TOMRV 2008

I completed my 5th TOMRV (Tour Of Mississippi River Valley) ride this weekend (two day ride). This is one of the top rides in the U.S. and there are usually 1,200 to 1,500 riders that come from various Midwest States. I believe the number of riders this year is down, due to the high cost of gasoline. My friend, Bill and I started out yesterday morning at 5:45 am from Bettendorf, IA and made it to Dubuque, IA around 2:30. The route takes you through various small towns in Iowa and Illinois along the Mississippi River. It is very hilly in this bluff country and my altimeter showed 3,645 feet of climbing with 108 miles of riding for the first day. We had a good tailwind all day ranging from 10 to 20 mph. It was very humid and the heat index reached 100-102 by mid-afternoon.

The Quad City Bike Club sponsors this ride (31st this year) www.qcbc.org/tomrv. It is a well supported ride with a sag stop every 15 to 20 miles with plenty of refreshments. Our stay in Dubuque is at some of the college dormitories and the bike club has a banquet meal upon our arrival. This picture is one of the sag stops and my friends, Ira and Dave are enjoying the snacks.

Today Bill and I were on our bikes by 5:30am and headed into a 10-15 mph headwind. When we reached Bellvue around 9 am we ran into a thunder shower and got completely soaked. It continued raining for at least 30 minutes. Our next sag stop was in Preston. We both reached the city park shelter just before a major storm came through the area. I heard later that there were 60 mph winds. Several small tree branches tumbled down from the trees in this park and the wind whipped the rain sideways. As the storm subsided bikers that were caught out on the highway came into the rest area and told us how the wind swept them and their bikes completely into the ditch. We wondered if we would hear of some serious accidents later on. This picture shows Bill climbing one of the many hills.

We weren't very optimistic about heading south towards Bettendorf and several riders began to make other arrangements with local residents to drive them to the finish line. Bill and I decided to go ahead and try it. As we reached the outskirts of town we discovered that the south wind had completely reversed itself and now was coming out of the north. We enjoyed the tailwind for most of the rest of our ride. By the time we reached our truck the wind had shifted again and was coming out of the southeast. Today we rode 92 miles with 3,415 feet of climbing. The ride today was 4 miles longer than the previous year's as they have changed some of the route.

It was a good ride and I got a chance to practice using my aero-bars and get in some endurance training before my big race on Saturday. I look forward to doing this ride each year as it is the premier ride in the Midwest.