RAGBRAI - 2109 -- A new twist

Hello blog readers!!  Guess what time it is?!?!  It's RAGBRAI time.  This year's blog will be a little different because I (Dorice) am flying solo.  Stacey decided that she wanted to get married this spring and now her Joey are on their honeymoon in Ireland.  They got there today after an epic travel day yesterday.  I think riding their bikes would have been the perfect honeymoon, but Joey disagreed.  I told Stacey she should write some guest blog posts from Ireland, but I don't know if that is going to happen.  lol  So here's a little celebratory wedding pic for Stacey!

Since Stacey is leaving me to my own devices on this trip, I think you all should know that I’m not nearly as funny as she is. So the blog may be pretty boring this year. Who is going to sing songs to me, be delirious with me, and help me hunt for pie and pickles?  I hope I make new friends!  Lol. More importantly who is going to buy my food when I forget to bring my money for the day?  I may be singing for my supper this trip...stay tuned!

I won't be totally alone though because in addition to the 10,000+ other riders I will have one returning "Philly boy" on the ride with me.  Ray is making the trek to Iowa as we speak.  Paulie was supposed to be joining us but he has some excuse like knee surgery....I say suck it up buttercup....but I'm guessing that isn't going to happen.  Vince will be on his own fishing expedition in Colorado I think....and Ed has a wedding or some other event that was more important than a week of glorious riding.  I haven't heard the excuses from Jamie and Carlos....but I bet they are lame!  I hope Ray knows that he is going to have to keep me entertained all week.  He has to fill in Stacey’s shoes! 

I got to Iowa yesterday and got my BUS SNACKS....priority number 1!!  The best part about bus snacks is that if you buy enough bus snacks...they turn into tent snacks.  Never underestimate the power of a gummy worm after a long day of riding your bike!  Maybe we'll make cookies later today so I can make more friends on the bus!  

Today I cleaned up my bike, oiled the chain, made sure the tires were good and got it all ready to go with it's bright yellow 2019 bike band.  The BBB (my name for my bike) has 5 Ragbrai bands!  It's getting quite the collection.  In case someone is reading from Alaska or Antartica....it is HOT here.  Like holy cow this is fun HOT.  So I'm hopeful that heat will disappear sometime Sunday morning when we head out for day 1.  I actually took some of the air out of my tires today because I am nervous about the tires popping in the truck on the way out to the start.  I certainly don't want to be starting the ride by having to change my two tubes before I even get my butt on the saddle.

This afternoon I loaded my bike and tonight I took my one last shower....although it's hot enough today that I could probably take another one. It’s always a bit bittersweet when you realize you won’t get another good hot shower for over a week. 

Good news....the magnificent mullet man is back this year. I saw him at bike check!  Bad news....his mullet is not as magnificent!  I really hope the fish net comes back tomorrow! That will make everything worth it! 

Tomorrow we leave bright and early for the trek out to Council Bluffs. Here's to a fun week!  I'll do my best to keep the blog going on my own....it's a lot of pressure! 

 Today is also Gabby’s “gotcha” day!  She celebrated by having a pool party with Bria and opening her Bark Box. I think her favorite part of gotcha day though was just being at farm camp!!  She’s been a fun addition to my crazy life the last 7 years!!