Sprinkler Paradise

Let’s cut right to the chase!  It’s HOT!  Today was a shorter day and we just planned to have fun and take it easy. No head down and hammer today. Thankfully that meant we’d get done “early” but that also means setting up a tent in the heat of the day. When I got to our Death Valley camp site at 1:15 it was 93 degrees and feels like 105. Our site has FULL sun and ground as hard as a rock so there is no respite. 

Ok back to this morning when it was cloudy and nice. It was a slow roll out of camp and we left about 6:35. Our latest leave yet. The first few pedals were a bit of a struggle but we got rolling the legs loosened up a bit. 

The first stop was Slater and they reeled me in with their cinnamon roll signs. As we approached they had a hot air balloon set up and a great Dr. Seuss theme!  They had lots of good photo ops!  From Slater we headed to the craft beer stop for our breakfast brat. We had some good shade and a nice breeze so it was quite pleasant. 

Madrid had a Mad Hatter theme and had great stuff painted on the streets!  Since our plan was to stop for acai in a few miles, we just did a water fill and moved on!  As we were leaving Madrid they said we could take the trail 2 miles to get to the High Tressel Trail bridge. I had never been there but it is an iconic cycling trail in Iowa, so what’s a little 4 mile detour?!?  The trail was shaded and smooth so you can’t complain about that. It was really cool to see and we got some good pics. Chris and Emily didn’t want to go so we said we would meet them at acai. Plus us adding in a few more miles made acai worth it!!

There was a fun brass band playing at Mr. pork chop and the acai place so we got some entertainment while we were there. But we also heard some disappointing news…today was the last day for acai. Guess I’ll switch to Thelma’s cookies tomorrow!!

Next stop was Polk City. It was starting to get warm at this point but still manageable. Well Polk City rolled out the welcome mat with some very solid fire hydrant sprays!  Plus a lot of locals had hoses and sprinklers set up! As I was riding into town I saw my C26 teammate Matt. We rode together until we got into town. His team sleeps in houses each night, and I think I will be very jealous of him tonight. I decided to get some cold watermelon!  The rest of the crew got corn but I wasn’t feeling that today. I wasn’t planning to get pie here but the Center Grove Orchard had different pies. They had Country Apple and Farmstead Apple…well not knowing the difference was enough for me to break down and buy one. I opted for country Apple which has a crumb streusel topping. Basically it was Apple crisp with a pie crust. It tasted good, but I think I’d rather have regular apple crisp. 

Leaving Polk City it was officially HOT. The sun was fully out, there was a hill right as we left town and I knew we’d be in for a toasty last 25 miles. What I didn’t know is that we were in for more sprinklers and misters than I have ever experienced in one day and honestly probably more than I’ve ever had in a single week. Ankeny’s sprinkler game was top notch!  I need everyone on the route tomorrow to take note because they are going to be absolutely necessary for survival. Seriously today they happened every quarter to half miles for almost 10 miles. I got some freeze pops from some kids, got soaked by kids with big water guns and rolled on. I was going to stop for ice cream, but after a few freeze pops I decided I didn’t need them. 

Leaving Ankeny we were on a completely closed road all the way to Des Moines. Shutting down a Highway and two major downtown city streets in the state capitol should tell you all you need to know about what this ride means to the state of Iowa. We don’t typically go into big cities, and definitely not Des Moines. This rolling circus is something that takes over a place and they pulled out all the stops for the 50th. I don’t usually complain about newly paved roads…BUT new black asphalt on a 90 degree day is not my idea of a great time. It was very toasty. They took the route past the Capitol and then through downtown and ended at water works park. 

They were predicting that today would be crowded since it was a shorter day and going into Des Moines. I didn’t notice that it was more crowded than any other day, but it was very obvious that there were lots of bandits and unregistered riders. They all did the same thing…they rode down the middle of the road in the center lane, going half the speed of traffic, carried on a casual conversation and then the tell tale sign was they almost always had a backpack or sling pack. Nobody who was doing this all week was wearing a sling pack!!  

Everyone is all camped in the same HUGE park. It took awhile to get to our camp site, but it could be because I wasn’t looking for the “Death Valley” signs. Yep that’s right…our camp area sucks in terms of shade. The only shade is in the few pop up tents that crew put up. Everyone is crammed under them hoping for a little glimmer of shade. Setting up the tent was brutal, but I got it done. Then I headed straight to the shower…I didn’t really want to shower because I knew I’d be soaked in no time, but I also could be the west sweaty gross mess any more. 

We found some small slivers of shade across the street so I’ve been sitting there for a couple hours writing the blog. Chris biked down to get some Mediterranean food for us….which was super awesome of him. While we were sitting here Jonathon and Jamie (the guys who run our charter) came by and we’re handing out Italian ice to everyone. They are the nicest guys and were giving it to anyone and everyone. They knew it was hot and were just trying to do their best to spread a bit of good cheer!

Tomorrow is going to be hotter than today and we have 88 miles with over 4000 ft of elevation. Today we did 59 miles and 1040 feet so it is definitely going to take longer and be much harder. I plan to roll out super early and get as much in before 11 as I can. Seriously say some prayers to the sprinkler gods to show up tomorrow. We’ll need every drop. 

Oh and for the record in the 90 min it has taken to write this the temp has gone up 4 degrees!  Feels like 109 is really great let me tell you!  I’m thinking I may take my rain fly off tonight to get max ventilation. Ok off to brave the hot tent for awhile!  

The RAGBRAI hunger monster struck and was very hungry!  in the past I’ve talked a lot about second breakfast, but today was a new one….second dinner. I was feeling hungry and low on fuel. Knowing what tomorrow entails I decided to get on the shuttle and head to the concert area for food. Pizza followed by some ice cream seemed like a great idea!!  My neighbor Sonny, whose birthday is today would love these John Deere shuttles!! Happy Birthday Sonny!!  And thanks to you and Mary for mowing my yard while I’m gone!!