Day of detours

The reason there was no post yesterday was because my day was shortened quite a bit when I realized I would need to make a 50+ mile detour.  The Missouri River has seen major flooding, and the road I was planning on taking into Nebraska isn’t currently an option.  So yesterday’s planned 60 mile ride turned into 80, and today’s originally easy 50 miles is looking to be closer to 90.  Though not all of that is the fault of the river.

The detour did give me a chance to see more of the Wabash Trace Nature Trail, a 64 mile trail that runs from Council Bluffs to Blanchard.  One of the reasons I like these trails is it gives me a chance to use my headphones and listen to music or podcasts.  While crossing over a bridge I very faintly heard a whump.  I stopped, turned around, and noticed my notebook had fallen out of its bag on my bike.  Turns out when I took out my tablet I had forgotten to close the pocket I keep it in.  The same pocket that holds my wallet.  Oops.  Sure enough my wallet was missing, lost somewhere along the last 15 miles of trail.  The best part?  I was listening to Radiolab’s podcast entitled Lost and Found. 

I dumped my bags on the side of the trail (no need to slow myself down anymore) and started heading back the way I came.  I was scanning the ground, looking for a black square of leather along a not terribly well maintained but very shady trail.  Figuring that it most likely came out earlier along the trail, I started out going pretty fast doing only a cursory search.  Meanwhile I was thinking out what to do if I couldn’t find it.  ‘Well, wasn’t too much money, and I can cancel the cards, but I will need some cash, and damn, I can’t get on an airplane without ID, wait I can have my passport sent to me…’ etc.

However I only had to go back 3 miles before I found it sitting there, on another bridge, waiting for me.  Something about the wooden slats on the bridges liked to shake stuff out of my bag.  So that was detour number 2, about 6 miles out of the way.  Much relieved I continued on my way, only to blow right by Route 34, the road that I would take to cross the river.  I still don’t know how I missed it, though I suspect the trail went over the highway.  So I headed back to 34 using local roads, adding another 10-15 miles to my trip.  Detour number 3. 

And now here I am in Glenwood, IA, about to cross the Missouri River.  Hopefully I’ve seen all the detours I’m going to for today, and will finally make it through Iowa into Nebraska.  I’ve been warned by many Iowans how flat and boring it is.  Well no offense to the people of Iowa, but most of Iowa was pretty boring too.  By that I mean its pretty, but also boring, plus some really arduous hills.  So flat and boring actually sounds pretty exciting!