Almost 1500 Miles: Things I’ve Learned

Posted by Andrew on June 27th, 2009 -   

  1. Bugs in the midwest appear to be tougher than east-coast bugs.  On a fairly regular basis, they manage to land on me and wander around while I’m riding.  Doing my part to get rid of a few - I must have inhaled about a dozen yesterday.
  2. Don’t clip one foot into the pedals and push yourself on a wet street.  Your foot will slip on a manhole cover, and you will be sorry.
  3. I am in John Deere country.  The signs, t-shirts, shorts, hats, flags, and bumperstickers tell me so every day.  I rode by a house with a Craftsman lawnmower (ride-on, of course), and a Case tractor outside - I would be willing to bet that he has no friends.
  4. Don’t steer off the road when waving to tractors, old people, little kids, or critters on the side of the road.  I waved to a family of beavers back in OH; I had been waving to tractors all day long, and it seemed like a logical thing to do.  One of them hissed at me - I hope someone makes a hat out of him.
  5. We grow an absolutely absurd amount of corn in this country.  The tallest I’ve seen is only only about 5 feet, so I can see that the fields go on forever.  First it was wheat, corn, and soybeans, then just corn and soybeans, now it’s almost all corn

Cruising on through Illinois today, and I’ll enter Iowa tomorrow.  As soon as I enter Iowa, I’ll turn north and head up to Minnesota.  I have some route changes in the works, which I’ll write more about tomorrow.  Does anyone have anything good to say about North Dakota?

3 Responses to “Almost 1500 Miles: Things I’ve Learned”

  1. June 29, 2009 at 11:56 AM
    bamboo-eater bamboo-eater says:

    Maybe hissing is just the way beavers say ‘hi’. I don’t think you should stop waving at the animal families along the way. I’m not sure why, but I find the thought of you waving at creatures hilarious. It cracks me up.

  2. June 28, 2009 at 10:25 AM
    tyson tyson says:

    some north dakota facts for you:

    - it is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on in ND
    - it is unlawful to serve beer and pretzels at the same time in any bar or restaurant in ND
    - ND is the only state never to record an earthquake

    Hope the trip is going well, Andrew! I miss your banter around the office. Oh, and I just realized a really good family friend will be going to school with you this fall…I’ll send details once you’re back.

  3. June 27, 2009 at 9:05 PM
    Scott Scott says:

    So it looks like you in that part of the country that us east coasters just skip when we say we are moving west and we end up in Ca or Wa! But for others I guess they call that home.

    Best of luck, following along everyday