finalizing the century

took a drive friday afternoon to check out the cue sheets and see just how many street signs are missing/have been turned and to figure out exactly where all of you are going to get lost and hate me. i have done my best to draw your attention to potential problems, danger areas, etc. PLEASE DON'T BE STUPID!!!!! there are a couple times you will be riding the shoulder of highways for short distances, there are some raging fast (35-40mph) downhills, there are dogs, there are cars, there might be ice, it might get dark on you, you have to go from mile 35-85 without refueling...DON'T BE STUPID!!!! the first picture below is the sattre store. this is your 35 mile stop. look close. it is a house in the middle of nowhere and the owner lives upstairs. i will be calling just to make sure she's open for us. refilling your water will probably mean asking her to fill your bottles from her kitchen sink. i don't think the food is expired. do NOT expect hot dogs or pizza. we're talking bags of chips and fig newtons. maybe a 12 pack of busch light. the second picture is a casey's that is your 85 mile stop. expect normal gas station fare here. please understand this...you/we are going to get worked by this century. its no joke. i rode the first 35 miles of it last week and was deviously happy. i rode about 52 miles yesterday that was kind of like riding the last 50 backwards...we're really in for something with this ride. and with it being on the heels of a metric, just make sure you bring the right mindset and plenty of water/food. for what its worth i will probably be leaving with approx. 150oz of fluid with no plans of refilling liquids at the sattre store. i expect the 50oz carborocket and 100oz water to get me to the 85 mile stop. side note...thinking at this point we might have a contest to see who returns with the most busch light mile markers. yes, in northeast iowa the gravels are littered with empty busch light cans and if anyone feel the need to be an environmentalist while you're out there you might just get rewarded for being an awesome person.