Hot Times in Marshallown

While I sit here in Marshalltown waiting for Arthur to ride in, I have a few moments to tell you about Iowa food.

It's likely that the food venders know they must cater to folks with voracious appetites, but some of their offerings would make arteries harden just to hear about them.

Iowan fast foods First, there is a great love of things on a stick: pork chops on a stick, hard boiled eggs on a stick (why?), bacon on a stick, and as you might guess corn dog on a stick, although corn dogs here are foot long. Then there is the brat burger. Brats are bratwursts - tasty German sausage… but a bratburger is bratwurst ground up with more spices and made into a patty. Annie observed someone eating what's called a "walking taco," (pic on the left) a bag of Doritos cut open along the side and loaded with all the taco fillings.

Annie also came upon the "maid rite," which was described as "loose meat," which we took to mean sloppy joes without the sloppy. On several menu boards, we saw "taverns," (that's a picture of one on the right) which turned out to be sloppy joes with the sloppy. Can hardly wait to see what tonight’s exploration of the vender booths brings.

Our mid-day rendezvous today was the nicest yet. Trucks and buses were asked to park in a large mall lot a mile from town. Shuttles were available to reunite support drivers with

their riders. I got out my bike instead and pedaled in with beer and cold towels, guided by texts, to meet Arthur and Annie stretched out in a lovely shaded park, the scene of what looked like a festival of food venders, a country band, and even an antique carousel. Annie sampled the hush puppies, and Arthur had some pork extravaganza on a hard roll.

Annie wisely decided that riding on in 102 degree heat was not worth risking her life, but Arthur soldiered on, with promises that he would get in the sag wagon if he felt the vapors coming on. (Heat exhaustion is a common hazard on this ride.) Arthur pedaled off, and the Annie and I pedaled back to Big Red for the drive to Marshalltown.

It’s now several hours later, and Arthur has brought his bike across today’s finish line, unlike many others who hitched a ride on the sag wagon.

He reports that the first twenty miles after lunch were a snap. He got into what’s called a “draft line,” a line of cyclists where each one breaks the wind for the one behind. Then the heat and headwinds took a toll. One cyclist I encountered on my ice\beer run reported that the pavement temperature was 130 degrees. Arthur limped in at 5 PM, having visited a number of rest and water stops.

Tomorrow’s route is the longest of the ride – 84.8 miles. Even with possibly cooler temperatures (90 degrees…whoopee), this will be a slog. I will counsel caution.

Tomorrow, on to the bright lights of Cedar Rapids, the big city of the tour.

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PICTURE CREDITS: (1) The "Walking Taco pic comes from a website called The Zen of Making. (2) The "Tavern" photo was borrowed from Food.com. This particular photo credited to "Debbie WL". Comment on the site said that "Taverns" have less tomato sauce in them than most sloppy joes.