Wasted Slip and Slides

It was a perfect night of sleeping. Not to hot and not to cold!  We decided to sleep in a bit today and it looked like many others did too. 

Last night we met Paul in camp. I’d say he is about 70 years old. Maybe older. Well yesterday he lost his wallet. I’m not sure he even knew he lost his wallet at the time but he found out when his daughter called him saying “dad you lost your wallet”. Someone had found his wallet and luckily he had some phone numbers in it. The person who found the wallet gave it to a state trooper. The state trooper called his daughter and then she got ahold of Paul. When Paul got to the next town his wallet was delivered to him by a state trooper. They found him…he didn’t even have to go get it. Now this may not seem like a big deal but when there are 10000 people on this ride delivering a lost wallet to the person the same day is quite the feat!  The lesson I learned here from Paul is to make sure there are some phone numbers in my wallet so someone can call if I lose it!!

Last night sleeping at perfect. Had to break out the long pants and long sleeve shirt. What a difference a night makes!  The high today was supposed to be 75 degrees. That’s 6 degrees less than the overnight low two nights ago!! 

Today was college jersey day so we had a competition to see who could find the most of their school. I knew Emily would have an advantage but I thought maybe Central College could give Purdue a run for their money. Who would win?  Unfortunately Ray wasn’t here for our annual jersey picture. I didn’t see any Villanova jerseys without Ray or Joe in camp. 

We went back by the penitentiary on our way out of town today and got some good photos. Nicest looking prison I have ever seen!  It really is a castle!! After the prison we saw the American Gothic statue. We recreated the pose with me acting as the suitcase. I think nailed it!  What do you think?!? 

As we left Anamosa we had some really good climbs and some challenging hills. It seemed like it took forever to get to Hale!  I supported the Midland post prom fun with a muffin and banana. As I was talking  to the ladies working the stand I found out they were cousins to my 4H friends Marca and Carla Wosoba!  Never know who are going to see on RAGBRAI!  Coming out of Hale there is a very steep hill!  Cobalt Hill was no joke!  I ran out of gears very early, but just kept pedaling on. 

The meeting town was Oxford Junction and this is when the great Kolache hunt began. Coming into town they had signs for Kolaches and we couldn’t find any in town. What the heck?  Yesterday we were let down by a pickle theme with no pickles and today false Kolache advertising. This is completely unacceptable!  We walked back and forth in town twice and never did we see the tasty Czech treat. 

But because of this great hunt we got to see this 15 year olds doing a chalk mural. It was pretty cool. Here is a pic of her while doing it and the finished product!

Riding today was a bit tough. While it was cool and overcast there was also a bit of a headwind…all day long. It just made it hard riding because you had to work for every mile and that is something we took for granted on some of those warmer days!  Oh well I would take that over the heat of earlier in the week any day. My legs definitely appreciated the reprieve of being blasted by the sun all day after yesterday. 

As I was riding I found the Iowa Cops team and I found Matt who is also on my C26 triathlon team. We rode together for awhile and then stopped at Mr. Pork chop to get a picture together. We had to let Coach Robbie know that we were doing all the riding!!

One downside of the cooler temps was that there was less enthusiasm for getting wet. Some people had sprinklers set up but nobody really went through them. But the biggest tragedy of all was that there were two great slip and slides set up along the route and nobody was using them. We haven’t had a good slip and slide all week and today their were two wasted ones. It was a sad day. We’re also camped by a pool today and of course this is not good in the pool after a long day of riding weather. 

We picked up Gary in our crew about 27 miles from the end and he hung with us most of the afternoon. We had some good beet stops and I got a burger. People really underestimate the Brewer brat!!  

Coming into DeWitt was fun because it has changed a lot!  So many new houses!  The people living along the route were all super welcoming and fun. It’s always nice when you feel like the town really embraces the experience. 

I got my tent set up and then headed out of town to see some family. Elaina was nice and let me use her shower!!!  And she made cookies and brownies to share I’m with people at camp!  I’d call that a good stop. It has rained off and on since we got camp set up. Hopefully it doesn’t rain too much tonight!!  No pie today but I did get a Thelma’s cookie!! 

Today’s ride totaled. 64.57 miles and 2011 feet of climb. With the exception of the headwind it was good day. Emily won the college jersey competition today. Purdue totally destroyed Central and Gonzaga. Tomorrow is a short one, but it will be fun to roll through some towns close to home