"Dude I HAVE to stop and scratch my feet!" - Day 18

As we rolled out of our tent this morning, we were surrounded by a thick fog. We didn't think much of it and went on making our instant oatmeal breakfast. However, as we began to take the tent down, it began to downpour. We hurriedly unpacked our rain gear and finished taking down the tent in the heavy rain. We decided to go ahead and ride in the rain, even though we've lost 3 of our 4 taillights and the one that remains only works intermittently. The rain eased up after a few minutes and it was dry enough to remove our rain gear within an hour.

Riding in the rain gave us a nice change of scenery and was also a little bit cooler. However, my feet got soaked and after an hour or so were getting uncomfortable. I tried to dry them by taking my socks off and pedaling with my feet on top of my shoes but the itching just got worse. Eventually, it was too uncomfortable to bear and I demanded that we stop so I could scratch.
At the gas station, we were once again asked if we were training for RAGBRAI, and were told all about how much fun the bike across Iowa is. We had actually originally thought that we might be able to join it for a day, but it is later in the year than our trip allowed. It certainly sounds more enjoyable to only ride 60 miles a day, with refreshments and activities the whole way. So we vowed that we would return to Iowa in the future and partake in the traveling festival.

We eventually picked up the trail that was recommended to us in between Bagley and Jamaica. Railroad trails are awesome because the railroad takes direct and flat routes. The Subway in Panora treated us well and we cruised the remaining 40 miles to my college roommate, Ken's, house in Des Moines. We were required to buy day use permits on the trail for $2, which we thought was strange.
Ken's family welcomed us with showers, laundry, two delicious meals and some fun stories about Ken as a youngster. We've got a big day tomorrow for the push to Davenport, 180 miles in one day hopefully!

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
6:06:51	85.5	1945	13.9	29.2