- 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!
- 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!!
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!
- 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!
- 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.
- 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!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment