Contents Road Update 1 Community Food 2 Goose Lake Start 2 Sunday Century Option 2 Clarke University 3 Important Times 3 Map of Clarke 4 Music 5 Sunday Food 6 Saturday new Route 7 Motel Luggage Pickup 8 TOMRV 41 - June 9-10, 2018 Quad Cities Bicycle Club The many volunteers of TOMRV 41 and the Quad Cities Bicycle Club welcome you to the Tour of the Mississippi River Valley. Road Update Due to the bridge to the Sabula Causeway being closed TOMRV will take a different route on Saturday. The detour begins a few miles following the Miles sag stop and uses several new roads to us and a couple new towns. We worked hard to find hills, and the distance is still about 108 miles. See page 7 for a map showing an overview of the new route. Luggage pickup at motels TOMRV is using a new system so that you can leave your luggage at your motel and be sure it will be picked up and delivered for you. There will be a drop area at each motel with a TOMRV easel. See page 8 for details. Safety As always, remember your road manners on the tour. We are impacting daily driving along our route, so avoid riding practices that further impede traffic. This means not riding abreast when there are vehicles behind you, and not riding long pace lines that are difficult to pass. There are several big descents, some on winding and narrow roads. Keep under control on these descents and watch for the riders in front of you. Bicycle Helmets are required to be worn on TOMRV. Wrist Bands & Baggage Tags TOMRV is using baggage tags and wristbands. TOMRV will not serve you at Rest Stops without a wristband and will not transport baggage without a baggage tag. Your wristband is your Clarke banquet ticket. Extra meals can be purchased at Clarke University at the door at the banquet. TOMRV Page 1
Community food stops Saturday As in past years, the Fire Department of Princeton, mile 13 from Bettendorf, will be serving a hot Community food stops Sunday Clarke University has a breakfast Sunday morning, for $8, $4 if under 12. Goose Lake Route Option The TOMRV Goose Lake route option begins and ends in Goose Lake, Iowa, at Northeast Community School on the East side of town. Packets and luggage will be at the sports field ticket booth located 400 feet straight north from the highway. To drive to Goose Lake from the Quad Cities, take Highway 61 north to US 30, drive East 6 miles to Z24, then north to route 136, and finally East into Goose Lake. That is direct but not on the bike route. If you are leaving a car on Saturday, use any school breakfast Saturday morning at the firehouse. Go on to page 6 to see community food available on Sunday Paved parking lot there are several Attach a green Goose Lake luggage tag to your luggage returning to Goose Lake. Bags without green tags will be returned to Bettendorf! If you are ending your ride at Goose Lake then place your luggage in the marked area near the street in front if the Atrium. DO NOT self-load your luggage onto a baggage truck Sunday morning. Baggage will be delivered by the ticket booth at the school fields by 9:30 AM on Sunday. Showers on Sunday will be available at the high school. Sunday Century Route Option TOMRV offers an optional century route for Sunday riders. The standard Sunday route is 89 miles. An additional 13 are available for those riders wanting to complete 100. Check the Sunday queue sheet for directions. Please Note: The century route is not marked and is not staffed. Route Markings Each day's route will be marked at each turn with ORANGE TOMRV ARROWS. Watch for the arrows, watch the other riders, and consult your queue sheets. Getting lost is rare and short lived, and we don t charge extra for bonus miles. Your Stay at Clarke Rooms - Dorm rooms come with Towels, and bed linens. A room card in your packet identifies your room. Sleeping bag spaces are provided towels, but campers are not. Showers are available for all. Campers - the preferred camping area is the soccer field behind the tennis courts, a nice flat grassy area. Plus on Sunday morning, you walk past the bike lockup to get to the road. Bring your own towel if you camp. Severe weather plan - Campers on the soccer field take shelter in the nearest building, the Kehl Center or Mary Francis Hall. Campers on the other side of the street go into Catherine Byrne Hall. People staying in dorms and in the student activity center go to the designated severe weather areas on the lowest level off your building. Bikes may be secured at the tennis courts, located next to Mary Fran Hall, with overnight security. Be sure to pick up a claim check for your bike. Do not lose the claim check. Don t leave your bike out unattended over Saturday night. Clarke University does not allow bikes in their dorm rooms. Massage will be available at Clarke for an additional fee. TOMRV Page 2
Your wristband will admit you to the Banquet at Clarke. Additional banquet tickets can be purchased at the atrium table or at the banquet entrance. There is a Sunday morning breakfast available for an additional charge. You can purchase a breakfast ticket on Saturday at the banquet, or on Sunday morning at the Crusader Cafe. Be sure to stop by the Beer Garden in front of the Atrium at Clarke. This is moved into the atrium in event of rain. There is a band playing in the evening. Free Flight Bicycle Shop will repair bikes on Saturday evening and on Sunday morning at Clark University. Charge is for parts only. The TOMRV riders meeting will be held in the Beer Garden between sets of the band. Check for Lost and Found at the Atrium headquarters. After the ride, call Doug Truesdell at (7two0) 412-3004. Clarke emergency phone: (563) 588-6393 Friday: 5:30-8PM At Scott Community College on Belmont Road: Packet pickup. On-site registration is available. Baggage trucks available for loading. Saturday: 5:30AM Healthy Habits (the nearest bike shop) opens for emergency rider repairs. 6:00-8:00 AM At Scott Community College on Belmont Road: Final on-site signup and final packet pickup. Baggage trucks are available for loading. Baggage trucks leave at 8:00AM. 7:30-9:00 AM Packet pickup and on-site registration at Goose Lake. Baggage truck leaves by 9:30AM. 1:30-10:00 PM Trolleys run between Clark, and selected area motels, leaving on the half hour. 2:00-9:00 PM Beer Garden is open. Music in the Beer Garden starting at 6:00 PM. 4:00-8:30 PM Banquet Dinner at Clarke 7:00-7:30 PM TOMRV meeting at the Beer Garden. Sunday: 4:15-9:00 AM Trolleys run between Clark, and selected area motels. 4:30-7:30 AM Breakfast at Clarke in the Crusader Inn across the street from the Atrium is available for an additional charge. 5:30 8:00 AM Baggage trucks open for loading. Trucks leave Clarke at 9:00. 7:30 8:30 AM Baggage is picked up at motels. 9:00 AM Bike security closes. 9:30 AM Baggage trucks arrive in Goose Lake if all goes well. 12:00 Noon Baggage trucks arrive at Scott Community College. 12:00-5:00 PM Showers available TOMRV Page 3
Here is the Clarke University campus. You will cycle onto campus from the left on Clarke Street. The Atrium (1) is the nerve center for TOMRV. Check in here when you arrive if you have questions. The beer garden is in front of the Atrium, as well as the baggage drop and the massage tables. Medics are stationed here as well. The bike lockup is at the tennis courts, which are beside the parking lot on the upper right corner of the map, next to (P). The banquet is in the dining hall in the lower level of Mary Josita Hall (9). The trolley to five area motels picks up next to Donaghoe Hall (12), and departs on each half hour from 2 to 5PM. Free Flight will set up a bicycle repair station in front of Donaghoe hall on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Our camping area is on the soccer field (16) behind the tennis courts. There are bathrooms available on site. You won t hear traffic in the night if you camp back away from the road. TOMRV Page 4
Savage Hearts playing at the Beer Garden BIOGRAPHY: The Savage Hearts Trio is a twin fiddle driven bluegrass band that features three lead female vocalists who have come together in a spicy tribute to Patsy, Dolly, Emmylou and the unsung women of classic country and bluegrass music. Featuring Annie Savage, Tracy Lynn and Jodi Harbin and assorted twin fiddlers and guest artists, the band's drill-it-to-the wall lady-vocals and bombastic instrumentals blended with just the right amount of saucy been there done that stage banter has audiences laughing and crying at the same time! Virtuosic instrumentals soar above vocals that are hotter than the punch of a ghost pepper in the middle of a hot flash. Learn more about the band at: www.thesavagehearts.com RECENT PERFORMANCES INCLUDE: 2018: Folk Alliance International Music Conference 2017: Official Showcase Band: International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass 2016-2018: Presentations at the American String Teacher s Association, Boulder Leadership Bluegrass conference in Nashville, Kaufman Kamp, Durango Meltdown, Strawberry Bluegrass Festival, MidWinter Bluegrass Festival and dozens of school districts in IA, CO and abroad. Recipient: Boulder County Arts Alliance Grant and Lafayette Community Arts Educator Grant TOMRV Page 5
SUNDAY COMMUNITY FOOD If you are nearing your fill of fruit and quick energy foods on Sunday, then stop in to a locally prepared breakfast or lunch. Here are the best choices on Sunday s route BREAKFAST BUFFET KALMES RESTAURANT, IN ST. DONATUS, MILE 17 Pancakes French toast Stick Fresh Fruit, Fruit Juice Ham, Bacon and Homemade Sausage Scrambled Eggs Hash Browns Biscuits and Gravy Cinnamon Rolls. The price is $8.99, and serving from 7:00 11:30 A GREAT TRADITIONAL MIDWEST DINER RIVERVIEW RESTURANT, CENTER OF BELLEVUE, MILE 27 A longtime favorite cyclist s stop for a classic Midwest diner breakfast. BRUNCH AT FLATTED FIFTH, OLD POTTERS MILL, SOUTH END OF BELLEVUE, MILE 28 Chef Andrew Weis serves up New Orleans Style cooking and a special smoked BBQ. (Yes, in Bellevue Iowa) Flatted Fifth will be open and serving both breakfast and lunch menus when we ride through. Saturday hours 11:00-9:00 Sunday, brunch 10:00-2:00, full dinner menu 2:00-9:00 TOMRV Page 6
Our Alternate Saturday Route The old steel bridge connecting Sabula to the causeway was taken down before the replacement bridge was completed when it was found to be unsafe. We reviewed route options and decided to use an all Iowa route this year. The new bridge will be completed this summer, so our old route will be used next year. This map shows the track for Saturday beginning at the Miles sag (27 Forrest Street) where route changes begin. We will take IA 64 toward Sabula, but turn onto US 52 up to a sag at Bellevue (101 N Riverview Drive) This road is lightly traveled and mostly wooded. Then we go out of the valley up to a sag at LaMotte (905 Park Ave). This uses the Bellevue-Cascade Road and the Olde Davenport Road. These two roads date back to settlement days. From La Motte we ride back down to US 52 and take a sag at the Weimerskirsh Farm (6695 US 52). To enter Dubuque we will take the Rockdale road. For old time TOMRV riders, this was the way we used to leave Dubuque in past years. Mileage on Saturday is 108.6 for the Bettendorf start and 75.4 for the Goose Lake start. We do have some good hills on this route, but it is hard to match the bluffs on the other side of the river. TOMRV Page 7
Luggage Pickup from Motels This year there is a new process for collecting rider luggage from motels. On Saturday evening we will drop off an easel at each motel lobby, pictured here. On Sunday morning the easels and all bags left beside them will get picked up and loaded onto the trucks for drop-off at Goose Lake and Bettendorf. The luggage tag color will determine which drop-off: Green for Goose Lake and Blue for Bettendorf. The bags and easels will be picked up starting at 7:30 AM on Sunday. This will allow enough time to get bags loaded before the trucks head out. TOMRV Page 8