Guitar Ted's Ride For Jacob: Part 3

I had to ford this bit of flooded road coming out of Shell Rock.

The beginning of the Ride For Jacob was a bit of settling in, navigational errors, and hustling into Shell Rock on a busy Highway. I had little time to get into a groove and have any sort of contemplative thoughts. But the second half of the ride made up for this in spades.

By the time I reached Shell Rock, the wind had picked up significantly, which was expected. There were even gusts and I would guess these were in the 25mph - 30 mph range by the time I was headed back South. But before I got to the part where I had a tailwind, I had a near-navigational error coming out of Shell Rock. 

First, I noted I had a right turn listed on the cues when I knew in my mind this probably was wrong. Once I got out on the Southwest side of Shell Rock, I could see it was wrong. However; a gravel road I was crossing was not signed. All things pointing to a required stop, grabbing the iPhone, and consulting maps again.  

Massive grain bins just Southwest of Shell Rock, Iowa. 

Barns For Jason #1 I saw at least three I did not take images of as well!

In the days of yore, I would have had a paper map of the county with me. I also may have had the aforementioned hand drawn map. I would, and still do, occasionally draw my own maps. But in this case, the trusty iPhone, (as long as the interwebs are weaving their sorcery over the airwaves), would have to do.

I was vindicated in my suspicions, and so off I went into some of the most rural of country we have around here. Butler County doesn't have much for larger cities, with Allison and Shell Rock being the largest towns by far, and they are not very big. There is a lot of open country with a few tiny villages dotting the landscape in Butler County, so traffic is very low, and there is not much going on out there but farming.

Lots of this out here in Butler County

The rare "Minimum Maintenance Road" in Iowa. Not a Level B These are gravel, but are not maintained in Winter.

I was back on "The Grid" now, so it was easy to figure out by the names and numbers of the roads on the signs at each corner how many miles I had to the next turn. For Instance, if I was on Upland, and turned on 270th going East, and my next turn was on Willow, this meant I had to go two miles on 270th. (U, V, W) The numbers work the same, so if I turned on Willow, and was on 270th, and my next turn was on 290th, I had to go two miles as well. Easy-peasey. 

 

The views were, at times, great. I found myself settling into that rhythm which gets me into the place of contemplative thought. This is what I wanted out of this ride. The chance to wrestle with my feelings. To ask the questions. To feel. 

Barns For Jason #2

I wish I could say I figured something out, but I cannot. I still have questions. I still do not understand why my son is gone. And I have decided I have to be okay with the not knowing. I have decided to be thankful for the times I was gifted with him through those 22 years he was with us. 

The old steel gabled bridge over the West Fork of the Cedar River

Beaver Valley. New Hartford is just off to the right here. 

As I was deep in thought the phone rang. It was my wife, checking in on me. It was about 20 minutes to noon at this point. She asked how I was doing, where I was at. I said I didn't know where I was at the moment. This was true. I was so deep into my feelings I had no idea just where I was. Immediately after her call I spied the old bridge across the West Fork of the Cedar River and it was then I knew exactly where I was at. Now I could have ditched my written cues as I pretty much know how to get back home from the bridge. But I followed them onward anyway.

Diagonal Road out of New Hartford

Westbrook Road looking East.

Now I was starting to feel a lot of pain. My hands, my shoulders, and some parts of my back were getting pretty bad. I stopped to stretch at a bridge about 17 miles from the house. It was at this point which I realized I may get in a metric century. 62 miles seemed pretty reasonable now, and this excited me. Stretching turned out to be the right move, and after switching around bottles, I was off again to finish off this ride. 

But not before I had some very emotional moments. I cried to the point I almost had to stop when a song from church came across my mind. Then I was laughing out loud at one point as I remembered a bit Jacob used to do with his voice. He was scolding me in this weird voice to buck-up as I was feeling pain again along the way. A good memory which put a huge smile on my face. I think this was the first time this had happened since his death. 

Farmers are getting their harvesting equipment readied for the harvest coming soon.

 As I entered Cedar Falls I had to keep telling myself, "Just keep pedaling. Keep moving forward." The pain was pretty intense in my shoulders and hands, but my legs were fine and I wasn't breathing hard, so it wasn't the work, but just my old man joints and whatnot rearing their heads. 

I overcame it though, and I got home with 64.7 miles on the odometer. I reached my doorstep a few minutes past 2:00pm which meant I was out for seven hours. All the longest I've done on a bicycle in a very long time. I was spent. 

I took a good, long nap after a shower and some food. That was a very good day on the bicycle, and I know my son would have been proud and amazed by it. He often asked me of recent why I wasn't doing 40-ish mile rides all the time anymore. I had to explain to him I had a job which required me to work Saturday mornings now, and that it was on Saturday mornings which I had been doing those long rides. So, I knew Jacob was proud of my riding abilities. This ride was for him. 

Stay tuned for a gear review and final thoughts tomorrow.