IPassGas

I am planning a loop in Iowa for summer. The new collection thing in RWGPS is good. You map out each day and then easily add stuff to a collection. Previously, this could be done with events, but it was awkward.

Here is the Iowa loop starting in Dubuque, still working on details.
https://ridewithgps.com/collections/...JvYsc3UeAdc5MA

balto charlie

This is pretty cool. Thanks for posting. I tried to put a bunch of gpx files from gravelmaps.com together for a bikepacking trip and RWGPS would not let unless I had the premium membership. I have the $50 version. Using your info I just put them all together in an instant. Awesome!!

mstateglfr 

Your orange day in the Des Moines Metro really hits a bunch of the paved trails! Looking at it, you have a 120mi day starting in Panora and riding over the Trestle Bridge between Slater and Woodward, then heading back east to finish in Colo.
If you stick with that route, be aware that you routed thru some singletrack in the northern part of Des Moines. Its flat river bottom singletrack and the part that you selected isnt overly technical, but just be aware. Its circled in red.



An alternate option that would still be 100mi would be to ride from Perry to Waukee on the Raccoon River Valley Trail then stay on the RRVT and go north to Perry. At that point, its a handful of gravel road miles to connect to Woodward and the High Trestle Trail.
The RRVT is dead flat as its an old rail line trail. And the High Trestle is flat too. Once east of Slater you will be on an unpaved trail all the way to Maxwell.
Just mentioning this since it isnt always clear which trails are paved and which are hardpack rock.




Oh, and I wouldnt trust the elevation claim on RWGPS. Its notoriously short for reporting in most every place Ive ridden in Iowa. It wont be hilly by any means, but itll probably be over the 30'/mi RWGPS shows right now, even with all the rail trails factored in.

IPassGas

Thanks for the information. The orange was an overlay of 2 or 3 overlapping days, we are staying overnight at a campground near the high trestle (swede or donkey whistles) and then heading for Cherry Glen CG for a night (a friend recommended it). After that Panora, and thanks, we will avoid the single track on some nearby road. Is the campground in Panora ok, Lenon Mills?

mstateglfr 

Gotcha, I figured the colors showed each day's riding.
Ive been to Leon Mill Park once to kayak- and just remember it as a good county park...pretty similar to most county parks around here. It has showers, which is an obvious benefit.
Cherry Glen is a busy campsite on a really fun segment of paved trail. The northern 10 or so miles of trail that is squiggly before and after Cherry Glen is a fun section of small rollers under a canopy of trees. Just a neat segment of trail riding since trails are so commonly dead flat and straight.

And I just realized you are riding clockwise. I dont know why I assumed the route was counter-clock!

IPassGas

Thanks, yes right... clockwise (CW). Funny, I default to CW when planning an unknown route. That could be another thread I wonder if Australians tend to favor CCW. Will probably start this mid-June assuming covid is in check.

mstateglfr 

I wont argue with it, but why did you choose Iowa?

IPassGas

Iowa is a place I have not toured. Many paved back roads with lower traffic and some longer trails that can be linked. A sufficient number of campgrounds. Small towns to pass through. I'm not a fan of the crowds, so will be touring during a non-ragbrai time.

boomhauer

You can actually still find small town restaurants in Iowa.
They seem to be a dying enterprise in the mid-west.
I rode for 70 miles in northern Missouri without finding on open restaurant.
Other places are suffering the same fate.