One “L” of a Ride

Well I know you’re all dying to know who won the college jersey day contest!  With the storm I forgot to update that…or based on a few texts I got maybe you want to know if my tent was still standing. Let’s get the jerseys out of the way first…Emily with Purdue had 12, in a shocking turn Chris had 4 for Gonzaga, I had one Central jersey, and Ray had 0 Villanova. Ray tried to say he saw 6 at the beer stop, but this “picture didn’t go through”. Cheaters never win Ray. The unfortunate thing for Ray is I saw three Villanova jerseys but they don’t count in his total. Had he seen them, I would be the loser…and that just seems wrong since I’m the only person who went to an Iowa school. Come on Dutch let’s get it together!!

Ok back to the tents. It was still raining when we went outside but not down pouring. Thankfully I had my phone and could use it for a flashlight because it was a maze to get back to the tent. In wet slippery grass and unsure conditions the light was necessary. My tent was up!  That’s a huge win! Chris and Emily’s was up and so was Carlos. The fact that Chris and Emily’s tent was still standing was quite impressive given that they finished getting it set up as the storm rolled in and it was done in a hurray. Well done friends. None of us had water in the tents so another win!  Now Ray and Vince weren’t so lucky. The rain fly came off of Vince’s tent.  Which meant his tent just got drenched. It was still standing though. Ray’s tent….well that was another story. It crumbled down like a house of cards. It didn’t get blown away it just collapsed. So he had to get it back up. Not sure what about where they had their tents caused such a different outcome but I was glad to not have my tent in that area. I think Ray is the only tent at our camp that went down. That’s impressive in its own right. I helped him get it set back up…ie I held the flashlight and he did the work!  Once we got it back and got the rain fly back on, we saw the “damage”. He has areas that were completely dry and then other areas pooled with water. His pillow was dry though, so what more could you ask for?!?  Good thing he had two high absorbent towels!  He said he sopped up water all night!  Vince slept in the school because his tent was a swimming pool!  

When I got back to my tent I had to do some rearranging to even get in. We had thrown things in there in a hurry and now I couldn’t even walk in. So after some sorting and rearranging I went to bed.  We hadn’t discussed a plan or designated leave time for the morning. I decided I’d just wake up when I did…well I think others had the same thought. It was almost 5:15 when I woke up…latest of the week. People were very slow moving to get out. Normally the last day is a mad dash to get on the road and get home but that didn’t seem to be the case. I think people were tired from lack of sleep the night before, completely beat down from the previous two days of riding, and organizing/finding their stuff. 

The Air Force team was also slow moving. Their mangled pop up tent stayed right outside Emily’s tent all night. As many of you know the Air Force team spends the week riding and helping riders along the way. They have a nickname of “guardian angels of the road”. They spend a lot of extra time helping riders who have mechanical issues, medical issues, and directing traffic at accidents. They also took command getting people into the storm shelter. Usually on the last day the  meet up and ride into the dip site into formation but they announced that was cancelled given the storm. I’m not sure why but it probably had to do with not being able to leave camp on time in the morning. 

Once we got on the road it was a short trek to Iowa City where we went through the University of Iowa. We rode into Kinnick stadium, I waved at the kids in the children’s hospital, and then we went on our way past the baseball field, Carver Hawkeye arena, the new wrestling complex and then onto campus. I was disappointed they didn’t have Caitlin Clark welcoming us but I did point out to Ray where they would put her statue one day!  Since I had stopped earlier in the week at the state Capitol, I thought it only fitting to stop at the Pentacrest and get a picture with the Old Capitol as well. It was bright and Sunny was we rolled out into downtown Iowa City. But that quickly changed. 

The fog rolled in and we had a misty hazy ride to West Liberty. It was a welcome reprieve from the heat and hot sun the last three days. I still hadn’t eaten from last night so breakfast was a MUST in West Liberty. Well the Fine Arts students won the day!  They were selling banana crunch wraps. And I should have bought 2!!  Oh well it was delicious. You could make them at home and I would highly recommend. Flour tortilla, peanut butter, one whole banana, granola, and honey. Wrap and enjoy!  If you’re allergic to banana or peanut butter you may want to pass!! They were good, easy to grab and go, and supported a good cause. A win win win in my book!

We ran into Carlos and Vince in West Liberty and Vince had the audacity to say it was cold.  Come in Vince I know you’re only .2 percent body fat but it was not cold!!  The four of us got a picture as we knew were going to complete the whole week. Gary ended up sagging today because he got completely wiped out from the day before and said he didn’t sleep well. He was just going to ride with the bags to Bettendorf. Vince and Carlos said they didn’t want to dip their tires so we didn’t stick together after that. I passed on the ribeye steak sandwich at 9:00 am but that was probably a mistake. I was still hungry!

Riding to Muscatine we had a great tailwind and flat roads!  It made for quite the enjoyable ride. Muscatine had a great set up along the river. Muscatine is known for growing melons and they were giving away lots of watermelon. And they knew how to cut it…big huge slices!  So we ate even more watermelon. While watermelon is delicious it doesn’t do much to fix hunger!  So I ended up getting a Mac&Cheese quesadilla…yep I had never heard of that either. It was pretty tasty. I passed up getting pie because I figured that would be a good thing to do in the last stop before Davenport. EPIC MISTAKE! 

From muscatine the route took us along the River most of the way. It was pretty flat and had some good scenery. As we rolled i to Buffalo I was looking for pie signs but didn’t see any. I missed my last chance at getting pie number 7 for the week. You’d think I was a rookie or something. Definitely shouldn’t have passed up the major pie offerings in Muscatine. 

By the time we for into Buffalo I was very ready to be off my bike. My butt was done. I think I groaned, grunted, swore with every bump of the road. 500+ miles is a lot regardless of how trained you are. As we got into Davenport…or sort of final destination they had signs welcoming us into town.  One of my favorites was “Davenport…America’s favorite sofa!”  As we came up to make the turn for the ending and dip site we had to cross the railroad tracks. Well of course a train was going through. And we waited, waited, waited as it slowly rolled through. When we could finally see the end…it stopped…three cars from clearing the crossing. Maybe the conductor is the same guy who does this in Muncie regularly. So I got out of line, went further down the road and tried to get across. 

The line for the dip is always long!  They were saying it would be 90 minutes so we got out of line, took some pics and went further up the river to dip!  But we did get our commemorative medal! You can’t do RAGBRAI and not dip your tire. Especially after finishing this week!  

After dipping we went back to the the casino in Bettendorf where we were greeted by my parents, three dogs, Ed, and Gary!  Ed survived his time hanging in the hotel and Gary had already loaded Ray’s bags in the car.  Saturday’s ride was a measly (haha) 77 miles and 1450 feet of climb. For the week I rode 541 miles!  Not too shabby!  I’m very grateful to have made it through the week without a mechanical issue or accident. 

Final Thoughts:

• It wasn’t as crowded or as much of a headache as I was expecting. 
• The Methodist raspberry peach pie was by far the best
• It was the best ever year for watermelon on the ride
• Little kids lemonade stands are hard to pass up
• NEVER ride your bike up the hill in Colfax or from Kellogg to Grinnell. 
• “Hills are my friend, and sometimes I hate my friends” was the best sign of the week
• Coming into Des Moines and past the Capitol was pretty cool
• Never underestimate the mental boost a grab and go freeze pop can have 
• People are genuinely kind and everyone looks out for each other on RAGBRAI. The number of people who offered free water, shade, shelter from storm, etc can’t be understated. Maybe we could do more of that the other 51 weeks of the year. 
• A great town theme can make all the difference…looking at you Slater!
• Shade is king
• That little gravel stretch has motivated me even more to get a gravel bike 
• 95+ degrees with a headwind is like being a muffin in a convection oven instead of a regular oven

I told you about the Air Force so here are some of their stats:

177 riders, 16 support crew

Wheels/tires changed - 1162

Chains - 488

Medical assistance- 439

“Other” -521

These are all done volunteer and they use their own supplies/money to do the ride. It really is remarkable what they do and RAGBRAI wouldn’t be the same without them. 

Here are some pics of some “unusual” bikes and sights for the week. No pics of the rollerbladers but they were back too. 

All these people rode like this the whole week!  I didn’t get a picture of the guy riding backwards…his neck has to hurt!  

Finally, a HUGE thanks to the Fah family for running our charter all week. Jonathan, Karee, Jamie, Makenzie, Max and many others did an over the top job in getting our camps set up each day, getting us fun treats to beat the heat, and always having a positive attitude. They were the best. They own Argo Moving in the Quad Cities so if you ever need a moving company please check them out. They make our RAGBRAI experience and camp what it is!

Another year done. Not sure what 2024 will bring but thanks for reading along. For all the comments and encouragement!