R17 92 Day 7.2 Waukon to Lansing: River Bottom Break Down

Why did we go here? 

The road into the Yellow River State Forest seemed like it was straight down. Then it curved. Then more down. Down. Down. Down.

Wilderness

Wilderness adventure

A little up. And down. We were deep in the forest, the peace of the trees and hills seemed to hush down the craziness of ragbrai. As I rode through the forest, I looked for the "town." Because this was a marked stop on Ragbrai, I thought there'd be a food vendor or maybe a place to get water, but I didn't see much, so I kept going. 

Check it out

Eventually, I bumped into the beavers. Most of them were on the side of the road already, waiting to check in before the first big hump of the day. 

As I was standing around, futzing with my pockets, Masinga rode up. And she was crying. The day had broken her down, and we hadn't even hit the nasty climbs of the day. I can't remember exactly what upset her, but she was teared up. 

Break down

So Steven took the port side, and I took the starboard, and we gave her a big old sweaty beaver hug that morphs into a humping. 

Hugs help?

The cure for all things: hump. 

Close Up

We may look like we are mugging her, but that's a hump!

We would all need a good humping soon. There were no refreshments at the bottom of Yellow Banks State Forest and just a long ass climb to the top.

Before long, we found it. Up. Curve. Up. Curve. Up and up and up. Cyclists of all abilities, styles, shapes and sizes were climbing this long hill that wound its way out of the forest.

One. Two. Three. Four. My Rainman-ing started and up I climbed. About halfway, I pulled over for a little mental health break.

I did that once or twice more. Just climbing and counting. Moving so slow, but moving. Seeing the trees and the people on the side of the road. Creeping past the walkers, getting "on your lefted by the lighter riders." Up.

And then, you could almost see the top. The trees cleared and there was a place where you couldn't see the up anymore. Nearly there!

And it was done. Big climb number 1.

After some more ups and downs, we were soon zooming down a massive hill towards the tiny town of Harper's Ferry. It felt like the descent into Guttenberg years before. Just massive, with a steep drop off the right shoulder, down, down, braking like crazy until the road flattened out and we were in a tiny town.

Our penultimate town of the last day. Two big hills to go.

It was time for a beer.