Country Views: Rough And Dusty!

The day lillies are out en-force now.

After a week and a half of recovery from the 'moving beat-down', I felt good enough again to get back out in the country. I have been thinking about doing a loop from Prairie Grove Park that would take in the Level B Maintenance road section of 110th Street in Northern Tama County. It is a three straight mile stretch of rolly dirt road. I used this bit a few times on rides I put on like the GTDRI and the Geezer Ride. I haven't been back on it for at least a couple of years now, I think. 

Anyway, the weather was supposed to be somewhat tranquil, so I glanced at the forecast and just decided to go for it on Wednesday. It would be a bit more than 30 miles. Approximately 36 is what I figured it at, so a decent length. Nothing crazy to jump back into this time after my recovery. 

The Sun was out, there were some high, thin clouds, but it seemed about normal for this time of the year. The temperature was in the 70's - up to the 80's by the time I was finished- and the humidity was low for this time of year. That made for comfortable riding conditions, but it also made for some of the dustiest riding conditions I have seen in years. I noticed straight away, once I got on the gravel, that passing traffic was kicking up quite the clouds of dust and that these hung in the air for several seconds- maybe even over a minute actually- before a puff of air would push the dust clouds off the road or dissipate them. I remember it getting like this late in the Summer over ten years ago, but this is as bad as I've seen in some time. 

Other than that, it was nice to see that more flowers are blooming and that the corn is growing. Some fields seem far behind for this time of year, but a few were 'up to snuff' and over 'man-high'. The soybeans, in particular, didn't look the greatest to my eye, but maybe this part of Black Hawk County has not received much rain, I do not know.

The county maintenance grader was out in Southern Black Hawk County

Vehicles were kicking up quite the dust storms out there Wednesday!

Beginning on Aker Road, I thought the conditions were typical Summertime for gravel- Chunky, but not too bad, and of course, it was insanely dry. But then the road seemed to get smoother with less chunk and it looked freshly graded. Then I saw it, of course, the county maintenance grader up ahead. The machine was leaving a fine carpet of pea gravel sized rock and a lot of loose dust and dirt. It was rather odd, to say the least, because typically they are grading fresh, chunky gravel across the roads. 

At one point I was drawn into a convergence of two pickup trucks, each going opposite directions, which met right where I was at. I mean, what are the odds? Anyway, the dust was so thick I could not see the oncoming truck, so I scooched over as far as I dared to the right, to the very edge of the road, and when I saw the glint of a chrome GMC grill pass by I knew I was okay. But I still had an ear out for more traffic, at least for a few seconds, until the dust dispersed enough that I could see again. 

Heading back North a bit on R Avenue in Tama County.

110th Avenue Rolls up to the horizon. That was the way I was headed.

I thought that I was either really rested up and feeling great, or there was more wind than I could see out here, because going South was pretty easy. But as I said, the dust was hanging in the air too, so whatever wind there was had to be light. A mere breath of air. 

When I turned to go West a bit, and especially when I came back North, I felt the wind a bit in my face. It felt good on this hot day, but I knew that the easy part of this ride was over! Fortunately the route plan was straight South, with the wind, and then a kind of stair-stepping course back North and East. So, no continuous effort into a headwind. It was as if a genius had designed this course! (Kidding, only kidding!)

The whole point of this loop was to ride this.

The portable 'loos in bright blue are starting to pop up in the country. That can only mean one thing!

The section I wanted to ride is an East-West road which has some nice rollers and generally is in pretty decent shape, so I wasn't expecting anything really tough. In fact, 110th's Level B section is usually pretty fast and fun. Wednesday's visit proved it to be the case again.

I noted the bright blue porta-potties out in random places now which is a sign that the detassling crews will be out again very soon. Detassling corn is done to produce hybrid corn seed for the next year's crops. It's how different corn types are cross-bred to produce the desired hybrid product. It's been done this way for decades. I laugh when I hear people getting worked up about "GMO" corn. Heck, it's been 'genetically modified' for hundreds of years. I know what most people think of when they hear "GMO", but cross-breeding is a way to modify gene selection as well. 

These little white blossoms appeared like stars in the road near the Western end of 110th's Level B section.

An approaching vehicle leaves a trail of dust similar to a jet's contrail, only on the ground!

I headed back North on M Avenue and that turns into Grundy Road at the Western border of Black Hawk County. Then I started my 'stair-stepping' back East and North, making my way toward Petrie Road, which I wanted to traverse from West to East and then hit Aker Road back to the park where I had started. 

Another county maintenance grader. The operator didn't see me. He was too busy staring into his cell phone! Good thing he was parked!

 

Another one of those odd looking Ag sprayers. The gravel here was ridiculously rough.

 

Heading North on Hicks Road I hit a patch of super-rough gravel which was about the worst I have ridden. It was fresh, deep, and a tractor or some other Ag equipment had traveled over it giving it a rumble strip-like roughness which rattled me and my bike so badly I was crawling, in terms of speed. A right turn on Quarry Road left me with no respite and it wasn't until I got a mile up Lincoln Road that I finally got back on some nicer road surface. I was sure glad that didn't last longer than it did!

 

In my opinion this is one of the best looking, best up kept barns in Black Hawk County.

A blaze of orange adorns the ditch near this intersection.

I made it up Petrie Road's level B section with little problem and then I turned North for the final push back to the truck. The wind didn't seem to bother, really, so I was happy and felt strong. But the legs got pretty fatigued by the time I headed back up Aker Road and I was glad that I was almost done. I still have a ways to go before I will declare myself ready for any big gravel ride. 

Maybe I was tired because I covered the 36 miles in under three hours! I was a bit surprised by that, and this was overall time. I stopped briefly maybe four times for images, or to switch out bottles. So, I was a bit happier when I realized that I must have gone faster than I thought I had. 

I know.....I know! "Get a GPS or computer, Ted!" Well, actually- I have one or two. I am just not inclined to want to use them anymore, unless I am in an event. Big distraction those things, and the data? Pfft! I might look at that stuff once, or never. So, I live in the dark ages compared to many of you, and I'm okay with that.