A different kind of Zoom

I posted too early last night because right after I published the blog I noticed that we were having an excellent Indiana sunset. I took the “birthday” girl out and we hunted down some nice sky pics. We were also treated to a really nice full rainbow. I couldn’t get a full pic, but I did get this nice rainbow and tent picture. Not a bad camp view in my opinion. 
That rainbow and clouds also made for some really great sunset pictures.  It was nice to be able to end the day in such a beautiful note!  I’m not sure Gabby appreciates the views as much as I did, but she’s always game for another walk!

The wake up on Day 2 of RAGBRAI is always a little rough. You’re tired from the first day but still excited to get going. Today was no different here in Muncie!  I was able to get out and on my bike fairly early this morning. The sunrise was nice and clouds were rolling in. I was hoping I wouldn’t get wet!  Snapped this nice bike silhouette picture against a bean field as I got started!   

I headed out for a quick ride and decided to test out a couple new roads. This is always a bit of a crap shoot because you can come across some terrible roads and major potholes!  To my surprise one of the roads that has been really bad in the past was paved with new black top....hallelujah!  Nothing better than zooming along on a nice new road. It was early so few cars and just my bike and smooth pavement. You really can’t get any better!!  On my ride I saw goats, cows, and 5 yellow gold finch at different points during the ride. This is of note because I’ve never seen them on a ride before, and it’s the state bird of Iowa, so I think they wanted me to feel like I was actually on RAGBRAI!  Once on got on the new roads I hadn’t ridden before I was pleasantly surprised that they were relatively smooth and well maintained. That was until they weren’t...lol. I hit one road that was not great. It looks like they had milled the asphalt about 3 years ago and then didn’t replace it...ugh talk about a teeth rattler! Thankfully that only lasted a mile or two!  I wore my Iowa Hawkeye jersey today...which was a risk because every RAGBRAI in the past four years it has rained on the day I planned to wear that jersey. Would I get rained on today...I didn’t think so, but who knows!  After a nice roll through the Indiana countryside I saw it...the elusive water tower...that means you’re getting close to town. Well this meant today that my ride was almost over. It wasn’t a RAGBRAI length day but still nice to get out! 
Why was my ride so short you ask?  Because unfortunately this isn’t really RAGBRAI and I had to get home in order to be able to join a online conference. A very different kind of Zoom. Don’t get me wrong Zoom has allowed many people to stay connected and teach during a pandemic, but it’s exhausting. I’d rather be zooming around on my bike!!  

Now this “colloquium” is geared towards athletic training education and moving our profession forward. The first talk was very honest and sobering about the state of higher education, especially given the pandemic. I think it’s safe to say that everyone felt the weight of our futures during this talk but also were energized about how we can work together to get athletic training better positioned in healthcare. Our problems won’t be solved overnight but collectively we can make positive change!  

So this Zoom colloquium lasted 8 hours with a few short breaks. I’ve been on my bike for 8 hours but staring at a screen and engaging in discussion is exhausting. The concept of Zoom fatigue is real and honestly I’m fatigued out!  I’m thankful for good work development opportunities but man did it highlight how much I also like unplugging for the week of RAGBRAI. I think after this colloquium is over I’ll need to unplug regardless!  Gabby is not a huge fan of Zoom meetings either!  She has zoom fatigue too and couldn’t even manage to put her head on the bed this afternoon! 

There were no church ladies or Bobs to cook for me today so I had to take that on myself. I threw some chicken and sweet potatoes on the grill and had my first non-ragbrai grill session. It wasn’t as good as Mr. Pork Chop but it was the best Muncie had to offer today. 

Unfortunately the long day of meetings meant that there was no pie too. Total bummer. But I did have this nice rhubarb bar that was pretty tasty. Gotta love when mom sends home some treats for the freezer!  Iowa grown rhubarb and a bar made with love was a perfect way to cap off the night. 

There could be another great sunset tonight, but I’m so tired I don’t know if I’ll catch it. Gabby is currently getting in her exercise by running back and forth with the neighbor dog on the other side of the fence!  She didn’t ride her bike this morning so I guess she needs some exercise too!!  It’s hard work to man the camp site while I’m out riding!

I just realized (it’s 9 pm) that today was college jersey day on Ragbrai . :( How did I miss this?!?  At least I wore my Hawkeye jersey this morning so I kind of played along. Don’t worry I’ll rep my Central College gear later in the week to make up for. Wow that was a rookie mistake!  Shoot!  I always like college jersey day because it’s fun to see how many other Central jerseys I can find.  And it’s always great to have a little CUI fight song break out during the ride. I’ll also miss my annual picture with my buddy Ray in his Villanova jersey. I guess there’s always next year!  

Zoom meetings all day don’t make for great blogs but thanks for tuning in. We’ll see if I can get Gabs to write tomorrow while I’m working!!

Apple Pie Surprise

Well I know you’re all dying to know how sleeping in the tent went with my four legged roommate. Let’s just say we didn’t start out on a great note because of fireworks in the distance. She did ok though and we carried on. Here is a picture of the nice large space I gave her with her own bed. 

She wasn’t happy with that space. She wanted to either be on top of me. Literally at one point she was lying on top of my head. Or she wanted to be in the little space between the tent wall and my mattress. I told her that space wasn’t sustainable all night mostly because it meant I’d hear panting in my ear the whole time!  So here she is in her tiny space. 

After about an hour I convinced that large space was pretty awesome and she finally quit moving around. But if you know anything about German Shepherds you know they’re protectors. So she took it as her night duty to stay up and protect the tent. She did not sleep or even put her head down for over 3.5 hours. Which meant I didn’t sleep much either. So at 1:30 am I took mercy on the pup and we went inside. She was asleep in less than 5 min!  Mental note...it’s much easier to sleep in a tent when you’re exhausted. Next time we will do lots of activity before making her sleep in a tent. Oh and she also needs to learn camping etiquette because every time she goes outside or by the tent she pees right in front of the door!  Come on man....move a little further away. Never did I think I’d be complaining of that instead of porta potty doors slamming in the middle of the night!

Day 1 of RAGBRAI always means an early rise because of the excitement of getting started. Today was no different except it wasn’t due to excitement. It was because I wanted to get my run in before it got hot. Well that was futile. Yikes it was toasty. I got in 8 miles and I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much in my life. When I finished it was only 83 degrees, but there was 80% humidity and a dew point of 72. So just gross!  On my run I saw a man mowing his lawn while smoking a cigarette. I really wouldn’t recommend that. For a variety of reasons!!  I also ran by a house that has a nice garden and lots of little statues in the garden....and all the statues were wearing masks!!  Glad to see they’re doing their part to make sure you all can read an actual RAGBRAI blog next year!!  

Since it was so hot on my run I knew I needed to rely on an old standby RAGBRAI fueling method. PICKLES!  I needed to replace the salt so I had 4 big pickles spears....I’d say that’s equivalent to one big pickle. 

The real excitement of the day started around noon when Gabby was awoke from her mid day nap...told she didn’t sleep last night!  Someone had dropped something off at the door. When I looked to see what it was it was a GrubHub delivery from Bob Evan’s. Now I didn’t order any Bob Evans. So I called the restaurant trying to figure out who this needed to go to. They said don’t worry we’ll just deliver a new one...you get free food. It was about that time when I realized that someone had anonymously ordered me a RAGBRAI lunch. This wasn’t a wrong delivery...they wanted to make sure I had a RAGBRAI experience today. So I got to eat Chicken & Noodles, salad, and apple pie!  That’s right folks...my first pie of RAGBRAI!  I’m telling you Bob could give the church ladies a run for their money!  It was pretty tasty!  Church ladies probably still get the win, but the thoughtfulness and generosity of someone to do that puts Bob heads and tails above the church ladies this year. 

And the best part....I didn’t have to do the dishes or make the food!  This week is looking up!

In addition to being day one of the at home RABRAI, it is also the 8th anniversary of picking up my camping buddy furball. Yep today is Gabby’s gotcha day!  So I decided this afternoon would be a “gotcha day” party for her. Many of her fur friends are out of town this weekend but we still had fun. We went for a walk by the river and she did a little wading. She’s not much of a swimmer!  

We watched some kayakers, she chased some squirrels. The squirrels taunted her...it was a good afternoon. After our walk we headed to Petsmart where I told her she could pick out a toy and a treat. She went up and down both aisles twice checking out all the goods. She didn’t bark at any other people or dogs and she made friends with the cashier!  I think she had a good trip to the store.  She doesn’t get to go often.

After we got her treats and toy I had another surprise for her. We made two drive through stops. When we got home we put on our party hats and had a little gotcha day celebration. She wore a moose hat and I put on my taco hat! Then she got her birthday lunch of a cheeseburger and ice cream pup cup!  It is National ice cream day after all!  How could we not get ice cream to celebrate?!?  Don’t worry I got some ice cream too. I didn’t want her to feel left out!!  

Right as we got back to camp, there was a big gusty rain storm that came through. Complete with thunder. Don’t worry though...I’m a RAGBRAI veteran and I knew to close my tent up before we left!  Hopefully it’s not too wet in there. The nice part about camping in the back yard is you can come in the house when it rains!!

Happy Gotcha Day Gabby!!  Everyone should put on a fun hat and celebrate!!  

This picture cracks me up because she is licking her lips waiting for that burger and ice cream. And to no surprise of mine...she devoured the ice cream first and then ate the burger!!  She actually took the patty out of the bun and ate it and then the bun was last. I guess she likes to eat her favorite things first and save the boring stuff for last!  

I’d be remiss not to mention that on the first day of RAGBRAI there is always a “Mile of Silence” where we remember those that have lost their life while riding their bike. It’s always a sobering mile and everybody turns off their radios and reflects on how lucky they are to be able to see the world on two wheels. So if you’re reading this and ride a bike, please be careful, be seen, and follow the rules of the road. If you’re reading this and don’t ride a bike, please watch out for cyclists, please pass with at least 3 feet, please stay off your cell phone, and remember that cyclist you’re annoyed by could be me. 

I’m not sure what the rest of the evening will bring. I don’t know if there is a band playing tonight or not. I’m guessing the organizer of this at home RAGBRAI forgot to book one! It’s hard to find good help these days. 

Oh I forgot that the toy Gabby picked out was this cute squeaky cow. I think she picked it because she is missing her week at farm camp. 

I decided I should go get some groceries for the rest of the week since I doubt the Bob Evans fairy will keep coming back!  Gabs held down the tent while I gathered the goods. I came across a solid sale on blueberries so who knows...maybe a blueberry pie is in the cards for later this week. I think we’ll sleep in the house tonight. There is potential for more major thunderstorms tonight so Gabby would probably appreciate being inside...and I’d appreciate being dry!

Thanks for tuning in to this little piece of ridiculousness!!

2020 RAGBRAI- the year that wasn’t

Hey have you heard?  2020 sucks!  From races cancelled, to teaching online, to my trip to Spain cancelled, 2020 has been a real bummer. But the suck really didn’t hit until yesterday when I realized that I should have been loading the truck for RAGBRAI. In years past I’ve written a daily RAGBRAI blog for all my faithful followers. Stacey and I started it so people could hear about our adventures. Some friends said I should blog about this week, so I’m going to do it. I promise it won’t be that exciting, but maybe it will be a good break from COVID-19 talk! Hope you enjoy!  I doubt I’ll eat as much pie...but you never know!

Before I set out to the starting town of this week’s RAGBRAI I decided to do a little pre ride. I ventured out this morning for 40 miles and about 1400 feet of climb...which to be honest I didn’t even know existed around here. Muncie is flat!  On my ride I saw a snake, horses, cows, dogs, and cornfields. So almost like RAGBRAI!  There were no roadside pancake places or pork chops....how disappointing. There was an Amish honey vendor but he didn’t appear to be open. I did meet a young Amish man riding his horse down the road. They were just galloping away. I also saw a man picking raspberries from his garden. I’ll admit though he seemed to be eating more than what was going in the bowl. I wonder if his wife will figure that out!  Maybe I should head back there for raspberry pie later this week. 

So the trip to the starting town was way shorter this year. I think it took about 3 minutes to grab my tent from the garage and go out back. I didn’t even need bus snacks it was so fast!   I was able to find a nice open spot for my tent that is mostly shaded so that was nice. Setting up the tent this first time is always a bit stressful because it’s been awhile and you’re just not that efficient. I was able to get it up pretty quickly and then realized that I never unpacked it and cleaned it out from my Bourbon Country Burn trip in October...whoops. Dropped a bit of Kentucky in my Indiana back yard. I’m sure you’ll be shocked to know that I had to put up my tent myself. Gabby just sat in the shade and watched. I see how this week is going to go already. 

It was pretty hot when I set up the tent so I decided to pay homage to Le Mars, IA where RAGBRAI was supposed to start. It’s the home of Blue Bunny ice cream and I know I would have eaten my share of ice cream today. Unfortunately I didn’t have ice cream at home, but I did have this Blue Bunny bomb pop!  Nothing like refreshing with a popsicle after a day of riding and setting up the tent. Thanks Blue Bunny...it was almost the same...almost!  

The expo didn’t have any vendors this year...it was really a drag. No free Honey Stinger, no free chapstick, no free stickers. I hope I can at least find some decent food tonight. 

I’ve never had a roommate in my tent on RAGBRAI so tonight could be interesting. I think there’s a reason everyone sleeps in their own tent. I have a feeling my roommate will pant a lot, howl at police sirens, and generally be unsettled the whole night. Maybe I should just let her sleep in the house by herself!  The good news is I shouldn’t hear any snoring from a nearby tent. I’m fairly certain there are no other tents on my street!!

I think I’ll get a shower before trying to find some food. I’m sure there’s something around here that will fuel me for the week!  I’m hoping the shower line isn’t too long!

Victory...no wait in the shower line!  The water was hot, and it was a private shower!  I didn’t even have to carry my shower stuff. I could get use to this!! The kitchen was making lemon chicken piccata tonight so I had that over some spaghetti. It was pretty tasty, but let me tell you something. When you’re virtually doing RAGBRAI, virtual dishes and clean up are not a thing.  This is a part of the week I will not enjoy. 

I got in the tent and Gabby immediately claimed the air mattress as hers. This is not going to go well. I think I’ll have to bring in a small bed for her too. Anyone want to take bets on how long she lasts in the tent tonight?? Or maybe I should say...how long I last before I kick her out?  Thankfully even though it says it’s still 88 degrees there is a decent breeze. Maybe she’ll enjoy sleeping in nature!

Tomorrow starts the ride...which I’m not doing!  So stay tuned for Day 1 adventures!!!

Picklerific

The last day of RAGBRAI is always bitter sweet. You’re ready to be done riding and packing up your tent every day but you’re not ready to leave your friends, the fun of being on the bike, and the threat of returning to work and the real world!  

We were up earlier than normal because camp was a buzz of people leaving early. The earlier you leave, the earlier you get done and can catch that first bus!  We left about 30 min earlier than normal but weren’t really in a hurry. 

The route today went back the same way we came in yesterday so it seemed like it took forever to get out of town. The first 10 or so miles we had two guys just riding our tail the whole time. Every move we made they followed right along. Eventually we made a power move and they dropped...guys couldn’t hang with our speed!  We stopped for some eggs and bacon along the side of the road early because we had our sights set on lunch today!  Had to save room....and I’m glad we did. 

Remember yesterday I said we had a strong south wind but thankfully we didn’t have to go into it much? We today 75% of our ride was south and guess what?  The wind was still there!!  We had almost 20 of the first miles on the same route as yesterday.....so remember when I said I hit my top speed for the day yesterday?  Well today I had to go up that stinking hill. I kept a solid 7 mph all the way up. What a difference a day makes!!

We got to West Point and they had a cool freedom rock, a corn wagon and a big pile of bikes you could crawl up for your picture. We did some photo ops and reapplied the sunscreen and we were on our way!  

After West Point we had some more miles until we reached the meeting town. The meeting town we were targeting for our lunch. 

The meeting town was called Donnellson and they had a theme for the whole stop. They did an excellent job of welcoming us into town with people at every turn and people dressed up in costumes. They also have people with super soakers and that’s always a hit with me. Nothing better than getting a little refreshment from a sprinkler or water gun!

The theme for this town was “Small Town Big Dill”. Dill pickles for the win. Stacey would have loved this place because she loves pickles. They had their celebration right at the fairgrounds and used the grandstands to feed us. It was great because we had a covered shaded place to order food and eat. 

They were selling pickle popsicles, pickles, pickle boats, pickle sandwiches, pickle bacon cheeseburgers, and I think pickle flavor ice cream. I went with the pickle sandwich. It was a club sandwich on a pickle instead of a bun. Ray had the pickle boat which was chicken salad on a pickle. They were so good. I hope future Ragbrai towns take note because it was probably the best thing I ate all week!! 

After the pickle sandwich we headed to get an acai bowl. We’d seen them all week and had committed to having one today. I picked peaches and blueberries to top mine. It was delicious and just the way to cap off my RAGBRAI food adventures for the week!  

As we were in Donnellson we knew it was getting hot. We had about 23 miles to go so we decided we better finish it off. These last miles were all out in open road and into the wind. We definitely were struggling to keep a good pace, but we just kept moving forward. At one point I think both Ray and I were at a point of defeat but neither of us admitted it. Shortly after there was a group of high school boys along the side of the road handing out ice cold water bottles. Let me tell you....that was the BEST thing that could have happened. Even better than a sprinkler!! I drank most of the water but some was used for cooling on my arms, head, neck etc. It was what was needed to get me to the next town. 

We got to Montrose and we had a big nice shady downhill!  I thought maybe that was the end of the hills for the ride. My parents were in Montrose with Gabby and Bri. We stopped to talk to them for a few minutes but then went on for the last 10 miles. We were told there were only 2 hills left. Well that was very bad intel....there were about 7 hills left. But 2 of them were monsters. Most of the ride was along the river and it was beautiful, but the hills could have went away!!  Thankfully there were quite a few sprinklers and Ray dabbed me a pro at spotting them and making it to the correct side of the road every time. 

The last and final hill was unreal. The only saving grace was that it was right into town so there were people cheering and clapping as we came in. That was a good added motivation!  And when you reached the top of the hill they had misting fans! Thank you Keokuk!!!

When we got to that hill the signs for our team buses were right there, but we wanted to dip our tires so we kept riding on. Well we quickly realized we had to go back downhill to get to the river....which meant we’d be going back up to get to the bus. Oh well. What’s a couple more hills on a week like this?!?  

For the week we rode 514 miles in the seven days!  Overall I think this RAGBRAI was harder than previous, but it was still fun. Some of the towns didn’t have as much “entertainment” in them, but there were other spots that made up for it. The weather was almost perfect. If it wasn’t for that first rain day, we would have had a great week of weather. The sun was strong but not unbearable!  

This year was definitely different without Stacey riding along, but I know she had a great time in Ireland. Hopefully she can make a return experience next year. I know there are several people who thought her missing this year for a honeymoon was a terrible excuse. 

Thankfully Ray returned and he did a pretty good job of filling Stacey’s shoes. He did spot me money one night when I forgot mine. He did sing one line that centered around not wanting to go into the wind. And even though he wouldn’t do goat yoga with me, he did cave to my pressure of fun several times. He was good riding buddy and I’m glad he was there. 

Another year is in the books!  Thanks for reading and thanks for all the good vibes and well wishes. We were again extremely grateful to not have any mechanical or medical issues. Others were not so fortunate, so every year I am able to do this I am grateful. Until next year!!

Central College For the Win

Today is college jersey day so of course I was representing the Central Dutch. You see a lot of different jerseys out there but the Hawkeyes are by far the most prominent!  Ray wanted to wager to see who saw the most of jerseys of our respective schools. He kept changing all the rules though so I didn’t take the bet. He wanted to include all schools in Philly and then all schools in Pennsylvania....but of course he didn’t let me do all other Iowa conference schools. At the end of the day I saw two other Centeal jerseys and had conversation with Dave who graduated from Centeal “before electricity was invented” but he didn’t have a jersey. Ray saw one other Villanove jersey and it was Joe from our camp. They had met last year so I had to get in a picture with both of them. 
The first 25 miles were nice because we had cloud cover and no sun. It was really nice riding because it was mostly flat and the roads were nice. I guess we must have been out of Van Buren county!  It also rained last night so that helped keep the temps down a bit. 

After a breakfast stop where I had pancakes...but you already knew that...the sun started to come out. There was a stiff south wind today and for the most part we didn’t go straight into it but anytime we did it really stunk. In Houghton they had a “red neck pool” so we took a little dip. It’s just straw bales with liner in them. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a sileage bag!! 

As the afternoon went on it got hot pretty warm. I hit my top speed for the week getting to 39.5 mph on this awesome downhill. We rode to Geode state park and I’m guess that this is a beautiful place and would be a cool but challenging ride in and out of the park. It was definitely challenging today but mostly because of how many people there were!  I waited in quite the long line for a brat but it was worth it. When I got back to meet up with Ray I found him asleep on the grass. I guess he needed a nap!  As I was leaving the park I found my favorite Air Force guy Steve!  We have seen each other every year for the past theee years. He’s official retirement is this coming Monday so congrats to him. 

I also have to give a shout out to the state troopers on the ride. They are out there every day and are always blaring good music. They seem like a fun group and they do a great job keeping us safe!

Again today we ran into towns that really didn’t have that much fun stuff to do. It makes the day less exciting when the towns don’t have good entertainment. With the sun being as hot as it was we pushed through the last 15 miles after the state park. When we got to Burlington they had a big welcome banner and people cheering for us. Now this typically means that you’re “done” for the day but we had to keep riding...a lot!!  It took us at least 5 more miles to get to our camp. We had 76 miles for the day when it was supposed to be only 69. Talk about bonus miles!

As we were riding this afternoon and it was hot I told Ray that all I wanted was for some people to put out sprinklers for us. Riding through a sprinkler on a hot day is the absolute best. Well we turned a corner and there it was....the best sprinkler ever. The fire department hung a huge hose from the ladder and it was dumping water on us. It was cold and it was awesome!!  I would have ridden through that thing a couple times. Well done West Burlington Fire Department!!

Our camp was in a great big park. Lots of shade and tons of space to spread out. We had a great spot close to a water fountain and under some trees. Burlington is known for “snake alley” which has been dubbed the world’s crookedest street. They were have a challenge to see if you could make it to the top. We had planned to do this but we realized we’d have to ride another 2+ miles just to get there. After setting up our tent we decided a shower was more important. We talked to Shaun and Kayla and they had done it. Kayla did it twice because wanted to make sure she could finish it before her dad video taped her. We watched her video and she killed it. Even passed a guy!  I guess that Colorado has benefits!  We did go down later and watch people ride up it. I think we would have been able to do it for sure!  

I had my first ice cream of the week outside of Thelma’s while listening to some of the bands.  Burlington is right on the river so we got to see where we were heading tomorrow!!  

Going to be an early night because tomorrow is the last day and we almost always get out earlier on the last day. Everyone is in a hurry to get home. 

Lucy is a Rockstar

It was a little slow going in the morning after the century. But because of our bad camp spot I was still awake at 5 am. I think the hardest part about Ragbrai isn’t the riding but the little sleep you get each night. As we got out of town we were greeted with more hills. Talk about a quad burner!  Thursday is also the day where your booty really gets tired of being in the saddle!!

Since yesterday was a less than stellar food day I was bound and determined to make up for it. I waited in the most ridiculous line for French toast, but look at it...so worth it!! 

I told Ray when we were leaving camp that my mission today (besides food) was to stop at a little kid lemonade stand. Well shortly after we got out of Bloomfield there were these three little girls...Mila, Lana, and Harper giving away lemonade. They were so cute and Lana was quite the hoola hopper. She put my skills to shame, but I still blame all the stuff I had in my back pockets. Who am I kidding...she was good. They had their stand set back in their driveway quite a ways. I told the girls they’d get more business if they went out by the street and yelled “free lemonade” while showing off their hoop skills!  The family was super nice and they had a beautiful home. It was definitely a great stop. And you never pass up free lemonade on RAGBRAI!  A little while later I high fived 3 cute kids along the side of the road so it was a good day!!

After lemonade I was on a mission for Mr. Pork chop. It was perfect timing and a great day to sit in the shade for a nice tasty Iowa Chop!  There was a guy singing and playing acoustic guitar, so we hung there for over an hour. We debated having a Thelma’s too, but I decided against it. I can’t do everything in one day but I was still making up for yesterday. 



When we got to Douds they had a Flintstone theme. We signed the wall and thought it would be funny to get in the Fred and Wilma cut out!  I had a piece of cherry pie and a smoothie here!  I mean told you I needed to catch up on food!!! There was more live music here and the guy sang some Jackson Brown for Ray so he was happy. 

We had some big long grinder hills today and when going up the hills you realized just how hot it was. When we got to the top of one of the hills I decided I needed some watermelon. So I camped right on the side of the road and had a big ol piece of watermelon!  It hit the spot!!

Remember how I said you get tired of being in the saddle on Thursday. Well I have a bone to pick with the Van Buren county highway department....my gosh their roads are bumpy. I thought I was going to impale myself on my saddle. We had some great downhills but you couldn’t enjoy them because I thought my teeth were going to fall out. Get your act together Van Buren!!

When I was riding I said to Ray....”I wonder how Lucy did yesterday”. Well when we got to our campsite we were camped across the street from the Dream Team!  I was going to go find her and see how she did. Not long after we saw her roll up. She made it through the whole century and had finished the ride for today. I’m so proud of her!!  We got a picture together!  She’s one tough little girl!!  Longest training ride 70 miles and then did 122 miles yesterday!  She can’t be any older than 14. 

We had lovely group shower tree shower at the middle school....nobody needs to see that much nakedness!

We headed into town and this town has some unique little restaurants so we went to a Vietanamese Pho restaurant. After we sat down, Ralph, Grant, Joe, and Vito joined us. There are two other guys with them but I don’t remember their names despite the fact that one graduated from Ball State!  We had a great time with them. Vito and Ray talked bands and Jackson Brown. Ralph bragged on his grandson and Joe realized they gave him a beer that was over a year old. Many laughs were had and the food was delicious!! 

On the way back to camp we stopped at a convenience store. Ray wanted to grab a lemonade....like we hadn’t had enough already....and I waited outside. Well a local Fairfield resident was not pleased that Ragbrai delayed her getting her smokes and booze so she gave me a nice one finger salute as she drove off!  What a friendly little welcome!!

Our campsite had a lot of trees so we were serenaded by lots of locusts and then right before we called it a night there was this loud howling sound. I wish I could have captured Ray’s face!  We soon realized these trees were home to several owls!  They were talking up a storm to each other all night. That’s definitely a Ragbrai first!! 

Only two days left of riding!!  And I may get caught back up on the blog. This was written from the Friday morning pancake line....spoiler alert...I have pancakes for breakfast on Friday!

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This is your delayed Wednesday blog. Sorry it’s a day behind but yesterday really took it out of me and blogging wasn’t an option!  So now I’ll be a day behind!

Today was the century loop day. This is where you can add an extra loop to get in 100 miles for the day except this year the loop added on 32 miles to the routes scheduled 85. So for you mathematicians out there that is definitely more than a century!  Ray and I decided to do the loop. And when you decide you commit early so you can’t talk yourself out of it!!  

We started at our normal time and camp was like a ghost town. People always leave early on century day!  We stopped at a small little town and this family was serving breakfast burritos for a free will donation!  They were awesome and little did I know then how clutch that burrito would be later. About 12 miles into our predicted 117 mile day Ray dropped a bottle going down a big hill. He decided to leave it so now he’s down to one bottle for the day. That’s not good!!  After climbing up some good hills we got to the top of a hill and they were giving out free watermelon!!  Soooooo good. And lucky Ray they also were handing out free water bottles and free water. He was back in business and we were cruising. 

When we got to Chariton I was in the lookout for my friend Luke from college. He said he’d be welcoming in riders so I was on the look out. Well the town of Chariton was doing a great job welcoming us by handing out free lemonade. We tanked up on that and while standing there I thought hey I think that’s Luke’s wife and kids!  It was good to see them and meet the family!  Luke’s daughter got a t-shirt from a guy for being the loudest kid out there!  She was very proud of that T-shirt until she realized it has been stored in his back pocket and was a little sweaty!  

We also got to use the movie theatre for the bathrooms. Clean bathrooms, running water, soap....what a luxury!  

Neither Ray or I were hungry in Chariton so we decided to wait until the next town...and well....this is when I realized that today’s route was full of lots of “fake” towns. Meaning it was just a little blip on a map and they never really had “food”. They may have had chips or something but I wanted real food before embarking on this ride. Well we went about 30 more miles and didn’t get anything. I said I have to stop next place regardless.....so this little church I can’t remember saved me. I got 2 hard boiled eggs and a bag of chips and that powered me through. I’ve never had hard boiled eggs on ragbrai before and now I’ve had 3. 

We got to the turn off for the loop and had a smoothie and we’re on our way. The loop crosses over Rathbun lake a few times and it was really pretty. But we were tired so we didn’t really take it in. We also found that there were a lot of hills on the loop. I mean was that really necessary?  

As we were approaching the Resort where we could get out loop completion patch I saw a sign that said we were on the Historic Hills scenic highway....well thanks RAGBRAI that was so nice of you. Now we thought when we saw the resort sign we were home free but no....it was a 3 mile driveway down to the resort...with you guessed it...more hills!  We got our patch, hung it for a bit, and got some nice ice water for our bottles and we were back on the road. 
We still had at least 20 miles to go until we were done.  

Now while riding a long time like that sometimes you just need to break up the monotony by talking about random things. We had a great discussion from mike 85 to 105 on fruits and vegetables. We decided there is no room for cauliflower in our lives!  Ray told me about going crabbing as a kid and I told him about grandma’s chicken and noodles. Maybe it was the miles, or maybe we were just hungry but we talked a lot about food. It definitely helped time go by. 

Also on the century loop at around mile 90, we came across this girl Lucy from the Dream Team. The Dream Team is a team of kids from Des Moines that are probably considered “at risk”. They train as a group and the kids are given a bike and all the gear they need. If the kids complete all the training and do RAGBRAI they then get to keep the bike. It’s a great way to get kids into cycling.  Lucy looked like she was struggling a bit so I talked to her for awhile. I asked her what her longest training ride was and she said 70 miles....this girl was on 90 of a 117+ mile day!  She was doing so awesome but I still worried about her finishing as she seemed to be mostly by herself. I gave her some encouraging words and hoped she made it!  I’ll be looking out for her as the week goes on. 

We stopped at a house that had fans, misters and shade just to break up some of the trip back. I also got a pickle!!!  Yay for pickles!  Stacey would be so proud. Nothing it like a cold pickle on RAGBRAI. 

We finally made it to town and there was a cop directing traffic and he sent us one way and the route said we could go either. Unfortunately he sent us the wrong way and we didn’t see any of our signs for our camp. So we turned around and then went into the town square looking for our signs. We finally found them but it took awhile and of course our camp was way on the outskirts of town. Lucky us...bonus miles. We felt better though that when we got to camp several others had to do the same thing. We finished the day with 122 miles and 4800 feet of climb. It was a tough day but overall a great day of riding. I got to see some beautiful countryside and it was good weather despite the sun beating down on us all day. I’m glad I did it even though it was tiring!

We slowly and begrudgingly set up our tents. Since many people in our camp didn’t do the loop, tent space was at a premium. We ended up by a site by the porta johns and the truck....a terrible location because that means early morning noise!! I had two things that needed to happen that night....a shower and food. Because if you’re keeping track all I had to eat was a breakfast burrito, 2 eggs, chips, a smoothie, and a pickle. add in some Gatorade and water and that’s what fueled me for the day. This girl needs to eat!!!

We headed to the YMCA for a shower and it was a mostly enjoyable experience. The water pressure was awesome so it aeemed like a massage and after today that was well needed. As I walked out of the lockeroom I saw Magnificent Mullet/skippy walking out of the men’s room and I thought “oh my gosh Ray had to shower with him!”  Right then Ray walks out looking a bit traumatized by the experience. I only get small bits and pieces for sounds like it was an interesting expeirnce. As we all rode the shuttle back, Ray tried to engage in conversation with him by asking how his day was. He said he missed the loop for the century...poor guy!  Then he said something about being in Boy Scouts and not getting a patch. I tried to ask him a question and I got the biggest death glare ever. It was very weird. I’m sure more bits and pieces of Ray’s life changing shower experience will keep coming back!  

We then headed for food...it was 9:30 pm by now and I was HUNGRY!!!  Lol. I got a Amish fry pie and a pizza. Works for me!!  We then headed back to camp and I was asleep in about 3 minutes.