She Had Heaven and She Held on So Tight.

The second day of TOMROV was just as epic, but with an extra added bonus of it being so, so much cooler. It was raining when we first woke-up, so we started later than we had planned. It began by riding out of Dubuque through the Mines of Spain. Those hills were incredible. Unlike Saturday where most of the hills were shorter and steeper, the hills out of Dubuque weren't quite so steep but went on and on and on and on....

Thanks to John heck for the photo.

I was still crampy hormone girl on Sunday and I had to practice some serious pain relief breathing up some of those hills. By the time hit the first stop, I had to tell the boys that I wasn't feeling the best and I couldn't help crying, but for them not to take it personally, it was just my stupid hormones. Of course, my hilarious boyfriend said, "That's fine. I'll just blame it on John H." John H. answered with, "Hey, now!" You'll be happy to know that neither boy was hurt during that transaction.

Another great photo by John Heck.

The scenery was great and beautiful and we went to our couple of favorite stops. One was a HUGE supper club in Goose Lake. It is the finishing point for people who were riding the shorter route and some of them came in for a beer and/or a meal before they drove home. It was great to talk to other cyclists and hear how their rides went.

After we ate, we headed off to the next stop. We faced some stronger head winds than we had the day before, but we all took turns pulling and we didn't worry about going all that fast.

We finally made it to the last town before the end. We had about 15 of our 90 miles left and we stopped at our favorite watering hole - The Lucky Frog. We usually see our other Iowa City friends there and this year was no different. I went back and chatted with them in the beer garden, and then went back in the bar with the boys. Our friend, Darci came in and sat with us for a bit and filled us in on the latest news about Jingle Cross - the big race that's coming to Iowa City in September. It all sounds like it's going to be so cool.

Photo courtesy of John Heck...Damn him.

My friend John H. likes to take candid shots of us and sometimes they turn out okay, but on Sunday, I had to put my hand to my face to shield myself from the lens. I was gross and sweaty and my hair had that frizz halo going on the top of my head and I do believe there are enough unflattering photos of me on the internet, don't you?

The last 15 miles went without a hitch. Again, the stupid ride ended with a steep uphill on the way to Scott Community College, but I took it slow and steady and we finished and went home and showered our stinky cats with attention and ate some pizza and watched an episode of the Sopranos while noting our aches and pains and wondering how we got so damn old. A nice end to a great weekend.