<about the maps>
Saturday, October 3, 1998 
From Keosauqua, he’s on Route 16N. It’s been raining. The rode is flat most
of the way. By 11am he arrived Eldon. He checked the weather channel this morning and
there was a low pressure area in the north, south, and west. Scot rode north up to Route
34W to Ottumwa and had the Oakleys of Urbandale pick him up. It’s supposed to keep
raining until Wednesday and there’s no point in him staying in a hotel only to have
them pick him up anyway. The ride to Urbandale was a little over an hour. He plans to stay
with them until Monday.
"I made it 40 miles to my rainy-day goal of Ottumwa today early, at around 12:30,
whereupon it started to rain pretty good. Now I'm holed up at the Stardust hotel and
restaurant, debating whether to try for the next town, 25 miles west on 34. "
"It was a good ride this morning - I seem to make tracks during rain-threatening,
overcast weather. I don't know if it’s the coolness of the air or the inspiration of
getting somewhere before the clouds break... Certainly today's unusual easterly wind
helped a lot, too. Some clouds have an easterly lining! Kurt, I think having a weather
radio is a good idea! John, I think of your "adverse weather cyclist" desire
every time it rains. John, This Mud's for You!"
Sunday, October 4, 1998
Scot watched more football today than at any other time in his whole life.
Monday, October 5, 1998
When Scot finishes his bike ride, he’ll be able to read this from Martin:
"`Only Those Who Dare to Fail Greatly Can Ever Achieve Greatly’, Robert F
Kennedy. One could also use the expression "performance box" to term the idea
that Kennedy is trying to express here. That's what we're in here. That's what will happen
to each and everyone of us when we take off in 2000. That's where Scot Colburn is right
now.
He has made it very hard to just throw the towel in for his coast-to-coast bicycle
venture. Not only does he have a whole nation tuned in to his efforts but airports and bus
depots are far and few between when one is out in the middle of America's farmlands and
prairies. Because he has a trailer and bike and gear to concern himself with he cannot
just climb into the relative safety and comfort of some form of public transportation. No,
not all. It is far easier for him to just keep pushing. To perform. For him, it's almost
as much work to pack it in as it is just to keep going.
Our ride will be the same way. And once it is completed, all of us will be thankful for
the fact that it wasn't easy to just call it a nice try. In understanding the mechanics of
the performance box we all will have kept ourselves from failing greatly. We all will have
achieved greatly. We all will be able to take what we will have learned to engineer other
performance boxes for other of life's many challenges!!"
Springfield, IL
