I just got in from the tour. (Pant, pant.)

Since I have to go to work tomorrow morning, I had DH come and get me just outside Sioux City. The plan was always to have him get me today, the only question was how far I'd get. Now I know - about 10 miles from the Nebraska boarder.

OK, for more details:

Weather: I only had one day of good biking weather - for me, I think most would have considered it too cold to ride. The rest were some combination of headwinds, cross winds and rain (some of which was starting to feel suspiciously like hail).

Personal stuff: The corn wasn't even showing green in the fields, so no convienient places for a "pit stop." Ditches work.

Lodging: Everything from a nice B&B to a roach motel. All had their good and bad points.

The Sakatah Singing Hills trail is heaven on earth. Ride it if you can.

MN has good roads and polite drivers. Also neat accents.

Iowa doesn't believe in shoulders on their roads. I took to the grass more times than I can count.

Big trucks are not the enemy. With guts, you can surf their draft for a while. Also, I had the distinct feeling in MN that the truck drivers were watching out for me. I waved and smiled at them whenever I could.

Furthermore, it occured to me that local truck drivers have no interest in running over a bicycle. They'd be dodging bike parts for DAYS.

I was pretty optomistic when estimating my milage. 45-50 was about my limit. But then, there were those headwinds...

I'm a bit afraid to see what DH has put on CrazyGuy. He can surprise me at times.

I'm also flumoxed at how people think I'm brave, daring, capable, all that. This ride really wasn't all that big a deal (that way). I just got on the bike and started moving my feet. I asked questions of local folk when I could and looked at the map a lot. Any dummy could do that.

I'll do another tour. I've invited DH.