Oh Hey There Wind!!!!

Before we tell you about our first day of riding we have some filler info from last night after our last post. We got to take a shower at the local pool while this sounded glorious to us after a long bus trip and a bunch of walking around at the expo little did we know that the shower heads were made for little people. For those who don't know me I'm a staggering 5'2" and had to squat down to get my head under the shower head so you can imagine the isometric squat workout that Dorice (5'10") got taking her shower. After we got back to the campsite we hung out with Roger, his brother ( we learned his name is Larry) & also met 2 more friends Bob & his wife Marianne (we think). We were able to watch the fireworks from our campsite & then went to bed.

Ready to start RAGBRAI

The sleeping temperature started off nice, we were able to each have a window open in our tent for some nice airflow but that changed about 2 am & then the freeze set in...I threw on my hoodie & sweats & wrapped myself like a burrito to try to keep warm. As we were talking about the cold this morning Dorice said she wrapped herself in a sheet & blanket & curled up in the fetal position to keep warm. Bottom line though we survived night one camping.

Our morning started about 5:45 as we got up & slowly got moving for the day. We rolled out about 7 am to start our maiden RAGBRAI voyage. Once we got to the official starting point (about 2 miles from our campsite) it was really slow going to the point where we had to get off the bike & walk a little bit due to the volume of riders. When we did get moving it was just a sea of cyclists.

We were dressed for success today. Dorice was sporting her HAWKEYES jersey & I was dressed in my USA jersey & bright orange socks. Our clothing selections made us some friends along the route & Dorice was given a sticker making her an official member of the Iowa fan club (she's big time now). Basically the people of Iowa love the HAWKEYES, America, & fluorescent colors.

Crowds leaving Rock Valley

We've had some good food so far!  We had breakfast burritos to support a local wrestling team and  had some great times posing with all the pig themed decorations.  For lunch we stopped at the local  legion stand and was able to get a hamburger, pie, and a Gatorade for $6.  At that point we needed a cold drink!  The temperature was climbing all afternoon and at one point we saw signs saying it was 91 degrees.  It was definitely warm as the afternoon continued on.  The only thing that help we was the wind...but we have a love hate relationship with it.  The wind was STRONG about 18-20 mph most of the day and it was rarely a tailwind.  When it was a tailwind, you realized just how hot it really was.  Fortunately it was a crosswind most of the time which helped keep us cool, but a wind that strong was still a strain to keep it steady.  The pie of the day for Dorice was berry pie which was delicious.  Unfortunately they had run out of gooseberry pie...one of her favorites!

Sunday's Route

Overall the day of riding was good.  We were scheduled to ride about 69 miles today, and we were feeling good with about 5 miles to go...and by good I might mean delirious.  There was a HUGE plywood ice cream cone along the side of the road, and I just screamed out "that looks delicious"!  Dorice and I realized that we were hungry and ready to be done.  The town was coming up and we'd be free of the bike for awhile.  Little did we know that our campsite was 8 miles away from the town....8 MILES is a  lot when you've already done 69!  We finally made it to our camp and collapsed!  We broke open the free bags of candy that we got in the first town and it hit the spot.

After setting up our tents we headed to the showers. Today showers were in a shower trailer. They were of appropriate height, pretty good pressure, & the temperature control was amazing. After showers we headed out in search of dinner & went to one of the local restaurants. Food was good, our waters were nice & cold & our waitress even brought us extra water to the table so we could fill our water bottles....yes we travel all the time with our water bottles & washed them in the bathroom. After dinner we needed to fill our ice cream need so on our walk back to camp to stopped at the Kum & Go (terrible name) to get some.

Back at camp we had some conversation about the day with Roger & Larry. Took in our stuff that was drying on our tents and well wrote this blog. Tonight's new friend is Caroline she is a first time RAGBRAI rider as well. Well off to relax we go as we have more miles to ride tomorrow including some back tracking into town to start tomorrow's ride. We don't have pictures today because the wifi is spotty and we can't get them downloaded.