Day 84-Maquoketa to Clinton (35 Miles)

After Sara and Matt left to work at their respective schools, I hung around a little bit longer to put new tires on the cart and cut some weight in the hope that it would help my situation with the looming breakdown. The long overdue major weight cut was all of the water I am carrying. I cut two gallons from my stash as I am no longer in the middle of nowhere and will have several chances a day to refill from here on out.

I started running on Highway 64 after walking down the main drag of town. I couldn't wait to turn south to face the winds on the county road as the shoulder of this highway was miserable. Not wanting to subject the fragile front wheel to the rumble strip, I ran while popping a wheelie for pretty much the entire stretch. The curb on the side of the highway made matters even worse. During the rough ride one of the C-clamps fell off without me knowing and I thought I was completely screwed for the day.

After some field adjustments I got the cart to not high center when on pavement with only one of the clamps-which I managed to get on tight enough so that it didn't fall off the rest of the day. Because of the gravel shoulder, I would run in the lane of on-coming traffic until a car came and wheelie run on the shoulder until it passed. I had to listen for cars very closely on the the winding Highway 136.

Really tired and drained for energy about 15 miles into the run, at 2 pm, I recuperated at the CharVegas grill in Charlotte (not pronounced the same way as the city in North Carolina). I couldn't finish my burger and fries and had to get a to-go box for the first time all trip. I learned here that there have been sightings of a fellow stroller pusher on Highway 30 in Clinton earlier today. He may be the same guy I heard of in Correctionville on Highway 20.

I continued down the highway that followed the ridgeline with more and more wheelies as the traffic picked up as I got close to Clinton. To add to my frustrations, my left Achilles really started to bother me and caused me to take more frequent rests. This was just a grind it out day that needed to get finished.

Starting walking at Highway 67, I realized that this was by far the biggest city I've been in where I didn't have any plans for where to stay during the night. Walking through a town filled with cars with Iowa and Illinois plates and catching my reflection in store windows as a bearded man pushing a stroller while eating a half eaten burger out of a to-go box looking for a place to sleep, I realized I am a long ways from home.

Even though I was tempted to cross the Mississippi into Illinois when I went to see if the path was wide enough to fit my cart-it was-I decided to camp out in the RV park on the Iowa side of the river. After talking to a guy who has been camping here all summer, showering, and getting a dinner of McDonald's I set up my tent in the 8 pm darkness and fell asleep in anticipation of a short 30 miles tomorrow into a new state.

Fit with a foot to spare