Having a 7am wake up time make days much better and that was the case for our short 30 mile jaunt down to Iowa City. Breakfast was crew chief which consists of a peanut butter bagel, cereal, and a banana. The magnificent Troy Strickland prepares all of our crew chief meals. I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hour ride through the luscious Iowa landscape- rolling hills and green pastures. My paceline consisted of Dan Gramer, Mark Thorn, and Ben Walters. The already short ride was made shorter by our discussing funny moments on the bike from earlier in thr trip to making predictions for the upcoming college football season. Overall the ride to Iowa City was one of my favorites because it was short which gave our tired bodies a much needed rest and went through beautiful country.
We had an arrival at the Old Capitol building in Iowa City(the Capital was moved to Des Moines years ago) and were greeted by the ARC of South Eastern Iowa. We met with the campers, took a few pictures in front of the Capitol and headed to lodging which was a church about 3 blocks from the Capitol. After showering, I went with Gramer whose brother went to the University of Iowa and a few other guys to a local burger joint that Gramer claimed was incredible. I can honestly say that the burger I had for lunch was in the top 3 burgers I’ve ever eaten. I’m from Tennesse and I go to school in Texas so that’s saying a lot! After lunch, we explored the campus of Iowa. I always enjoy touring other college campuses and seeing how they are similar and different to mine. It was about 100 degrees so we didnt last more than an hour until we had to go back to the church and rest.
Dinner was a pizza party with the ARC at their buidling. After eating too much pizza, we went outside to have a water balloon fight. I was just hanging out until I got nailed in the chest, then I had to get involved. Nonetheless I was soaked within 15 minutes. The guys that didn’t participate in the fight played games and drew pictures with the participants. It was a short but enjoyable visit. After getting back, we met up with some Pi Kaps at Iowa and explored the city.
This was one of my most fun days of the trip by far and Iowa in general has been a pleasant suprise of a state. We ride to Davenport tomorrow which is on the Mississippi River so I’m excitied to see that.
David Gaw
Cyclist
Texas Christian University ’20