sunday 7.22.12 Day 1

                                                   SUNDAY, JULY 22

                                                   SIOUX CENTER to CHEROKEE

                                                   54.4 miles • 1,675 feet of climb

                                                   Towns Miles Feet of Climb Population

                                                   Sioux Center 0.0 0 7,048

                                                   Orange City 10.7 439 6,004

                                                   Alton 4.1 75 1,216

                                                   Granville 7.1 335 312

                                                   Marcus (Meeting) 14.7 218 1,117

                                                   Cherokee 17.8 608 5,253

I am getting ready to start my first ride...we are 8 miles off the path  so we will be riding about 62 miles. The high today is expected to be 87 degrees.  I will check back in after the ride to finish off the day's blog.


So, I have one day/ride under my belt...I DID IT! All 62 miles of it.


                                          YIPPEE!!!!


You can see on the map that our first town was Orange City and they welcomed us with banners, music and lots of food.

You can see the throngs of cyclist, especially early in the day, that descend on these tiny towns of Iowa. This town was remarkable for it's love of the Dutch...dutch bakeries, windmills and of course dutchmen and dutch women.

So I couldn't pass up the chance to take a photo with my kinsfolk.

The best part of the ride is seeing who is riding with you so as the days go by I will include photos of people I do not know but who catch my eye.

And then there is Ann & me.

 Tonight we are not camping but will be residents of The Careage Hill nursing home. They too are happy to help us and tonight we will get a chance to speak with some of the folks here.  

For all of this hospitality...we are grateful.

After an amazing meal, we retired to the dining room to hear Jay Alberts give a great presentation on forced-exercise in PD.

Jay & Nan Little (pwp)

me & Cidney Donohoo (pwp)

John Carlin (pwp)

It was a very good day...but I will turn in early with plans to ride a shortened day in order to keep myself on the bike all week.  

As a final note, I would like to thank everyone who has made a donation to PFP. We are currently at 94% of our goal which would not have happened without your help. 

~karen