Watermelon with Grandma

Good news!  I survived the cold and didn’t have to be rescued by the Cattlemen. Because of our tent location I didn’t even have to hear people up and packing at 4 am so I slept pretty well. You can imagine my surprise when I stumbled out of my tent at 5:15 to see that Gary and Ray had already packed up and were nowhere to be found. Ray said he was leaving early but I didn’t think it would be that early!

I hiked up the hill to the bathroom and located them getting ready to head out. Got to say goodbye as I was fairly sure I wouldn’t see them the rest of the day. The East coast lacrosse guys were heading out soon too so I bid them farewell too. 

As I got my tent packed I took a picture of Steve and Phil. Kate missed the sibling pic. The siblings were fun to hang with all week and provided some entertainment and good conversation this week. Hopefully I’ll see Phil when he heads to Muncie for volleyball. 

I also got a picture with Christopher and Jason. They nailed their first RAGBRAI and brought great energy all week. Can’t wait to meet up with them the next time I’m in Chattanooga. 

As I started riding it was a crisp morning and the sun was just coming up. The views today were absolutely incredible especially as we climbed higher because you could see the dense fog below. I tried to take pictures but they didn’t do it justice at all. I did get a good picture of the 6 roller blazers who did the week. Their adductors had to be on fire all week. This was the first time I saw them all riding in a line together. 

Elgin was the first stop of the day. I had a cinnamon roll to support the fire station!  I got my picture taken with a wooden bicycle in front of the 1900 Elgin cycling photo. It was a good first stop of the morning. 

From Elgin we headed to Gunder and to get there we had to climb “Gunder mountain”. Every time you thought it was over you’d make a bend and keep moving up. Little did we know that was a precursor of what was to come. I guess I should have stopped at the top of hill because my college teammate April’s nieces were selling snacks. I didn’t find that out until after I went by. Based on the crowd of people stopping to catch their breath I think they probably did pretty well on their sales!

I saw Kate on the side of the road on one of the climbs, she had dropped her chain but had gotten it back on. She was trying to find a time to re-enter the road. It’s hard enough to get back on your bike mid climb…it’s nearly impossible to get started up a hill mid climb with 100s of other cyclists. The brothers were waiting at the top of the hill and I let them know she had an issue but was on her way. 

Not too long after Gunder was the last Iowa Craft beer stop of the week. I wasn’t going to get a beer but I thought maybe I could snag one last breakfast brat. The line was long and the sign said “leftovers”!  So I think it was a mystery line of what you would get. I decided to bypass the food and just make this a bathroom stop. I got to see lots of people pick up their “Earned it shirt” for making beer stops every day all week. The proudest “earned it” though was this young kid. He was so pumped to get his t-shirt. I think he drank a lot of root beer this week!!! If his smile is half as big when he gets to the river as it was when he got his shirt he’d light up all of Lansing. As I was leaving I ran into Jim from camp and he took my picture. Not sure if or when I’ll ever see those pictures, but I bet that was a good one with bikes in the background. 

Then we ended up in Postville. As we came into town I saw a kids lemonade stand that said freeze pops and lemonade. I hadn’t gotten a freeze pop all week, so I couldn’t pass this up. Well Damien, Danny, and their sister were serving up cold lemonade and not so frozen freeze pops. Their sales pitch went something like this, “we have lemonade or freeze pops. The freeze pops are melted so they aren’t really freeze pops. Do you want a freeze pop?”  Of course I opted for the melted freeze pop. At that point Damien decided that I should have lemonade too. He was hustling and busy prepping for customers!  

Postville has a very diverse population. Who would think you’d see a Kosher market, Islamic center, and a Somalian restaurant all within two blocks of each other in a small Iowa farming community?!?  It was a nice change of pace to see the different ethic foods. The line for Somalian meat pies was super long so I opted for a pork burger. Ironically their booth was set up right outside the Kosher market. Maybe could have planned that a bit better. I also had a piece of peach pie. I had thought I’d wait for pie in Waukon, but decided that I needed to get my last piece just in case I didn’t have the opportunity later. That proved to be quite fruitful. I got my picture taken with the big bull and then headed out for the 18 miles to Waukon. 

Vince I took a picture of the old fire truck in Postville just for you!!  

These miles were hard!  The hills just kept coming. I don’t know how long the one climb was but it was way longer than Gunder mountain. I’d say it lasted at least 2-3 miles. I could look it up on my Garmin. I can’t remember if it was this one or one of the first of the day, but some guy had a bubble machine on the back of his bike. The bubbles were a nice distraction to the burn building in the quads as we grinded up the hill. 

As we came into Waukon I got to see the giant cowboy and bull. This was always a sign we were close to grandma’s house when I was a kid. Once I saw the tall cowboy I knew we were close. He’s undergone a few paint jobs in his life but he’s at least as old as I am so it was good to still see him there. The same can be said for the rocket ship at the playground in the park. A little childhood nostalgia to welcome me into Waukon. 

I knew that I would be making at least one stop in Waukon and that would be for ice cream at the dairy. I didn’t care how long I’d have to wait. They were selling fried cheese curds and grilled cheese outside. Giving away free chocolate milk and you could get ice cream inside. I got my ice cream in a waffle cone and enjoyed it outside by Anna the cow and some of my closest RAGBRAI friends. The night before I had told my parents to bring a cooler because I was going to buy some cheese curds if I could get them in my pocket. After I finished my ice cream I went back in to see what size bag of curds I could shove in my back pocket. Turns out I could get 2 lbs in my one pocket. I probably could have gotten another bag, but those 2 lbs were heavy!  Carrying them the next 20 miles wasn’t going to be all that fun. The things you do for some fresh squeaky cheese!

Leaving Waukon led to more incredible views. I had hoped to see the Perkins family on my trip through town this year and to get some cookies from Jackson, but they were gone on a trip to Hawaii. I decided though that they have some of the best views from their house!  Not too far out of Waukon was the East Paint Church. I had planned to stop there since there is a memorial bench for my grandma there. What I didn’t plan was getting watermelon. The first watermelon I had all week happens to come at the East Paint Church. So I sat on the bench and had watermelon with grandma. A gentleman joined us so I told him he was sitting in grandma’s bench. 

The rest of the trip was pretty easy with very few hills. Way different than the last time we went from Waukon to Lansing via Harpers Ferry. Riding into Lansing included an almost 5 mile descent. It was a nice break to the climbs we had done earlier in the day. As we came into Lansing the Air Force team was lining up and cheering us on. It’s always a fun feeling to ride into town with people cheering us on. People who are in awe of what you accomplished for the week. 

I waited in line for the traditional tire dip and flip picture. I’ll give the Lansing group credit they had a very efficient photo assembly line thing going and they got people our quickly and efficiently. It was one of the best photo dip lines I have experienced. 

After I dipped I found my way to our baggage trucks. My parents were waiting there with Murray and Boomer. They got lots of pets and loving from strangers who had missed their dogs this week. Lansing is a town of 968 people so bringing in 20000+ riders, support staff, and people picking up riders made this River town quite the zoo.  Dad said he will NEVER drive my support vehicle all week after seeing the craziness of Lansing. The bus hadn’t left yet so I got to see Gary and Ray one last time. I also got to see the siblings before we took off. They all got to meet Murray too, so that was good. Steve said he had been missing his doggy! 

Overall for the day I rode 65.4 miles with 3025 ft of climb. Which means for the week I had 471 miles. Another RAGBRAI complete and thankful for no crashes, mechanical, or medical issues. Others weren’t as lucky so you always have to count your blessings when you make it through this week. 

I also have to give a massive shout out to the Fah family for being the ones who moved our camp each night and ran everything in our charter. We had food and snacks every day when we finished, pizza on Thursday , s’mores, and positive vibes all week. Every morning they would play music, greet you with a smile and encourage you in the day. They are genuinely the nicest people and make you feel like you are part of their family. I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow when I don’t have Jamey telling me “have fun storming the castle!” as I left camp every morning. We even have a camp dog, so Jazzmin gets and gives lots of puppy love all week! They really make the week enjoyable and are happy to help in anyway that they can. 

My biscuits are officially burnt!!  I still need to unpack all my stuff and do laundry, but this 2022 RAGBRAI has come to a close. Next year with be the 50th RAGBRAI so it should be good one. Until then!!

Cattlemen Redemption

It was a chilly night last night. I think the temps were in the lows 50s when we got up. It made for a wet tent takedown and a cool ride out of town. It was one of those mornings where you are hoping for sun and not enjoying the shade of the morning. Which is drastically different than how I’ve spent many RAGBRAIs constantly seeking out shade. 

When I got to New Hampton I was really hoping for a breakfast sandwich or breakfast burrito. Luckily the parks and rec department was selling breakfast burritos to raise money for a new inclusive and accessible playground. The burrito was good but not the best, so I had to get pie to make up for it. Todays choice was apple. Now I don’t normally go for Apple unless I know it is homemade apple and not pie filling. This piece looked like it would hit the mark because it also had a streusel crumb topping. It probably is in the running for the best pie of the week so far. It sort of made up for the burrito disappointment. And to top it off it was a free will donation for a local kid who had a rare brain disease. 

From New Hampton we moved on to Lawler. We were in Lawler in 2017 and they had a Looney Tunes theme. They have a big wall in town where they have everyone sign. I couldn’t find where I signed last time, but I know now that I signed by the G of RAGBRAI. I had a Thelma’s monster cookie ice cream sandwich in honor of celebrating Chris’ birthday. Hopefully he and Emily will be back next year. Oh and shout out to Thelma’s…I think she is the only regular vendor who did not raise prices. Obviously inflation is happening and RAGBRAI is no different. I didn’t find it over the top, but Thelma held true to $5 so thanks Thelma!!

After leaving Lawler I saw these very energetic girls dancing and waving American flags on the side of the road. They also had microphones and were expending lots of energy to get customers for their lemonade stand. Nobody was stopping and I couldn’t let their energy go to waste. When I stopped I learned that they had just gotten set up and I was their first customer!  Skyler is 7.5 yrs old, Leah is 4.5 yrs, and Aria is 2.5 yrs. Halves are very important to these three apparently!  Skylar and Leah were both singing their “lemonade” song. It was full on American Idol with dancing. I’m not sure how people could ride by without stopping but they did get lots of laughs and cheers. Leah definitely ran the show and I could tell from the 5 min I spent with them that she is a handful!  But she has the cute factor going for her. 

While riding I met Bob and his niece Laura. Bob is from Florida and Laura is a NP in oncology at a VA hospital in North Carolina. This is their first RAGBRAI and I’m not sure they have done it right. Bob said he was hoping to try some corn but hadn’t seen any all week. Apparently Bob needs glasses because I’ve had corn every day. I told him what to look for today, but who knows. He also never had a pork chop….come in Bob!  He kept asking me questions about what power I ride in a race, my VO2 max and other ridiculousness. I told him a do RAGBRAI to escape from all the numbers and data. It was very odd. Laura seemed pretty cool but said she never rides with people so I think RAGBRAI is a bit out of her comfort zone. She travels a lot and has 3 international trips planned this year. She said her job has taught her that you never wait to do something you’re hoping to do. Do it now!  I think that’s something for us all to remember. There’s never going to be a perfect time, so do what you want now!  Life is short!

We rolled into Hawkeye and they had painted the road which was cool. I was needing some lunch but didn’t see much that sounded good. RAGBRAI is interesting because there is so much food and at any given moment something sounds amazing and then 8 miles down the road you wouldn’t dream of it!  I had really planned to have a grilled cheese. They are really well liked vendors on the route, but I have never had one. I was determined to break that streak today, but when I came up on them it just didn’t sound good. I opted for a slider burger and it was over cooked so not that great. So what did I do…drown my sorrows in pie!  Yep today is a double pie day!!! The Lutherans had raspberry pie and I hadn’t that all week. Unfortunately it was straight up raspberry pie filling. Boooooooo come on Lutherans I was counting on you!

From Hawkeye it was just 12 miles until West Union our home for the night. Unfortunately the Fayette county roads left something to be desired. They may be worse than the fossil road of Floyd county. It was not enjoyable to ride them at all. As we entered West Union we climbed more hills and longer grades than we had all day. It was a bit ridiculous. We are camping at the local high school tonight, and it’s a nicely spread out site. I don’t even have to worry about tripping over a tent as soon as I get out because there is so much space. 

Ray got to camp first and got my name on the shower list at 86….winning!  After I got my tent set up I put Gary and the siblings on the list. The siblings basically arrived in camp and showered within 15 minutes!  Tonight we actually have all the people we’ve connected with right near our tents. Christopher and Jason, the siblings, and the east coast lacrosse guys are all right here. RAGBRAI is all about the people you meet and this week has been no different. All people I would be happy to see again!  Much of this afternoon and tonight was spent chatting it up with new friends and recapping the week. It’s always bittersweet to think that tomorrow night we’ll all be headed in a million different directions. 

I headed into town for a somewhat early dinner. I’m pretty tired and want to get some good sleep and get organized for the morning. There is a mad dash on the final morning to get things broken down and get on the road. A lot of these  people have to catch the bus back to the Quad Cities so they ride fast through on the last day. Thankfully I can take my time and do my thing since my parents pick me up. It’s pretty nice that way. 

I didn’t get any church dinners this week but tonight I did go to the Fayette County Cattlemen’s stand and get a ribeye sandwich, 2 sides, cookie and drink. We can say that even though the roads suck here the Cattleman know how to cook a steak!  Beef it is what’s for dinner!!

It’s going to be cold again tonight. If you don’t hear from me tomorrow it’s because I froze in my tent and never made it out of the high school ball fields. My only hope is that the Cattleman come to the rescue again!  I may need to revisit adding the sleeping bag to the RAGBRAI packing list. 

Today’s ride was 64 miles and around 2600 feet of climb. I actually forgot to look at the data for the blog and I’m currently wrapped up like I’m in a cocoon trying to stay warm so I’m not getting up to look at my bike computer!!

It Only Takes One

I slept well last night and even despite more constant train activity it wasn’t bad at all. The rain stopped early and it was good sleeping temps. Even though I woke up early to write the blog it was nice to take my time packing up. Everyone was going a little slower this morning because today was only a 40+ mile day with two towns. 

I think it was 7:25 when we rolled out of camp!  By far the latest of the week. Mason City really showed up to cheer us out of town. They had people at all the cross streets stopping traffic and there were so many just hanging out and cheering us on. It’s always nice to see the people of the town excited to have us there. 

It was over 20 miles to the first town so we stopped for a Brewer breakfast brat and some homemade cookies. Breakfast of champions of course. We had good roads and a tailwind for quite a while this morning. When we hit Floyd county the roads went to crap. We went past a fossil dig site. I decided not to dig for fossils. Now that I think of it…maybe Floyd county considered the road a fossil and that’s why they haven’t repaved it!

Rockford was a fun little town. I ended up chatting with the Director of RAGBRAI for a bit. This is his first year directing the ride and honestly if the weather and wind is always like this he can be the director for life! He said so many more people did the century than they were expecting, but it’s because the conditions were so favorable. He also said he has warned all the first time century people that they don’t always go that way. 

The Catholics came through with some strawberry pie. This was fresh homemade stuff and delicious!  Their little town mascot was named Rocky so I got a picture with him too. 

I know I’ve said in the past that you can expect to see anything and everything. This year the “I’ve never seen that before” was the guy who has ridden every day in his cowboy boots. I’m not sure how or why he does it!

When we got to Marble Rock they had lots of things to see and do. Their historical society has an old jail, cabin, barber shop, etc. They had lots of photo ops and were doing lots of things on donation. So I got a root beer float and popcorn!  Popcorn for the second time this week…maybe it’s becoming a new RAGBRAI thing!  As I was riding out of town I saw the sweet corn stop, so you know I had to get some! 

H

Leaving Marble Rock I knew I only had 16 miles to go. Unfortunately I also knew some of them would be into the wind. What I didn’t know is that the wind was pretty strong and sucky!  If I’m being honest the ride so far as been pretty “easy” in terms of conditions. Today was a good reminder on just how challenging it can be and luckily it only lasted 8 miles. Of course the wind turbines were loving the wind xtra wind today!

I got to camp first and got lucky number 136 on the shower chart!  I think you’d have to get here by 10 am to be below 50. 

There was a kid walking through our camp with a T-shirt he wanted people to sign saying where they were from. Leland is 6 and going to be in first grade this fall. He was quite the character but we got him a few more states he didn’t have. 

The charter ordered pizza for everyone today so it’s been nice to have pizza in camp. Since we got done riding so early it was a nice to have a post ride snack. I’ll still need dinner tonight, but pizza never hurts!

New friends Christopher and Jason are killing it every day on RAGBRAI!  They did the gravel ride on Tuesday and the century yesterday so they are pretty much professional ragbrai’ers. They are riding heavy touring bikes and said that they would treat themselves to new road bikes if they finish RAGBRAI. I think they are well on their way to new wheels. Ron and Janine are doing well too. They finished the century yesterday and today they played with baby goats so I’d say they are doing RAGBRAI right. 

Tonight I went to the entertainment and downtown with Christopher and Jason. We had a good time chatting about jobs, travel, family, and dogs!  They are suu III per good people and I hope I can see them again the next time I’m in Chattanooga!  I may just need to do that race again after all. While we were down there they had a string band playing and they were really good. Based on what I’ve heard from the main act I would choose them over the main act. 

In case you need a little pick me up today watch this video: https://youtu.be/50_7Mz-pfmM This happened a few days ago and is a perfect example of what the people of Iowa mean to RAGBRAI and what RAGBRAI means to them. I didn’t get to see this in person, but all it takes is one person to change someone’s day!  Kindness, generosity, and positivity is contagious but so is negativity. You want to be spreading the right kind of vibes!  The minute you stop to talk to someone new or buy lemonade from a kid you’re leaving an impact. Make sure you are impacting people in a positive way!

For the day I covered 47.8 miles and 1211 feet of climb. The “easy” days are over and these next two days are going to be much longer with a lot more hills. 

Tailwinds and Monster cookies!

I was hoping to sleep until 5 am today even though I knew camp would be moving at 4 am. Well apparently Mr. Train Conductor wanted to make sure everyone in Emmettsburg was awake at 4 am. Now there are a lot of trains that come through RAGBRAI at night but this guy was overly aggressive. I don’t know how many times he laid on the horn or how long but it was plenty. The train was a topic of conversation in any line I was in today. 

Because of that I was packed and ready to roll out at 6:20. Everyone said they were going to ride their own pace today. I’m not sure if the siblings decided to ride together or not. It was a bit slow rolling out of town but it was cool to see all the shadows of the riders as the sun came up. 

There was a nice little tail wind to start out so it was a fast start that hopefully would stick around all day. I was 17 miles in by the time the first real breakfast option was available. The line was long for pancakes but it would be another 10 miles for food so I had to wait given that I needed fuel for the century. Hopefully you can see the curve of the line in this picture. The good thing is they are pretty efficient at making pancakes and it didn’t take too long. I mean look at this pancake set up!!

At the breakfast stop they were doing a fundraiser for GoServ Global that provides home Safe T Homes for areas like Haiti, etc. They survive strong hurricane winds and earthquakes. I also ran into my coworker Scott Trappe here. He is riding just today and we told each other last week we would meet up at some point. I never thought it would be during the first 17 miles. 

To ride into Algona you had to climb up this big hill but then there were kids selling everything for a $1!  The Algona dollar store if you will. I grabbed a banana and a bag of monster cookies. I didn’t really need the cookies now so I tucked them away for later in the day. I knew I’d probably need a little sugar and mental boost, so I saved them for later. As we left Algona there was a large group of kids just going nuts cheering for us. It was pretty fun. 

I ran into Scott again as we rode into Wesley. We rode together for a bit but then he ran into people he knew so I moved on. He is from Mason City where we are headed tonight. I made a quick stop at the Backpocket but I wasn’t super hungry for a brat so I skipped it. I can’t even believe it as I type that!  

As we got close to Britt they had us riding around all these road closed signs. The road wasn’t closed for us…it was actually closed because they are repairing a bridge. Well that was supposed to be done for RAGBRAI, but it wasn’t so we had to get off and walk a short stretch. It wasn’t bad and kept us from having to reroute to a really busy road. 

In Britt I supported the local football team by buying a water. They are coached by Mark Sanger a Central grad and the brother to my college track coach and brother to a Central classmate of mine. We talked for awhile and then I moved on to the First Lutheran church for some pie. The Lutherans pulled through with some good strawberry rhubarb pie….of course they had gooseberry pie earlier in the day but I was too late for that. I then grabbed a walking taco from the Kanawha reformed church. I ended up talking to some of the locals there and I was able to tell them my fun fact of the day….wayyyyyy back in the day I was in the Britt Hobo Days parade!  My mom’s college roommate was from Britt and we were there to visit. Somehow I ended up in the parade!  

Wait what….did you say Hobo Days?  Yes Britt is home to the National Hobo museum. As we rode into town I hear this very thick accent say does hobo mean the same in the US as it does Australia?  I told her it kind of did, but was more train hopping than homeless as that is what it means there. Anyway Rachel and Ash were riding here from near Brisbane Australia. I asked how they ended up here and they said they read about RAGBRAI in a magazine and decided to come try it out. They were worried that when they got here it would be lame and not as fun as they expected, but they said that wasn’t the case!  They are spending 7 weeks in the US before they head back. This is the start of their trip and they are going to Boston, NYC, Nashville, New Orleans, and a few other places. They are really hitting all the big stops!  I thought maybe they would be bike touring the US, but when I asked I got a big “oh no these bikes are being returned to Chicago and we won’t be sad to see them go!”

On a day where you focus more on the riding than the stops, you tend to see and hear a lot more conversations while riding. I talked to Anthony who is an ER doctor at a VA hospital on Florida. We chatted about his RAGBRAI experience, healthcare, athletic training, and collaborative practice. It makes the miles go by so much faster when you’re chatting with someone!

I also talked to Doug. He was riding a tri bike and had his running shoes on his aero bars. I asked him if he was going for a brick later?!?  We chatted up triathlon a bit and he said he was looking for a Fall 70.3 to do, so of course I told him Muncie was the obvious choice!  He’s another newbie and enjoying the week. 

I had a nice cold pickle in Klemme and then headed to the patch stop. In years past if you did the century loop they gave you a patch. But this year since it was the main route everyone got a patch. I heard later on the bus that they ran out of patches so I bet those people were made. Hopefully they’ll be able to get them sent out to those people. 

As I was leaving the patch stop, Scott pulled up along side me and we rode the last 16 miles together. We chatted about growing up in Iowa, his upcoming swimming reunion, family, and a little bit about work. Again it was nice to be able to chat with someone. We stopped at Backpocket for a beer and then rolled into town. Mason City pulled out all the stops and had people welcoming us on every street. Their theme was “Ride of the Century” and it was clear they put in a lot of time and effort to get ready. 

Today was the easiest century I have ever done!  The tailwind, flat smooth roads made a huge difference. A few years ago on the century I wasn’t sure I’d make it because it was so hilly and hot. Today was the total opposite. It was cooler but the sun was strong. A total of 103 miles and 1860 elevation gain. It was my fastest century ever!!

Ray got to camp well before any of the rest of us so he found a spot shaded by trees. My only complaint is that it is light years from the bathroom. When the siblings got here they decided that they didn’t want to be down in the trees so they opted for a spot way on the other side of our camp. Maybe we aren’t as tight as we thought. Ray had even brought some of their bags down to our area. We only saw Phil and Steve at first, but later I saw Kate and she “was having a moment of annoyance” with them!  Lol. She said I just need a break for awhile. They’ve lasted way longer than 36 hours but maybe a century riding together will be the breaking point!

Our camp is right by the Mason City pool. For our longtime readers we have been to this pool and camp before and it is a ton of fun!  I had to make sure I did a cannon ball off the high dive and took in a water slide. It was a bit on the chilly side but fun!  Our charter even paid for us so with our wristband we didn’t have to pay. What a nice group!!

You know a pool means pool shower and we so didn’t have to play the numbers waiting game today!  Gary, Ray and I headed into town. I had a sweet brisket sandwich from a local food truck and we sat in the town square listening to Don Felder who was formerly with the Eagles. It was basically an Eagles concert. It was pretty good. I was tired and it was starting to rain so we didn’t stay to hear Sugar Ray. 

Im actually writing this blog early on Thursday because I just wanted to sleep last night. Thursday is a short day so there is no need to rush out early today. We had trains through the night but nobody like last night!!

But wait….when did you eat the cookies??  When I got to camp, I was pulling stuff out of my jersey pockets and remembered those tasty treats were waiting for me. It was the BEST reward for a century ever!!

Happy Birthday Elsie

It was a chilly night last night but I can thankfully report that we didn’t have any more helicopter landings during the night!  The siblings even got their tent down before we left. Kate has decided it is best for her just to remove herself from the equation!  

As we left Pocahontas we saw a sign that said Emmetsburgh 25 miles…that’s our overnight for tonight but they’re taking us 55 miles to get there!  We have lots of twists and turns today. Our first stop for the day was 7 miles out of town. I saw a sign that said Heavenly Pies and decided that 7:15 wasn’t too early for pie!  I had Berry Medley and it was great. Homemade probably fresh home grown berries. It was a free will donation to help local veterans so a double win!  

As we rode on to Rolfe I saw a family on the side of the road with signs that said “come to Elsie’s birthday party”. Elsie was turning 5 today and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity for some free lemonade and a celebration with the birthday girl. I gave her a nice birthday tip for the lemonade. Not many people were stopping so I started yelling out to the riders as they rode by telling them to wish her a happy birthday. She had lots of well wishes and said “Thank you”every time someone wished her a happy birthday. She had been in Pocahontas last night with her dad and they were giving rides to people on the golf cart. They told people that we’d be riding past their house and that she would have lemonade for her birthday.  One group stopped this morning with a birthday card and small present for her. That’s what RAGBRAI is all about!  Making a little girl’s day and getting some tasty lemonade. I got a picture with the whole family and then pedaled off. 

Rolfe also had a big freedom rock and something other different statues. I had seen a sign for a BLT so I decided I better not tempt fate and eat something and not be hungry for the BLT. Boy am I glad I did. Not far out of town was Wilsch Family Farms set up selling BLT, pork chop sandwiches, and brats. I think they were running a bit behind because they didn’t think people would come in that early, so I had to wait for my sandwich, but it was worth it. It was an awesome BLT with lots of bacon. Ray ended up getting a pork scoop sandwich and he said it was the best sandwich he has had on RAGBRAI. This family isn’t going to any more stops on RAGBRAI but said they may be there every day next year. It definitely would be a must stop for me. 

While I was finishing up Chewy and his parents came. I’m pretty sure Chewy was waiting for some bacon. Chewy has done a few RAGBRAI now and loves to bark at people as they ride down the road. I don’t know if Murray will ever be up for RAGBRAI but the lady said Chewy loves it!  

After the BLT I had awoken the beast that is my stomach and I was even more hungry than before, so you can better believe that I stopped for a breakfast brat at Brewer Beef and the beer stop. Gotta stayed fueled!!  I’m glad I stopped because I got to see Ralph and Grant!  Ralph has moved to Atlanta now and they brought along his son in law Mason!  They are all doing well and enjoying the route. 

I had decided that today I would eat all of Emily’s favorite foods, so I had a brat and then in Mason City it was time for my first Thelma’s ice cream. Who cares if it was only 10:45!?!  We spent some time at the Grotto as well. A few years ago we went through West Bend so I had seen the grotto already, but still walked through to take some pictures. It is a shrine that was built from rock and stone from all over the world. The priest started building the shrine to the Virgin Mary in 1912 and it took the priest 42 years to complete. It’s pretty cool to see all the little intricacies of it. 

A block from the Grotto was the Iowa corn tent, so my ode to Emily continued today. Had some great Iowa sweet corn. Never pass up the free corn tent!! As I was getting ready to leave the corn tent a guy yelled out go C26. I tried to find him once I got back on my bike but never did. When I made the last stop for the day at Backpocket for a beer I ran into another C26 teammate Matt Miller. We chatted for quite awhile and then a guy came up to us and said his daughter was with C26. Susan Cates we met your dad!  

As I came into camp there was a bad bike accident where they closed off the road and made us all get up on the sidewalk. They were spine boarding the guy when I went by. I hope he is ok. Just another reminder to be very grateful every day you make it back to camp safely. Ray was the first one back to camp so he got all of us (siblings are now part of our family!) on the shower list…my number 160….serious am going backwards on this!  Ray set up his tent close to the hamburger guys from last night just in case they wanted to share again tonight!  Spoiler alert…we didn’t get anything!

Our camp site is small and we are packed in pretty tight. When I got to camp there weren’t too many places to go but a lot of people let to set up camp. I got my stuff and Ray and I thought we could squeeze in the Taj Mahal sibling tent too so we got one of their bags and spread stuff out so they would have a space. They were extremely grateful for that!  We even got their names on the shower list!  I think we may be moving up their list steadily since the first night they thought we were creeping on them. 

It was really hot this afternoon when we got to camp and no shade so it was bit rough waiting for the showers.  Phil and Steve started a game of Uno and I joined in too.  After beating them twice and causing them to feel shame for their family by getting beat by me it was time for my shower!  The other night I had said something to Phil about how happy their parents must be that they are doing this together. He said she was so happy and excited. She bought them matching socks and shirts to wear. Unfortunately….she forgot to give them to them!  Oh well. It’s the thought that counts. 

I ended up getting some Asian noodle stir fry for dinner. Emmetsburg is a cool city with a lake and some great park spaces downtown. We listened to some music and then it started to rain a bit so we headed back to camp. Thankfully it didn’t rain much at all. 

I ran into Janine and Ron tonight. Janine had a great ride but Ron’s seat rail broke 5 miles from the end. Unfortunately he had to get on the SAG to get into town but it didn’t come directly here. Instead it went on a “2.5 hour odyssey” before he made it to camp. He was able to find a new saddle but it’s a Women’s saddle. I hope it works out ok for him. 

Tonight is a quiet night in camp. Tomorrow is a big day and one that hasn’t happened in years. Tomorrow is century day. Normally the century is optional but this year they are paying homage to one of the founders who passed last Fall by going back to the original roots of RAGBRAI where a century was included every year. For the past several years there was just a loop you could add on if you wanted. I think a lot of people will be on the SAG wagon, but we are all in. I’m hoping to get out a bit earlier tomorrow, but we’ll see how the morning goes. 

Vince since I know you are reading this…Ray says hi!  He says he is crushing the hills and I can attest to him stopping at the fire stations!

Today was 55 miles of riding and 1700 feet of climb, so not bad at all. Temps were great and there was a decent tailor wind a lot of the time. I’ll leave you all with this bike parking picture from the beer stop!