“Sheer speed isn’t my goal — this won’t be ‘The Cannonball Run’ on ethanol.”

That said, Des Moines Register political columnist Kyle Musnon does plan to make the 99-city/county tour through Iowa that Bill Cook, author of In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman, proposed on the New York Times Campaign Stops blog last month. Follow his journey here: http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/01/08/99-counties-1-week-1-iowa-columnist/.

What’s the over-under on his time and mileage. As he notes, the ideal trip would take 55.5 hours and cover 2,739 miles.