Aug 03

Where I haven’t been in Iowa

Posted on Friday, August 3, 2012, at 9:31 PM by Jeff

After my latest excursion to the northwest (more on that eventually), I have been to or through all by 15 of Iowa’s 500 largest cities.

The top of the “unvisited” list is Blue Grass (#211), by virtue of not really being on US 61 anymore, followed by Fruitland (#288), also by virtue of not being on US 61 by the letter of the law.

I haven’t updated my Clinched Highway Mapping page yet, but there are only four segments of state-maintained road I have not traveled since Jan. 1, 2003: Part of IA 9 in Howard County, four-lane US 63 south of IA 346, the Fort Madison bypass, and IA 1 north of Mount Vernon. New US 20 will be added shortly, in two bursts or possibly one. I think I’ll have to extend my time frame to 11 years instead of a decade for every mile of every road.

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Aug 01

The most the New York Times has written about Iowa State

Posted on Wednesday, August 1, 2012, at 12:34 PM by Jeff

I’m not completely sure the statement in the headline is true, but the vast majority of this article about what Penn State faces with scholarship reduction deals with just HOW BAD Cyclone football was in the Jim Walden era thanks to Jim Criner and the NCAA doing what the NCAA does. In a word: Eep.

That year [1987], top-ranked Oklahoma and second-ranked Nebraska combined to beat Walden’s Cyclones by 98-6. Though the losing consumed him, Walden had no choice but to rely on walk-ons at times, and his game plans became desperate answers to the question: “How can we keep from getting beat 75-0?”

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Jul 29

License Plate Countdown — ZTE

Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2012, at 5:02 PM by Jeff

Fewer than 120,000 plates to go. Expect a big jump soon since U and V are skipped.

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Jul 27

No bikes allowed

Posted on Friday, July 27, 2012, at 12:10 PM by Jeff

The segment of US 65 between IA 2 and Lineville on the 2012 Iowa Map for Bicyclists (PDF) doesn’t appear on the map at all. The map is color-coded with traffic counts — purple is the lowest, fewer than 700 vehicles a day — and shows trails across the state.

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Jul 26

RAGBRAI XL: Where hasn’t it been?

Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012, at 12:15 PM by Jeff

County roads crisscross the state just waiting for bicycle riders at the end of every July, but in some places, there just isn’t easy access in without heavy vehicle traffic.

Based on 2010 population and 40 years’ worth of maps (previous disclaimers apply):

  • The 20 largest cities that have never been on the RAGBRAI route: West Des Moines, Urbandale*, Bettendorf, Clive, Grimes, Windsor Heights, Spirit Lake, Camanche, Carlisle, Carter Lake, Kalona, Postville, Hull, Fairfax, Tiffin, Columbus Junction, Alta, Traer, Manson, Moville.
  • *In one of the first signs that this touring event was growing by leaps and bounds, the “official” hotel for SAGBRAI in 1974 was the Holiday Inn on Merle Hay Road, which is technically in Urbandale, but the majority of campers stayed at Camp Dodge and the latter is considered the “overnight town.”
  • Spirit Lake is the largest non-suburb on the list and the only non-suburb in the top 10.
  • Of the 312 unvisited incorporated places, only 42 have a population above 1000.
  • Three county seats have never been on the route: Corydon, Logan, Spirit Lake.
  • Four county seats were on the route in the first 10 years but not since: Centerville, New Hampton, Wapello, Waukon. Vinton is getting its first visit this year since 1978.
  • Also notable: Keokuk has only been the final city twice.
This is a timed post.
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Jul 25

Seen in St. Anthony

Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012, at 9:49 PM by Jeff

“Please save our church. Buy beer and wine.”

— St. Anthony Christian Church, Marshall County, which set up an all-Iowa-microbrew garden for RAGBRAI.

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Jul 25

RAGBRAI in Tama County

Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012, at 11:00 AM by Jeff

Tomorrow, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa goes through Tama County for the ninth time. Garwin and Clutier are getting their third visits. The 2012 route duplicates 2004 through nearly all the county, except instead of turning south at the Benton County line it will go east.


Video frame of RAGBRAI XIV riders on E29 at V18, July 24, 1986. North Tama teachers and the Clutier Lions Club had food stands at the corner.


Garwin, RAGBRAI XXXII, July 29, 2004. Look at the temperature! Taken with the “bad camera.”

In 2004, it rained all day. In 2008, Chelsea was weeks removed from flooding worse than 1993. This year, the county is in the midst of the worst drought since 1988 — and ironically, it’s supposed to rain.


Tribal dance at the Tama County Courthouse, RAGBRAI XXXVI, July 23, 2008. Tama-Toledo was an overnight stop that year.

Clutier is a little odd stop on the route, because instead of going through, it requires riding in and then riding out on the same road. The town reportedly is going to have five thousand kolaches, so I assure riders: It will be worth it. (It’s also the only town in 34½ miles of travel, so there’s that.)

This is a timed post.
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Jul 25

License Plate Countdown — ZPL

Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012, at 12:42 AM by Jeff

The Zwingle-Peosta-La Motte school district?

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Jul 24

RAGBRAI XL: Complete 40-year list of towns

Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at 6:00 PM by Jeff

Every year, the RAGBRAI overnight towns are announced near the beginning of the year. Later in the year, first in June but now usually in March, a complete route is unveiled. Sometimes changes are made before the bikes hit the pavement.

Based on maps printed in the Register each year, I have compiled a listing of each year’s ride and each town visited, in order. This is an unofficial list. If ever you should find that my list and something from ride authorities disagree, listen to them (and correct me).

I haven’t parsed the list or maps to find out commonalities, but you can search for towns or strings of towns. For example, “Orange City, Alton, Granville” appears five times, and adding “, Marcus” at the end yields three results. (But there’s also one “Alton, Orange City” line.)

This is a timed post.
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Jul 24

Rhoads work

Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at 12:00 PM by Jeff

KCRG misspelled Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads’ name Monday on its website — twice. (Notice the spelling in the link is different from that in the screenshot.)

Maybe if he beats Iowa again his name will get out there more.

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