July 25, 2002- Charles City to Oelwein
76.7 Miles- 1250 Feet of Climb
Conditions for Today- Nice and cool all day. Light winds, some in front of us, but not too bad. The hills got a bit longer and steeper. This was a great Ragbrai Day!
As always, our great thanks go to Rich Ketcham at Geobike for allowing us to use this helpful information.
Towns visited
Charles City (start town)
Nashua, Bremer, Tripoli, Sumner, Oelwein- (overnight town)
Let's start out with last night. Charles City may win your votes as the best overnight town. Remember the Iowa Tubadour from previous years? Make sure you visit here after the ride to cast it. I sat in a primo spot to see the fireworks, but they started real late and was tired. They started as soon as I lost my seat. Oh yeah, the weird bike of the day award goes to these two tandems which were fastened together.
We started out at about 6 this morning. It was nice and cool. We saw Lee Thorson, remember? He's the director of the Cherokee Symphony. He's the one on the recumbent bike. Breakfast at Chris Cakes can always be exciting. You stand back with your plate and they flip them across the tent to you. It's important to be a good catch! The only bad event of the day happened at Nashua, our first town and it put a major bad taste in my mouth. I've been reporting all week about the friendliness and helpfulness of the Iowa State Troopers. Understandably, this is only one, but what a terrible example of a law enforcement officer we had to endure.
There was construction and a highway had to be diverted through Nashua along with the Ragbrai riders. The state trooper was directing traffic at this intersection and suddenly stopped us. We stopped. Some of them cut through a parking lot to cut off the left turn. The officer, who was a Sergeant with the Iowa Highway Patrol went running after them in the parking lot yelling "freeze!". It was almost a stop or I'll shoot. Everyone stopped. This officer for five minutes badgered us, the ones who followed his instructions, about the bad things we all were doing. The word stupid was used and he was really irritating the group waiting at the intersection. The lecture continued and one of the crowd said to him that he was talking to the wrong folks, we followed his instructions. He then was at the point of being threatening. He finally let us through after telling us that we should be willing to wait. No problem, but he acted like a true jerk. Miles later, others in our group were still talking about the nerve of that guy. He told the next group that he stopped (this time there was no incident of cutting through) that they were selfish for wanting to be on the road. It just ruined everybody's day for awhile. I wonder if he had been allowed to wear shorts and T Shirts he would have been courteous instead of confrontational. It's too bad the patrol officer that holds the squirt gun didn't have that difficult job!
It just takes one bad apple to ruin the reputation of the Iowa Highway Patrol for the riders. I hoped that he realized that it just took a few riders that cut through a parking lot to ruin the way he felt for all of us. It's all been done. I did get the name of this officer, you probably did too, if you were riding, but I would be happy to share the name of this Sergeant with any Iowa Highway Patrol supervisor that emails me.
Because of this traffic tie up, we did not stop in Nashua, most others did not either.
Enough of that, let's get on with the pleasant stuff. Shortly after Nashua, we found the original "Little Brown Church in the Vale." Remember the song? Inside a pastor or lay person was telling us all about the church. She asked all couples to come forward and repeat their vows. Bruce's parents were married in this church. I truly wished that Cindy had been with me. OK, maybe I'm not a macho guy, but tears welled up in my eyes. It was very moving and very precious. Here's a bit of information about the church. You can skip over it if you want. Here's some more info on the church and our commentary of the day will follow.
"William Pitts, a young music teacher, was dusty and tired in June, 1857, when the stagecoach stopped in Bradford for a rest at noon. Young Pitts was traveling to visit his bride to be who lived in Fredericksburg about fourteen miles East. His thoughts were undoubtedly related to his bride to be, for he was in love. Young Pitts walked around the area, allowing his thoughts to rest on his beloved and the beauty of the surrounding ancient trees, grasses, undergrowth, and outcroppings of stone and rolling hills. One particular place caught his fancy. As he listened to the singing of the birds, the soft breeze sighing through the ancient trees, and drank in the comfort of the serenity and charm of the scene, he imagined the beauty of a pastoral church set in the midst of the trees. This vision kept coming back. Following his visit with his loved one, he returned to his home in southern Wisconsin. The vision was persistent. He formulated the scene into a poem and set it to music in the song, "The Little Brown Church in the Vale".
The years passed and the hymn lay in his desk drawer accumulating dust. Pitts returned to Bradford to teach music at the Bradford Academy. He was stunned by what he saw. A small church was being built at the very spot he had visualized in his hymn.
Stone for the church had been quarried by church members. The building was begun, but the project was delayed because of the Civil War. In 1864, the struggling congregation of pioneers who had contributed much of the logs, lumber, stones, and work, finished the building.
On dedication day, Mr. Pitts' vocal class from Bradford Academy nearby sang the song in public for the first time. The church and Pitts' song soon were one in the hearts and minds of people nearby and across the land.
Mr. Pitts sold the song to a Chicago publisher for $25.00. He used this money to help in earning a medical degree in a Chicago school. He returned to nearby Fredericksburg and set up practice.
At the turn of the century, the church was inactive for a time, and the song did not gain popularity. The church building was closed for a time. High grass and weeds grew in it's yard and the building deteriorated. Bradford, at one time a thriving little village of over a thousand people, slipped into oblivion when the railroad bypassed it.
Then came revival. The congregation became active. And thanks in large measure to the popular gospel singing of Iowa's four Weather-wax brothers, performing at chautauquas and social gatherings all over the United States and Canada, the song was heard and learned by thousands. The Charles City quartet always ended their program by telling the story of the Little Brown Church in the Vale and then singing the song.
The song became well known and gained in popularity. It appears in more than twenty hymnals and on records and tapes throughout the world."
Bruce and Aaron had a sighting of Mary (phantom hawg) in Bremer Station. Our next town was Tripoli (pronounced Trip OH lah). This was a delightful little town. We met the Luther League at Grace Lutheran Church who were selling pies. The was quite a line and they sold them for 2 bucks a slice. They were raising money to go to Atlanta for a convention. Kristin gave me all of this information and we sure hope that she and her friends raise enough money. Three local youngsters watched us from an excellent example of Gothic Architecture in Sumner. I'll bet they did! I ran into Norm at one of the rest stops.
In the town of Sumner, three boys looked at us through the Gothic Iowa architecture.
Most of the day for Norm and I was spent drafting. It was quite exciting going at speeds over 22 MPH with so many people so close. But it sure got us there. My drafting heroes were a young lady who I began drafting who quickly assembled over 30 followers behind me. After that, we drafted behind team Whiner. They needed a stop at this establishment. This team used to whine a lot, but they now have their own charter bus and their own shower truck. Camping is a Best Western?
Now I never saw team roadkill, but I saw their work. Note the beads. How solemn.
Norm is a great photographer. I like to turn over the digital to him from time to time.
The road grew hillier and the temperature grew hotter. We were really ready to get to Oelwein. We stopped at a farm to rest and see their souped up tractor and Iowa Cadillac. Across the highway, we kept hearing a voice saying "If you build it, they will come."
Finally, we got to Oelwein at 2:30. It was nice having time in the afternoon at the camp.
We have just two more days to go. I'm just starting to get in shape.
Till then,
Dave
Email me at plummer_dave@prodigy.net
Links to Today's Towns
