The Calm Before the Storm

The 4:45 am wake up call came early today!  We needed to leave by 5:15 to drive down to meet our group and get on the bus.  We met our charter group and had four buses to choose from.  There are 220 people with the Quad Cities Bike Club and that includes people from 31 states.  We thought our bags were big, but there are people who definitely have bigger bags.  Shoving everyone's bags on these buses is no easy task, glad we got here early!

Packed bus!

We quickly realized after getting on the bus that we did not adequately pack enough snacks for our 7 hour bus ride.  Panic started to set in when we didn't think the bus would stop for food!  We started plotting on how to steal the grapes from the sleeping guy across the aisle!  After about 3.5 hours on the bus we stopped and 220 people poured into a Subway and McDonalds....FINALLY we've gotten food!  We met some people while eating who are also first timers on RAGBRAI (also known as virgins....we'll get this sharpied on our leg at some point....some veterans on the bus have already threatened it).  We made a bet with our new friends about the number of porta potties in our camp site....hopefully Stacey or I are right since we picked the highest numbers!

Once we got back on the bus, one new friend (Roger) offered us some homemade cookies (chocolate chip cranberry) and they were delicious.  We've heard some people on the bus bartering with him to trade cookies for beer.  Mental note...next year pack baked goods!

As we arrived at our camping grounds for the night it was mad dash to claim a spot.

Panoramic view of part of our camp site

Not crazy but calm...we picked a good spot (happens that our friend roger is next to us). I (Stacey) won the porta potty bet I am now 4  dollars richer! We have a huge camp area that is all owned by one older gentleman and our group provides a charging station, chairs, and drinks.  As we set our bikes for the night we met another new friend (Glen) who told us we were smart for how we set our bikes for the evening & was impressed by our knowledge of things for RAGBRAI for first timers...we were again reminded of the virgin "tattoo". After we organized our tents a little bit we headed down to the expo. We got to walk through town & found our team name on the Rock Valley sign (AT Superheroes) took a picture with it & continued on our way.

Pointing at our team on the sign

Bike statue in Rock Valley

A sign in the yard of a house in town with at least 10 tents!

We had a lasagna dinner at the Faith Reformed Church which was fantastic! Our bellies were filled with lasagna, salad, bread, & pie all while relaxing in some AC. Dorice had me try some rhubarb pie since I've never had it, I'll say it was interesting.

So we are ending our first night by hanging out in camp, charging our devices, letting you all know we are still alive and getting pumped for our first day of riding tomorrow! Temps are expected to be in the high 80s for tomorrow's miles so we're hoping that the weather people are wrong!