The fairy godmother must have been elsewhere this morning because we were very short of magical bicycle dust on the 102 mile trip today. The route was hillier (2400 feet of climbing compared to 1000 feet yesterday) and much hotter. I again rode with John and it took us 8 hours 21 minutes of riding time-- nearly two hours longer than yesterday, for the same mileage. The ride was all about corn and soybeans-- what the heck do they do with all those soybeans? I saw a Burma Shave type set of signs: Ever wonder/where your food comes from/take a look around/the corn and soybean growers of Dodge County. As John said "we have to get out of Dodge" but when we did, it turned out that the next county was all about the same two things.
My first day as an official vegetarian was not a total success. I ordered a "ranch" grilled chicken at Micky D's and it turned out to be stuffed with bacon. John suggested that I postpone the start of my idealism but I just pulled the bacon out and gave it a heave. Live and learn.
I was more successful with a pack of three slavering, barking, snarling dogs who clearly wanted to tear me limb from limb. Since I was toiling up a very steep hill at the time I knew I couldn't outride them so I got off my bike, summoned my most authoritative alpha voice and said "Bad Dogs" and all three quickly slunk away looking very abashed.
During the first days of our ride people were supremely uninterested in what we were doing but now that we are in Minnesota lots of people want to know where we are going and why and how many miles we ride and where we started and etc. Drivers are much more considerate and patient as well. Interesting.
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