Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to overload you with photos taken while riding my bike, because I’ve started my annual Bike MS training! This is my 9th year riding in Bike MS and this year I’ve chosen to ride Bike MS: The Road Divided. The ride takes place in Oklahoma on September 24 – 25, 2016 and goes from Norman to Guthrie to Stillwater. In case you don’t get the name, the ride starts at Oklahoma University and ends at Oklahoma State University… and they are Big 12 rivals.
I hope to have a great fundraising year – can you help get me started? I’ve kicked off my training and my fundraising page by making a donation. For training, my husband and I took a trip to his family’s farm in Iowa over the 4th of July and I was able to get in many miles of lovely bike riding! 170 miles over 3 days in fact. The Iowa riding was relatively flat, much cooler than Texas, and quite windy at times. Because all roads in Iowa are basically a giant grid, I was able to plan my routes to take advantage of a tailwind on the second half of each ride. My routes: day 1, day 2, day 3
The first day started off cool enough that I *almost* put on my arm warmers! The sky was a gorgeous blue. The Northwood fire department had a giant flag out for the holiday.
Flat road evidence:
Many windmills are found in this area:
Quite a few cemeteries too:
Mini waterfall:
Quaint little towns:
More cemeteries:
Tractors all lined up in a row:
Another town. St. Ansgar I think:
Best slip’n slide ever!
Little playground in Bolan:
Welcome to Bolan!
Wildflowers and windmills:
Returning back into Northwood:
Government building in Northwood:
Day 2 was cloudier than day 1 so the photos aren’t as pretty. But look at those wildflowers!
I took a swing through Grafton:
Stopped at a park in Plymouth:
Downtown Plymouth:
Can you see the yard art? Hint: a giraffe and a killer whale…
The round building in the middle caught my attention:
A herd of horses hanging out:
Iowa barns often have quilt patterns on them:
Elk Creek Cemetery:
Day 3 was sunny again and the weather a bit warmer.
Elk Creek Churg has a little mini church next to it…
Crossing I-35. Yes, the same I-35 that runs just a few miles from my house in Austin.
Rode through Joice:
Found a Norwegian immigrants memorial (unsurprising really):
A church in Lake Mills:
Pretty golf course:
Rice lake looked more like a marsh than a lake:
And that’s it! I’m very thankful to my in-laws for letting me move an old bike up to the farm so that I can experience this great riding on all of my visits 🙂 Stay tuned for more bike photos throughout this summer!
Laura Makes 