Another beautiful day in Iowa. Sunny skies, temperature in the 80's and minimal wind.

The road was more of the same, no shoulders. That can be scary. Part of the day we rode on four lane highways, which is good and bad. It gives cars and trucks room to move over but they tend to be going faster.

Dan got a real scare when he was at the bottom of a hill on a two-lane road. A truck was coming down the hill in front of him and another coming down the hill behind him. Rather than slow down, the one behind him decided to just keep flying and lay on the horn. Dan had to get off the pavement and into the gravel. He kept the bike upright and didn't get hit. I think he did have a few choice words for the driver.

I've been trying to get my hair cut since I left New Jersey but haven't connected the time/space coordinates to get it done. Today there were several towns on our route, so I thought I could get rid of some shaggy. The first big town was Knoxville, but our road bypassed it completely. Before we knew it, we were past it.

Jeff pulled out the map and calculated that the next town, Oskaloosa, was eight miles away. So I took off, hoping to ride hard for eight miles, get my hair cut and not hold up the group. I didn't bother looking at the mileage or time when I left and after what seemed like way too long, the van pulled up beside me. It seems the town was really 20 miles from where I started and I had been pushing hard for lots longer than I thought.

I got to town and rode around the town square looking for anyone with scissors. I saw a salon and went inside. Of course, I'm wearing my wildest looking cycling shirt, haven't shaved for three days and have a rather crazed Unibomber-wannabe look. The blue-haired lady looked me over good as I walked in. I asked about getting a trim and she said nobody was working today. Oh yea, it's Monday, those folks take Mondays off a lot. I asked if there was any place else in town and she said maybe “Frederick” at the mall might take walkins. I've been around enough to know that Frederick the hair stylist and Oskaloosa, Iowa is a strange combination. And since I didn't want to leave my bicycle unsecured outside a mall, I decided to wait for another day for the hair cut.

The rest of the afternoon went fast and continued to be constantly up and down hills. We pushed hard and finished the day by 5:00 p.m. with just over 103 miles behind us.

Jeff and Dan check the maps for the best route.

A backyard flying machine along road. Check out the person who fell out.