that.

Today is my day off, so I'm going to work at the library, do my laundry, and then probably bike down to Darling Lake State Park 20 miles south to change the scenery.


-Miroslav

UPDATE: So I'm sitting at the library and paying attention to the books people are taking out. An old woman walked by with Just As I Am, by Billy Graham and "Persons of Faith" (for someone else she was saying to the librarian, it sounded like it was for someone younger). I looked it up and Billy Graham is a TV Evangelist.

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