As it was time to head to our tents I was debating whether or not I was going zip and button my blanket as I debated this Dorice says "If you're going to be Jesus, be Jesus"...as we dubbed that blanket in Grad school as my Jesus robe. The Jesus robe is significantly warmer than the snuggie I used last year! We were able to hear the concert from our tents which was a bonus.
We decided to hit the road at 7 this morning like we did last year but learned that we were the late kids getting out of our camping site so maybe we'll shoot for an earlier departure tomorrow. We had to use Van C for our stuff and last year we were almost always in A...true slacker status this year. We also realized that our departure time got us riding with some of the slower people...it was a bit of a struggle to change our racing mindset to a RAGBRAI mindset!
We rolled up to the first town and were a little skeptical because we heard that our favorite pancake vendor from last year wasn't in the ride. We rolled into Hudson to find that all the churches banded together to serve a pancake breakfast! WINNING! We got three pancakes and 2 sausages for $3.....it was like we were stealing. They also served pie so I had piece #2..berry pie...all before 8 am! We were off to a great start for sure! 
We did a few fun other photo ops throughout the day...they may have involved milking a cow, riding an inflatable duck, being in the movie Up, and Stacey getting a pirate tattoo. We also played Human foosball! All in all it was a great day!
As we rode into Vinton I saw some of the members of Team Pie Hunter....they are easy to spot as they wear big slices of pie on their helmets! I knew a guy from my hometown was on their team, and low and behold it was him. We talked for several miles and then parted ways! Eric Schulz it was great talking to you!!! We were set on having a steak from the Cattlemans tent in Vinton but they ran out right as we got there...bummer. We settled for a pulled pork sandwich and Philly cheesesteak....not bad second choices at all!
We continued on our ride & it was starting to get hot...so at the last town stop before our final town we went in the splash park...you knew it had to be hot if Stacey was willing to take off her socks & put the same pair back on to finish the ride. After the splash park we only had about 7 miles of riding to our overnight town as we rolled into Hiawatha they were handing out freeze pops...AWESOME! We tooled around until we found our signs leading us to our campsite. We got in set up our tents & then checked out the shower scoop. We decided on the shower option at the assisted living center across from our campsite as it sounded better then just using a hose. Having caramel popcorn helps the wait in the shower line as well as some of the entertaining people who are waiting with us. Some of the men in the line were lamenting at how cold the showers have been in past towns...and one of the women said "really I've had all warm showers!" Us women never have to wait! She then went on to tell the guys that she highly recommends that they do RAGBRAI next year as a woman! That got a few laughs!!
A few of our favorite signs from today:
-Pedal faster....like you're in a hurry...everyone in spandex...looks better blurry
-When you find your hottie...we won't tell that you met them on RAGBRAI...while waiting for a porta pottie
We covered 72 miles today, and overall we're feeling good. Riding my road bike is way different than my Tri bike....I'm longing for my aero bars! I'm also realizing I should have done a bike fit with Travis for my road bike too! Hahaha Today's ride had some more hills in it than everyone was expecting but they weren't too bad. I'd say we spent most of the up hills passing people...true beast mode!! The weather was nice today...but got hot after awhile. Temp was upper 80s with a light breeze most of the time!
So for dinner we veered from our usual church hunt & had dinner at the assisted living place we had beef & noodles, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, a dinner roll & pie (for those that are keeping track Dorice is at 3 pieces of pie) & ice cream....getting vegetables with your RAGBRAI dinner is always a bonus! We ate with our friend Ken from last night....unfortunately Kathy his wife didn't make it into town so she was going to catch a ride with some group! They are quite the pair!
After dinner we headed to the expo downtown. My friend Laura Bakewell's brother is a fire chief here in Hiawatha so we went to try to find him. We had a nice chat with him and he informed us that early in tomorrow's ride we will have one huge hill....really looking forward to that! We took a picture together to prove to Laura that we saw each other and then we were on our way! We listened to some of the music downtown and watched kids and adults play in the splash pad! We then headed back to camp to fill our bottles, charge our phones, and talk with our friends. Larry and Roger are always entertaining for us!
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