Last night I had pizza with BBQ sauce on it. I also had a pitcher of beer, a dozen chicken wings and a large salad. Have to remember to get Italian dressing - doesn't get as yucky as blue cheese. I was stuffed walking out and headed around the corner into a residential neighborhood. In a block I found a connection I could use and started to upload the stuff I had written before dinner. Then I became dinner to about a million Iowa mosquitoes. I haven't gotten that many bite in years. I'm sure I looked a little comical poking my PDA and swatting the little buggers.
In the morning I figured I'd have some of the motel's continental breakfast. Not very fancy: bad coffee and a bowl of Sugar Pops. I did get talking to the motel guy and another guest and they advised getting off highway 3. I was all for that after yesterday but didn't like the extra 10 miles I figured it would add to the day. I got extra water and went a few miles on 3 before heading 5 miles south to C49. The county road was paved and almost empty. I put on the headphones for the first time and really enjoyed not focusing on the traffic. I had been watching the weather stations pretty closely because I didn't want to get caught in and Denis fallout. It looked like I was going to miss Denis but there was a small front likely to hit my route. To the north where 3 was a I could see it was raining and I thought this route was already paying off. I did catch some a little later but I didn't even put on my rain gear. It only lasted for about 1/2 of an hour, cooled things down a bit and wet my map.
My plan had been to take 3 to Cherokee and take C38 before heading down to Sioux City. C49 was good but I wasn't looking forward to heading north only to double back 20 miles later. Then I saw disaster in the form of a "Road Closed" sign on the other side of US71. I got off the bike and rested it against the big stop sign post and had some liquids. Then I looked at the map and noticed the town of Storm Lake. It was only about 2 miles form where I was, had restaurants and everything. I then realized I had been a blind idiot and didn't need to head north at all. I could simply go to Storm Lake load up and cut straight across, saving about 20 miles from my original plan. What the hell was I thinking?
Storm Lake turned out to be pretty big and for the first time in a long time I actually saw some diversity. I had lunch in a Mexican restaurant and even passed by an Asian food store.
I headed out on C63 to Quimby. I was pushing it as I hoped to get to a Sioux City bike shop before it closed. My gloves are dissolving and I hoped to get a quick tune up. In Quimby the girl at the Shell-mart didn't think it was hot at all because she was from Florida. "How'd you end up here?". "Married a soldier stationed in Florida from Quimby, IA."
The GPS saved me leaving Quimby. I was headed down highway 31 when I checked and found the road I wanted, C60, was hidden and I needed to go back through the town.
C60 was a tough road at mile 75. It was up and down. Not huge steep hills but decent "I'm gonna make you feel some pain" hills. My legs didn't have a lot of push in them and I was gearing all the way down a lot. It was a lot of work but I figured the only way to get rid of them was to keep pedaling.
I went to the center of Sioux City and got a room in the Best Western City Center. On the way in I rode past a renovated part of town that had a lot of restuants and bars. I went there of dinner and after checking all the places out chose "Rebos". Southwestern place with Sierra Nevada and Dos Exius on draft. The food was good and they even gave me a t-shirt on account I was riding across the country. There weren't many people out, I bet that section of town gets pretty busy on the weekends.