Newbies Everywhere

Well that was the craziest wind we have ever had at night. It didn’t storm but I wasn’t sure I would make it without my tent collapsing or tearing. Every time I got close to falling asleep I would get hit with my tent collapsing in on me. I thought about moving more to the center but figured me holding down the tent was better. Thankfully the wind got better around 2 am and I slept hard until 5!  

I really hope the wind doesn’t become a standing theme for the week. I had to laugh at this semi as we were leaving today. Normally in Iowa we say it’s not the heat it’s the humidity, but this trailer may some up the week even better. 

This was the most crowded start to a RAGBRAI I have ever experienced. The train going through town right as we got started didn’t help but I’m fairly certain all 18,000 riders left at once. For the first 4-5 miles it was a real easy soft pedal at a speedy 7-10 mph. I thought when we got to the first town it might get a bit better but the town was small and it just got even more crowded. 

Today was a weird day in terms of food and route. The route only had 3 stops on it and they were about 20 miles a part. Typically they are more like 10 miles between towns. To complicate things we were going through a county that does not allow any roadside vendors. So no craft beer stops, no roadside breakfast vendors, etc. which made everyone stop at the first town because we all knew we wouldn’t get another opportunity for 20 miles. I got all you can eat pancakes and sausage!!  The breakfast burrito looked amazing but the line was forever long and there was no line for pancakes so they won out!

You always see some good stuff on the ride and today was no different. I saw and heard my first dog on the route. This little guy was barking up a storm. There was also a guy pulling a cross.  Don’t know how heavy it was but I would hate to have to pull that with a strong cross wind. 

The route was rolling hills most of the way, but nothing unmanageable. We got to the midway point at 9:30 so that was really early. Decided I couldn’t pass up the Iowa corn tent today, so I had my first corn of the week. I was searching for pie and didn’t find any so I decided to roll on out of town. As we left town there was a HUGE freedom rock that was pretty cool. And then I saw it…St Mark’s Lutheran church had PIE!  I opted for the rhubarb peach because that isn’t a combination you see often. It was good but it won’t replace strawberry rhubarb on my pie list. 

There was supposed to be 19 miles to the next town and we had the biggest climb of the day in that stretch. I kept seeing signs for “High Point” but I wasn’t sure what that was except I figured it was at the top of the hill. Well when we got there it was labeled as the highest point we would reach on the ride all week. There were several vendors set up at this farm that were doing everything by donation since that county ordinance wouldn’t let them sell. There was a nice view, shade, breeze and a good vibe. I wasn’t planning to eat anything but then decided why not start the week off right with Mr. Pork Chop. The FFA kids were doing a pedal pull competition so I needed to do the Eastern Iowa Pedal Pullers proud and compete. Well let’s just say I maybe should practice with the tractors a bit more because I was embarrassing. It was fun though. This High Point was a great little stop that we didn’t know was  needed. 

When we got to Battle Creek I realized I had made a rookie mistake. They had been advertising BLTs for the last 20 miles and that sounded really good. But the moment of Mr. Pork Chop weakness meant I really didn’t need more pork just a few miles later. 

We had some really nice tailwind the last part of the day so that made some fast easy riding. We are staying in Ida Grove tonight and there are some “castles” and medieval like architecture throughout the town. I’m not sure why but it is there. We are camping on the outfield of the HS baseball fields tonight so the ground is soft and not rocky. Always a bonus. It sounds like I lucked out on my tent as the talk this afternoon  is that several people suffered ripped or broken tents last night from the wind. Thankfully minus it being annoying my tent held up just fine!  It was pretty breezy when we set up camp but we lucked out with it not being too hot. 

After setting up our tents we were just hanging out and this newbie group of two brothers and a sister were setting up their huge tent. It was comical to watch and listen to them. Now I’ve never dealt with siblings, but it is exactly what you would have expected to watch 3 siblings “work together” to get this done!  They realized we are watching them and started making conversation. The originally grew up around the Cincinnati area but now live in Michigan, California, and Ohio. The sister has ridden her bike across the country and according to her brothers…”she could kick anyone’s ass here”. They have 2 other siblings but said they were not invited on this trip because it would have ended very poorly. They said the “36 hr rule” is a real thing…meaning that you can only spend 36 hours with family before it all goes bad. I can’t wait to see them tomorrow because today they seemed to still be on speaking terms despite all sharing a tent. Steve is the oldest brother at 50 and Phil is the youngest at 42. We didn’t get the sister’s name, but she is in the middle in terms of age. 

After we got showers Ray, Gary, and I headed into town for dinner and to see what was happening. When we were looking for food I spotted Ryan Van Duzer and his girlfriend Amelia Boone. Ryan is a You tuber and has vlogged about RAGBRAI before. Amelia is an obstacle course racer and ultra marathoner and a total badass. I talked to them for awhile and got my picture with both of them. Unfortunately Ray has the pic with Ryan but it did happen!!

I got an acai bowl for dinner and a pork jerky stick. As we waited for the shuttle a guy asked if I had done the Chattanooga Ironman race (I had my race bag with me)…Christopher was from Chatt and had volunteered for the race. He and his partner Jason were with QCBC and newbies too. It was fun talking to them and hearing about their first day experience. 

As we sat at camp we ran into Jim who was walking  around camp with an actual camera. We ended up taking to him about how much cameras and photography has changed from film to digital. Jim is from the Quad Cities and is on his 18th RAGBRAI. He was an interesting guy who ended up taking a picture of us at camp. Who knows where that pic will end up!!

We talked to Phil and Steve some more. They are cool guys and hopefully we will hang out more with them this week. I also ended up talking to Ron and Janine who are from Seattle. It is their first RAGBRAI too. So many newbies I have met today. Ron is originally from NJ and went to Keane University. Stacey would have been so proud. Janine grew up in the Quad Cities and went to Wash U in St. Louis. They were a fun couple to talk to. Janine rides an e-Bike so we talked about that and charging them so you can get through the route. 

The wind calmed down and tonight should be a much better night in the tent!!  The concert is rocking and I can hear it perfectly from my tent!!  I think it might get pretty cool tonight. 

For the day I rode, 55 miles and 2600 ft of climb. Despite what people were saying it wasn’t bad at all. Tomorrow is a much longer day but not the climb so it should be fun.  Here’s hoping for more tailwind!!