Bonus Blog #1 - Oh the bikes we ride

We promised some bonus blogs so here is the first (and maybe only) one!  One of the things about RAGBRAI is the fact that anyone can do it. Sure you need to train a little but we really do see all kinds of people. From people who have the wined over 1000 miles in preparation to those that have done less than 50. 

We also see all kinds of bikes, so we thought we take pictures as the week went on to showcase all the different bikes you could do RAGBRAI on!

Of course you have your traditional road, hybrid, and triathlon bikes. But you could also do it dressed as Batman!  

Not feeling two wheels?  Why not get a unicycle. There were at least two guys on unicycles. One of them just bought his for this ride. He'd never really ridden one before. When we asked him if he goes down those steep hills, he said, "yeah I have a brake!"  Well fair enough!  

Maybe you don't like your butt being sore, so you choose and elliptical bike instead. They come in 2 and 3 wheel options.  

Feel like a bunch of bananas?  Grab your wife and get a recumbent tandem bike!  

Maybe you wife wants nothing to do with bananas but you still want to dress up as one!

Then there are th bikes that pull their kids. This little unicorn held strong all week! 

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the mom and dad tandem with a baby seat, and two carts behind them. All 3...maybe 4 kids were passed out. 

Maybe you are the designated beer carrier for your team?!

Or you could be pedaling for a cause and promoting clean energy. Yes he pedaled the whole week with this. 

Maybe you want a big shield for your bike!

Or maybe you just want to have a little harder ride, so you get a high wheel!

Showing off your skills. Two wheels gets boring after awhile...just use one of them. He rode like this a lot!  

And then our least favorite....the bulletin cars. These things are scary. They are slow going up the hill but super fast going down. Most of the time you can't here them coming so they whiz right by you. I'm surprised nobody has been taken out by one yet. Two mornings we left right about the same time the bullet cars did and it was treacherous all the way to the first town. They look cool, but not our favs. 

So no matter what you have or what you want to ride...it's welcome on RAGBRAI. Someone did the whole route on rollerblades. Check it out and join us in the adventure next year!  

Hills that Make you Swear

We need to revisit last night for a second before we continue on to our last day. We failed to mention that we were camping at the airport. Our tent was less than 5 ft away from the runway. There's a first!  We had tents the length of the runway on both sides. Crazy to see for sure. There were HUGE Xs at both ends of the runway to make sure planes knew they couldn't land. But still a little nerve wracking. 

Waukon was a pretty hopping place last night. The concert was awesome. We left early though so we could rest up for our last day. We said goodbye to Ray this morning, but didn't see the other two. We figured we'd see them at the bus before they left. 

As we pedaled out of Waukon there were tons of people cheering us on and handing out buttons to us. Kudos to Waukon and Stefanie for putting on a well organized overnight. It really was awesome. They definitely get the award for the best departure of the week!

We pedaled about 5 miles and then stopped at Stef and Steve's to get our free cookie from the boys. Jackson, Caleb, and Zack had cookies and Carmel brownies. It was just the sugar high we needed to start the day!  

We knew today was going to be a tough riding day with all of the hills that we had to conquer today. The sunrise this morning was breathtaking but also indicated that it was going to be a hot one! We made a quick detour to the Old East Paint church to see a memorial for my grandma. As we rode our next 10 miles into Waterville where we ended the week as we started it with pancakes and sausage (we threw in a cinnamon roll for good measure) for breakfast and a photo op with a Sasquatch. The view was fantastic and when in line for the portapots the one cyclist said that everyone should leave the door open since the view was so awesome but thankfully nobody did as the view from the other side wouldn't be so nice. The views on all of today's ride were incredible, but pictures can't even do it justice. 

Our next stop wasn't really a stop as it was the state forest. It afforded us some great riding and views along with a couple of jackass riders (even Dorice had a bit of Jersey swagger going on with some of the riders) cut me off and wear a Simpson jersey is glutton for punishment!  It's day 7 you made it so far don't be a jackass on your bike! The climbs were tough and there were many people walking their bikes up the hills but there was no way we weren't going to stay in the saddle as we tackled these hills! As we rode up the hills I encountered one lady that had an electric bike, think lady was just out for a "stroll" on her bike up these monsters I kept yelling on your left and she didn't budge. Lady the only thing getting me up this hill is my legs so move your motorized bike out of the way! 

As we got into our 2nd stop for today and our final one for this RAGBRAI we knew we were in for some more killer hills when the ladies in town were telling us we should really come back and drive the hills so we can appreciate the beauty of the ride (holy smokes not an easy ride ahead). Another lady said there was a nice little church before the hills that we could stop and say a prayer at. That's also not a good sign!  Somehow we wound up in jail again but were able to escape to have a bomb pop to fuel us for the final leg of the journey! Bomb pops are amazing and even more amazing when they are the ones made by Blue Bunny and basically double the size of a regular bomb pop! 

Those trees up in the background is where we came from and they were going to make us climb up that 2 more times. Ugh!  The third hill was by far the steepest and worst. It was here where the curse words came out as I slowly and methodically pedaled my way up. Still no walking!!  Thankfully some people had good tunes on their stereos so that helped a lot. Maybe we should have prayed a little more at the church too...next time!  On the fourth hill, it really wasn't too bad, but because you knew it was the last and final one the anticipation of the end of it was daunting!  When we got to the top of the last hill people were cheering and high fiving each other. We now hand 5 miles of downhill....5 miles of glorious speed and no pedaling!  It was amazing. We could have hit top speeds today for sure but it was more crowded and the turns were sharp so I used the break a little more. 

As we got closer to Lansing, Team Air Force was starting to assemble. They lined the roads and cheered and high fived everyone as they came in. It was a pretty cool sight!  

We made our way to the dip site to officially call our RAGBRAI 2017 over. For the week we did 427 miles!!  Don't worry Stacey didn't do the official over the head pose...not shoulder approved!

We then saw my parents along the route so we got off and waited to see Team Air Force ride in. A very cool sight to see for sure. Unfortunately because we waited almost an hour for them to ride in, we missed seeing all of our friends as the first bus had left by the time we got to the trucks. 

It was sad to not be able to say goodbye to Ray, Carlos, and Vince.  They're driving back to Philly today so they wanted to get going early. We definitely enjoyed our week with them. They made our week more enjoyable and I hope we did for them too.  We're already planning our team shirts for next year!!

We missed Ralph, Quincy, Michelle, and Derek too. Guess we'll just have to do RAGBRAI again to see them all. Ralph is a staple on RAGBRAI so now we just have to get the others to come back!!

We head back to Indiana tomorrow so when we got home we unpacked, did laundry, cleaned the tents, and repacked. The non glamorous side of RAGBRAI. Holy cow all of our stuff stunk!!!!

We capped the night off with pizza and blueberry pie...because you can't end RAGBRAI without a piece of pie!  

We have a few more blogs to post for you in the upcoming days. Like bonus miles you get bonus blogs!!

Burning Quads & Strawberry Pie

• It's day 6!  It's so hard to believe that we only have one night left to camp!  We slept in a little this morning but we were still on the road by 6:50. As we were rolling to our first town Dorice realized that she forgot to put her food money in her bike jersey so I made sure she was able to eat during today's ride as you need to feed the machine! We had 19 miles to Decorah so we thought it would take a little over an hour to get there because we thought it we'd be climbing. It took us about an hour because there was quite a few downhills. One of the best descents I've ever been on!  Cool weather, shade, smooth pavement, and a winding road around a bluff. It was amazing. It was here I got my top speed for the week!!  (Followers can you guess our top speed hint they were different for each of us) I love downhills and smooth pavement. When we got to Decorah we met up with a high school classmate of mine that teaches at Luther. We were able to find her pretty easily!  We chatted for a bit in the RAGBRAI chaos and then headed to her house to chat. It was good to catch up with her and her husband Ben. We also got to meet their daughter Alex!  Alex wasn't too sure about us but eventually warmed up to us. Stacey was hoping for some dirt on me from high school, but Dawn didn't give any up!! (Dorice was boring and followed the rules) After using their wifi to post yesterday's blog, and use their modern indoor plumbing we headed out. It was great to see her!!  
  
• We decided to have a snack before heading to the next town as we needed some fuel for the next stretch. Not only did RAGBRAI roll through Decorah today but it is also is their Nordic festival so we didn't go with our usual RAGBRAI breakfast choices and instead had rommegrot (aka butter pudding) and rosettes (thin cookie like deep fried pastry) both were delicious but the butter pudding stuff was outstanding! I was skeptical at first but man it was a solid purchase. We then headed out of Decorah and had hills and I mean hills. Many cyclists succumbed to the hills but we continued to pedal up them (walking up hills is not an option either one of us like). Although the hills were tough the views were absolutely incredible. Amazing some of the places your bicycle can take you! 




• Next we rolled into Ossian and had Maid Rites (sloppy  joes). Took a picture in the wooden cut out which the fine folks of Ossian put a block behind so the vertically challenged folks could participate in the photo op. (Dorice was glad she could get her picture taken). Today was college jersey day so Dorice met a few random Central Alumni along the route and yelled go Dutch a few times. One of the random Central guys came and talked to us while we were eating and another random dude told us how he wished his bike got stolen so he wouldn't have to finish the ride today! 
  
  
  






Next stop we had to have pie as rumor had it that it was the best pie of the day! Again church ladies for the win! And the best part...the pie was free will donation!!  Yes...dorice didn't put any money in!!!  Strawberry pie was the flavor of choice and we got to watch a pie eating contest between the Des Moines Register and National Public Radio...DMR for the win and now proud owners of a golden rolling pin but more importantly pride and bragging rights! 

• It was a pretty flat ride into Postville. In Postville we were greeted by lots of Orthodox Jews shouting Shalom...and then the kids were asking us "are you by any chance Jewish?"  They had a kosher food stand and didn't want people to miss out. We left Postville about the same time as Ray and Carlos so we rode with them for awhile. But shortly out of town the climbing really started. Holy cow...those hills were no joke. Stacey dropped me like a hot potato because I couldn't hang on the hills. She greeted me when we got into Waukon our ending town. 




• Once we found our camp...a longs ways out, we set up our tents. Good news the tent is still standing and Santa has contacted Stacey saying that if she's good the rest of the year she can get a new tent. This is going to be a challenge for her, but for her tent poles sake I hope she stays on the good train. 




• After we set up our tent, we took our bikes into town so I could try to see if I could find any of my grandmother's relatives at their car dealership. It was the place I bought my first car. Unfortunately Pladsen's was closed because they used their lot for all the vendors. Maybe tomorrow in Waterville we can find them. 
• We then found my friend from Central. Stefanie is on the planning committee for Waukon and she was basically running the show. She did give us the inside scoop that tomorrow Steve and the boys will be handing out cookies by their house. We're totally stopping!!  We headed back to camp by my grandma's old house. It doesn't look like it has changed at all. Same mailbox and everything. We had a shower in the truck tonight so no awkward group shower. Wahooooooo!!

• We headed downtown after our shower to grab some dinner. We skipped our typical church stop and just had dinner from one of the vendors. After dinner we took a fun tractor ride to the dairy creamy for ice cream. It was phenomenal and well earned treat after all of our hill climbing today! 
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• We then hit up the medical tent to see Steve as he had the late night shift. Gotta love Central College friends in town!  We told him to be ready for us with the cookies in the morning. 
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• With any luck at all this blog will be posted by using the car dealerships wifi!  Thanks RW Pladsen motors!!  Sorry we missed you!  We ended the night with the Hairball concert!  


One more day left. Climbing worse than today!!!

Donuts and Duck Races

Last night after dinner we went downtown to listen to the concerts again. It was another good night since the rain had stopped. We ran into Ray, Vince, and Carlos. We probably laughed for a good two hours because all they do is just give each other crap. Apparently Vince is slacking in buying beer rounds and Carlos is not great at finding the "approved" fire stations!!  None of them did the swing....what a disappointment. Ray then says his niece just got her doctorate in athletic training. We said we may know her...after it took him a minute to remember her name we realized that she when to Indiana State and just graduated with her DAT this spring. Stacey actually knows her and has taught her. Small world.  The boys are now Facebook friends with us and they are reading the blog too. They're convinced Stacey is in the mafia. Oh and Carlos agrees that Stacey should not wear her helmet while eating!! (But I say why follow the crowd when you can stand out!) We walked back to camp with the boys. We still had to set up some camp stuff so it was a late night!!  

It was a cold damp night of sleep!!  Everything was WET this morning...packing up wet tent, clothes, etc. But it was a nice morning to ride. We stopped in Ionia for another breakfast burrito. And I got 2 bananas for $1. That's a steal on RAGBRAI. I ate one and shoved the other in my pocket for later. Then we headed to New Hampton. They welcomed us with a cool bike sculpture. This was by far the town we had the most fun in. Stacey took on the cutest little kid in a soccer water dump challenge (retirement has hurt her skills) as she got a nice bucket of water dumped on her head and both of us participated in a duck race which Dorice won by default since the little girl Emma from the preschool that was raising money took us to school on duck racing but Dorice was still awarded a prize! Rubber duck for the win! This was also the town where we learned from our mistake yesterday and got fresh mini donuts...solid choice! They did not disappoint! We will never pass up fresh donuts again! 

Then we went to Lawler and helped support these middle school kids trip to D.C. by getting a walking taco!  Can't pass up helping kids!!  

They also had a cool wall to sign!  We were through pretty early so I'd love to see the whole wall because this picture is only about half of it. 

It was at this point the climbing really started. No more flats and great we had headwind too. Awesome!  After the first hill we stopped for some popsicles from some girls on the side of the road. They had great signs and were super excited for us to stop. We kept on climbing and got to Protivin where there was a whole Czech theme. We ran into Carlos and Vince and we talked them into some Kolaches. They'd never heard of them. They were delicious!!  After some time in the shade and a cold water we headed out to Cresco our end town. Now this climbing included a hill, flat, a hill, flat, and repeat about 10 times. There was no downhill. When we finally got a big downhill the headwind was so strong that it wasn't even fun. 

We made it to camp and got a spot by the guys...entertainment ensued. We took a shower (yay shower boo group shower...the worst and most awkward group shower ever!) and promised yesterday to take the boys to dinner with us at a church. We gave them choice of what church dinner we would head out to. They chose the chicken parm and pasta dinner at a Lutheran church. Now for for east coasters that know what Italian food is this was far from what you can call chicken parm. Even for midwesterners it wasn't actual chicken parm. You know your in trouble when you ask them what type of cheese they used and they tell you they cheated and are using the sprinkle on kind. WTH Midwesterns have you never seen Peyton Manning sing about how Chicken Parm it tastes so good...didn't resemble that at all. I did warn the boys about the "quality" of Midwest Italian fare. But they had pie so in the end it was ok. The pie was delicious. We played the age guessing game and the boys were about 5-10 years off for us. I guess we still look young!  We would have guessed them to be about 10-15 years younger as well. I guess cycling keeps you young!!  We then headed down town to check out the festivities. 

Oh and dad we have "supper" here too!  

Tomorrow is more climbing!  Looking forward to some hills without wind!!  

Update...Vince has bought a round!  He struggled trying to use his American Express, but he did pull through!  Thanks Vince! Oh and yesterday was Carlos' anniversary, so a belated happy anniversary to you! Oh and Stacey has now been nicknamed "little Italy"!