We arrived around one at the camp, on a nice pond next to the municipal swimming pool. We found a fairly shady spot for our tent close to an electrical outlet, to charge all the digital stuff and our powered cooler in the car overnight. Sitting on our camp chairs with a cup of coffee, with a view over the pond, kitchen truck and tent camp, the world felt like it's turning right again, especially after the nice hot shower we could enjoy at the city rec centre. Did some shopping for small essentials and washed my sweaty cycling gear. It was nice to just relax and recover - we were still tired of the 16 hour drive the previous day. Went to bed early as there were no meetings and slept a solid 11 hours - that never happened for many years for sure! Saturday was a beautiful mild day and everybody enjoyed it in different ways. The Pella churches served us a nice lunch. Spent some time in MacDonalds enjoying their ice cold sweet tea, aircon and free wifi. We just love the sweet tea, so sad we can't have that from Micky D's in Canada! Another treat we love is enjoying the homestyle soul food at Cracker Barrel, which we did on the long drive to the tour.
Monday's ride was similar to Saturday's but with less wind and hilly for only the first half. We had last minute route changes because of construction where the vehicles could not cross a big bridge. It confused many of us and lead to me missing turns twice, adding another 16 km to my ride, which caused it to be another century ride. Before the second SAG I got overtaken by a fast train of riders, some young ones half my age, Amanda and Derek, Peter Wong and Steve that did the previous tours. They invited me to join them as it took them a while to catch up to me as I playfully tried to stay away in front for as long as I could. We rode a fast paceline for the rest of the way, nearly 100 km, taking turns pulling at 28 to 32 km/h, switching every 5 km. This made the road fly by, as the profile flattened out and I could push my big gear for long distances. Again endless corn fields and the inevitable wind generators. The last little hill up to the Unity Christian school in Fulton just had to be 16% grade - and the young guns raced each other up it!! Wonderful what 5 weeks of full time cycling can do for the legs....and I am trying to hang on to them on my second day! Well I just about managed. :-)
That evening we were entertained by an unusual worship band. Three guys, in their fifties or sixties, told us they used to be a bar band for many years, met the Lord and became part of a church, and now plays praise & worship songs in all kinds of interesting styles - mainly from sixties, seventies and eighties. It is evident they love every minute of it, and technically they are very good instrumentalists. We were treated to a hearty meal by the local chamber of commerce, and I will always remember the corn on the cob - most delicious I've ever tasted!
We also visited the lovely replica of a real windmill that the city built on the banks of the "Mighty Muddy", the Mississippi. Fulton is surrounded by dykes, because of the flood danger always present when you live next to a mighty river. About 35% of the town is Dutch heritage.
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