Recency Bias

It may be recency bias but I think today way the hardest day I’ve ever done on RAGBRAI. We had it all…heat, humidity, headwind, and hills…copious amounts of hills. But I won’t complain about the headwind because there were so many hills it didn’t matter and it helped to keep a bit cooler. 

I actually slept really well last night. Got up at 4:45 and was on the road by 5:45. The guys rolled out before me and  Chris and Emily left later. It was super foggy and beyond humid this morning. The bad news was the fog created very thick air making it very stuffy. The good news was the fog was so dense you couldn’t see the hills ahead!! Leaving Des Moines we went through the state fair grounds. I haven’t been there in years but spent a lot of summers there!

Since today was a pedal and try to not to die of heat stroke I didn’t spend a lot of time in towns. I just got the nutrition and hydration I needed and moved on. So here’s a list of the food/drinks I had while riding:

Pancakes, sausage, 2 glasses of orange drink

Apple pie Thelma’s ice cream

Gooseberry pie..the elusive pie of a RAGBRAI 

Ribeye steak sandwich 

A giant peach

A huge pickle 

8 Oz of pickle juice

3 bottles of Gatorade endurance 

6 bottles of water

One pickle juice shot

2 chocolate chip cookies

I had big enough plans when I got to Colfax. But before getting there we had to do 2 miles of gravel because a bridge was out. Everyone was worried about it going in to today, but honestly it wasn’t that bad. They had scraped off most of the gravel so it was hard packed and fairly easy. The only issue was the amount of people so it slow going and took a lot of concentration to watch what everyone else was doing. The gravel led us in to Colfax. Family friend Lisa Holdgrafer grew up there so I was going to stop to see her dad and family at their farm….BUT I missed it. Lisa had told me that Colfax had hills and she wasn’t kidding. The hill in the town of Colfax was the worst hill of RAGBRAI so far. I almost fell over on it but I did get a picture of where Lisa and Gary were married! I blame that hill for missing Lisa’s family. 

The Thelmas cookie followed by pie wasn’t planned but when you hear that there is gooseberry pie you don’t pass it up. So the the Amish in Newton well done on your pie operation!  They are serious about the prep. They bring their wooden pie racks and everything. 

After Newton we headed to Kellogg and that’s where i got the steak sandwich. It was 11:00 am when we got there. The sun had just come out and it was hot. I checked the temp and it was 93 feels like 103…I decided I wouldn’t check again in order to save my mental sanity!

From Kellogg the hills were unrelenting. The sounds from the road were a lot of huffing and puffing and the sounds of internal struggle. I wasn’t sure I’d ever make it to Grinnell. I pulled off to a place that was selling peaches and pickles and sat in some shade. They were nice and had water coolers out for people to fill bottles. 

When I got to Grinnell I had a guy take my picture as proof of life in case I didn’t make the last 25 miles. I wasn’t sure it was going to happen with the heat. But right as I left town clouds rolled in and it was such a welcome relief! I bought some homemade cookies from Iola a little girl in Grinnell. She didn’t talk much but the cookies were delicious!!  

Had the clouds not come I really don’t know what today would have looked like, but we lucked out and still got in a very hot humid day. As I was riding today and thinking about how hard it was I was reminded that I’m lucky to be able to do this. Two years ago I met Aarika and Megan very briefly. Sadly, Aarika passed away last August from colon cancer. Those two brought so much light and even though we didn’t interact much they made me appreciate the life I get to live. 

I got by today unscathed but I can’t say the same for the rest of the crew. Gary’s zipper broke on his jersey going into Colfax. Lucky for him the football team was selling t-shirts so he bought one!  Then he threw his jersey in the trash. 11 miles later as he rolled into Newton he had a an epiphany….his wallet was in his jersey that he threw in the trash…so he turned around and rode back, dug out the jersey and found his wallet. Given the heat he decided to sag. Instead of using the RAGBRAI sag, a lady called their church bus and they brought him to Toledo. 

Carlos put his glasses in his back saddle bag, but forgot to zip it up!  So his glasses fell out. He realized it when he got to the next town. He had the DJ make an announcement and a few people said…oh yeah we saw glasses on the road about three miles back. Then another guy said…don’t bother to go back for them…they’re toast. So he now no longer has his glasses. 

I haven’t seen Emily and Chris yet. They tried to sag about midway through today and waited forever. Then they decided to ride on. Eventually they got a sag to Toledo. 

I saw Vince in the last 7 miles. I rode up and said “hey are you from Philly”, he said, “yeah, how’d you know?  Did you hear me say, water?” He had no idea it was me!  Then when he got to camp he left his bike by the trucks, an hour later he said he needed to go get his bike….45 min later he said I need to go get my bike. …he forgot why he went down the first time and never got it!  So he went back down a second time and forgot to get the bike again!  I think he needs food!! 

We had a few sprinkles this afternoon but was still very humid. It wasn’t until 7:00 when we get some good breeze and less humidity. For the day I did 92 miles and 3780 feet of climb. We had a decent amount of sprinklers today and Grinnell had some nice fire hydrants going. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be just as hot and humid, slightly less hilly and slightly shorter…less than 10 miles shorter. So not really sure what the day will bring, but I can guarantee we will have laughs no matter what! Today has been one full of laughs. But hey at least we have a great camp site with a good breeze.  

Emily and Chris just got to camp…Emily, how are you doing? “Oh you know…just another day in hell” They are in great spirits as you can imagine when rolling into camp at 7:40. 

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!!

Methodist Century Celebration

Well everything I said yesterday about the morning routine I sped up big time this morning. I was up at 5 but we left at 5:51!  I was in high speed mode but it was worth it to roll out with the sunrise. The temps weren’t low but the humidity was high. I think I was soaked in sweat within the first 5 miles. We rode on Hwy 30 to the first town. They actually closed this highly trafficked state highway for 3 hrs this morning so we could have room and not fight the cars. We all left together this morning. I think Ray and I are the only ones who are going to attempt the century today.

We had a nice tailwind at times so it was easy going early. Once we got to Glidden I knew I needed some breakfast if I was going to do the century. Let me tell you, the Boy Scouts won the efficiency award. They were selling breakfast burritos and had 7 lines with four people working each line so there was no waiting. The burrito itself was STUFFED with meat. I would have preferred an equal balance but hey you can’t be choosy on RAGBRAI. As i left town, we got stopped by train I tell you the heat was brutal. Just look what it did to this lady on the back of a tandem. 

From Glidden we went to Jefferson. I will say there’s first early miles we’re head down and get as much done as we could before the sun got super strong. While the sun wasn’t out yet the humidity was  insane. I probably sweat out three bottles in the first 10 miles. People were cruising but you could tell everyone was mission focused today. There was predicted heat in the upper 90s and with the century day it was going to be long. 

When we got to Jefferson we decided just to do a water full and move on. I did get a picture of the famous bell tower and then noticed later that Ray was actually in the picture. The funny thing is, Ray didn’t even see the bell tower. As you can see…it isn’t hard to miss!  I topped off my water at a trail head for the Raccoon river trail and they were giving cold water bottles inside. 

Rippey was the meeting Town and although I had my sights on acai today, I couldn’t afford to get burned like I did yesterday. Once we left Rippey we wouldn’t see another town for 35+ miles if we did the century loop. So I knew I needed to eat something and pray that acai came through for me later. Well let me tell you…Jesus pulled through. The Methodist church had pies and all their signs coming into town said that Jesus made the pie and they had signs that said “Jesus blessed, pie obsessed”. Well I can attest that today’s pie, raspberry peach, is at the top of the list for best pie of the week by far. It will take a lot to knock off the flaky homemade crust and deliciousness that I had while sitting in a small patch of shade outside the Methodist church. For the record, the Methodists are winning the week so for. 

After pie and more water filling we headed toward what we hoped would be acai!  And guess what 5 miles later there was a sign “big acai ahead” I let out a audible yes and a fist pump. I’m sure the people around me thought I was nuts but I was very happy. There was no line and I got fresh peaches and blueberries in my acai bowl. It was. Everything I had hoped it would be. 

We didn’t know how long it was until we turned to start the loop but Ray and I had decided we would meet at the final turn and decide if we were going to do it or not. At this point it was was about 11:30 and it was full sun. We were riding into a headwind and it was HOT. So hot that I was seriously thinking about not doing the century. I had already consumed almost 3/4 of my bottle that I had just filled up and I wasn’t sure I’d make it. It was at that point I saw a roadside stand that said they had cold water. It wasn’t a cute little kid but desperate times call for desperate measures. What I found was a girl raising money for her wedding… so I got my bottle filled used the little that was left to douse my head and back and down the road I went. Not even a mile down the road there was a lady handing out freeze pops as we flew by. I got a blue one and rode on happily eating and ice cold popsicle as I pedaled. All of a sudden I didn’t feel so hot anymore!  At the turn for the century loop I grabbed some pickle juice and secretly hoped that Ray wouldn’t say he wasn’t doing the loop. I wanted to do it but also wanted to know that someone else I knew was out there too. He got to the turn and we decided to carry on. We’d rendezvous at the patch stop. 

When you complete the loop on RAGBRAI they give you a special commemorative patch that says you did the 100 mile day. The stop is usually on the loop by about halfway and never at the end so you have to “earn it”. I talked to a guy from Kenya and he was doing his first RAGBRAI. He said it was hotter and hillier than he expected!  Welcome to Iowa my friend!! I got lots more water. Some to drink and some to pour over my head, a beef stick, and a celebratory patch selfie. They also had an air conditioned shop that we spent a bit of time in. As we were leaving the owner of the farm said, you’ve got one steep downhill, a short steep uphill, and then the last hill is a “son of a gun”!  So we knew we had a challenge ahead of us finishing this loop. We definitely got the first two parts of his warning but never saw the long hill he prophesied. Honestly I thought he didn’t know what he was talking about and clearly the little steep one was the big one….I mean what would a local know anyway?!?!?!….turns out…. A LOT!

I completed the loop and had a good conversation with Steve from Kansas City about bragging rights for finishing the century. We met back up with the route again and the lady was still handing out freeze pops so I went to get another one. Lucky for me she couldn’t get one torn off so she gave me two!  I stopped for my first craft beer of the week..I earned that! 

By this point in the day we went from full sun and light breeze to cloudy and strong breeze. Talk about game changer!! All of a sudden the dread of the afternoon heat was gone and it didn’t seem so bad. After a brief stop in Luther we headed out of town. As we were leaving there was a sprinkler set up so of course I rode through it. At the same time this guy cut Ray off as he bee-lined to the sprinkler…as Ray was saying “ did you see this guy cut me off?” He exclaimed…Vince!  Vince wanted to get to that sprinkler bad!. I looked to my left and said “Carlos!”  I hadn’t seen them since I had rolled out of camp. Turns out Carlos hadn’t seen Vince for 20+ miles but we all ended up there in Luther at the same time!

We had 15 miles to go but we made one last stop at the Iowa Craft beer tent so I could get a brat and another beverage!  It hit the spot for sure. From there it was 10 miles to the end Ann’s let me tell you those miles were by far the hardest of the day. Mostly because it was into a headwind and because I had nothing to look “forward” to. No acai, no patch, no next town, etc. Apparently looking forward to the “END” isn’t good enough for me. Geesh!!! The headwind sucked until we made a turn and headed north…then it was game on!  I had a sweet tailwind and I put the hammer down!  It was fun. I will say in those last 10 miles the sprinkler and hose game was strong. I went through 6 different ones. I hope the people on Thursday’s route take not because they help so much from a physical cooling standpoint and morale booster!!

But wait…what about that son of a gun hill???  Well shortly after you passed the turn for the loop as you heade towards Ames you went around a bend and saw a very nice downhill, but in the distance you saw these little ants pedaling up the hill. I just started laughing…oh that guy was taking about this hill. It was over a mile long and slow long grinder. Just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling!

As we got to Ames I knew our camp site was going to be early. As I approached the turn to go to camp my bike computer said 97 miles….oh heck no…I’m riding 100 not 97. So I decided against my better judgement to keep pedaling knowing that I would go down this hill and have to pedal back up. Ames is the home to Iowa State University and me being and Iowa Hawkeye fan I dontt have a lot of love for the Cyclones. But knowing that family friends (I’m looking at you Gary Holdgrafer) would be upset if I didn’t go ride by Jack Trice stadium, I decided to bite the bullet and ride further knowing it meant more hills. I did a loop around the stadium, took my picture and headed back up the hill to camp. 

After a shower where I had a nice convo with Terry from Maquoketa about our growing up in Jackson county and him qualifying for the Ironman World Champ from his performance at IM Wisconsin last year we (Chris, emily, and I) heeded out for food. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant where I ate my weight in chips, had a huge century celebration margarita and a fajita quesadilla. After the walk back to the camp. It was dark and I still needed to blog. So here I am tired and hot but finishing up for the night. 

My efficiency tomorrow morning will be terrible because my tent is a mess…I did nothing after get my tent set up!  Today I finished with 101 miles and 1877 feet of climb. I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff but I’m tired!! Oh and my top speed was 35.5 mph…that was right before the monster climb!

Acai and Carbon disappointments

What my camp site had in views it lacked in silence last night. I was surrounded by snoring and my tent was right by a major sidewalk so that meant lots of traffic all night. But I’m happy to report that neither Chris or Emily were decapitated last night!

The morning started off a little rough for Ray. He was putting on “face sunscreen” only to realize it was actually his petroleum jelly….I have a lot of questions but decided not to ask a single one and instead just laughed. 

I rolled out with Chris and Emily this morning. Carlos, Ray and Vince were planning to roll later so we’ll see how that goes!  We’re getting a little better as today it only took us 26 minutes to go the first 5 miles. Today is the optional gravel route day so I think that helps clear up the roads a bit. We rode out along the lake the whole way and saw some amazing lake houses and lots of fun sports!  They had signs wishing us luck as we exited Storm Lake. The local people are what make this ride. They are all out cheering us and on!  I forgot to tell you about my favorite guy yesterday leaving town. He was easily 75+ years old out in his front yard in his jean bib overalls with his pasta pot and a wooden spoon yelling “more cowbell” as he banged the pot!

Getting into Early there was a lot of people. Hopefully this picture shows what the roads look like as we come into each town. As I got into town I realized I could get in the pancake line and wait for Chris and Emily at the same time!  Always good to be efficient!   While waiting I saw one of our friends from our very first RAGBRAI…Roger!  I didn’t get to really talk to him but we said hello. His wife was with him, but didn’t look like Larry was there. Not long after I got in line C&E came and hopped in line too. All you and eat pancakes and sausage is always a great way to start the day. 

We had been told that the acai bowl place we love was going to be with Mr. pork Chop all day. So we planned that would be our next stop unless we got to the next town first. Well Acai let us down and they weren’t with Mr. Pork Chop….complete devastation. But there was a bit redemption when the free Iowa corn tent was there. So I decided to get corn and then roll on to the next town. The give away 1500 ear of sweet corn each day on RAGBRAI. 

Once I got to Lake View I decided to get my pie for the day. I know I’ve complained about the Methodists before but they had a good system for pie today and all the money they raised goes to their backpack project. They provide backpacks and school supplies for all students pre-k through 8th grade in the school district. I’d say that’s a great reason to eat pie. I went with mixed Berry and it was good but it was just pie filling not actually homemade. As I was eating my pie a women came with her dog. Her dog Cricket has ridden 4 RAGBRAI. She rides in a trailer and loves it. Unfortunately I missed Chris doing a hay bale toss and then meeting the mayor…things you miss when you decide to get in the porta potty line!!

Outside of Lake View there was a roadside kid lemonade stand. And they were the best. They gave a huge 16 oz glass of lemonade full of ice. It hit the spot!  The two boys Bennett and Brock were doing a great job taking orders and thanking people. They had some cousins helping too. Maycie was in charge of the hose with filling bottles and hosing people down if she wanted to. I asked the boys what they were going to use the money for and they didn’t know. Their mom said they had been blown away by how much they had made. They said they expected to make maybe $20. I can attest that there was easily over $200 in their jar!  People can’t pass up cute kids and ice cold lemonade. I used the leftover ice for my bottle and it was an added treat for sure. 

It was starting to get hot and we were getting some more headwind so it was getting a little challenging. Thankfully there was a stretch where guys in Case T-shirts were handing out free water as we rode by. My triathlon training paid off in being able to grab the bottle and go. Then at the top of the next hill there 

was a women with a hose spraying people down. It was exactly what I needed to get me done with the next stretch. 

I stopped at the Craft Beer tent and decided to chill there for a while. I got a brat and enjoyed the shade. It was only noon and there was only 7 miles left so I had plenty of time. It was nice to just chill and take in the breeze in a cooler spot. 

I stopped for a picture with some angels in Mt. Carmel and then made the trek to Carroll which conveniently was all into a headwind. Most everyone was head down and just trying to finish. At one point one lady said…we’re all horses heading to the barn. Coming into Carroll the main route turned early but our camp site signs had us going straight. It would have been easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it. Thankfully I made it to camp with no issues. Unfortunately not everyone saw the sign and added about 5-6 miles on to their day. 

We have a huge camp and I was able to put my tent up in some shade…a huge luxury. There is nothing worse than riding all day and then having to put up your tent in the baking sun. 

Well maybe there is something worse…having you bike break on RAGBRAI and not being able to finish the ride. Unfortunately that is what happened to Ed today. He was having an issue with his brakes so he stopped at a mechanic and the guy cracked his carbon frame while working on it. Ed finished the ride, but when he went to another mechanic they told him it was unsafe to ride and he shouldn’t ride anymore. So that is a total bummer. He has found a ride to Ames tomorrow and then he got someone to take him to Bettendorf from there. Sounds like he’ll just hang out in the Quad Cities until the ride is over since he drove Carlos and Vince out here. 

Since our camp was far from the main town area we decided to have a Hy Vee dinner. Carlos, Vince and I bought rolls, lunch meat, pasta salad, chips and guac and had a camp picnic. It was actually quite nice to sit in the shade and chill. Later our charter made s’mores for everyone so we even got dessert!  Jimmy and Amber are camped right next to me again!  That must mean I’m a good camp neighbor. Or maybe t just means they liked the shade around my tent…you choose!!

Tomorrow is going to be a tough day. The route is 86 miles and it is century day so the goal is to do 100. BUT it also supposed to be very hot with highs in the upper 90s so it will be a slow roll for sure. Today was much better than yesterday. I did 56 miles and 1499 ft of climb so a big difference from yesterday. I leave you with a sunset view from my tent. 

If you’re not tired of reading yet you can read about the “morning routine” it takes to get this day going!

Morning Routine

I thought I’d go through the morning routine so you knew what it takes to get ready each day!  I usually wake up around 5. You can’t really sleep much past that because the sounds of zippers and tent poles is pretty prevalent. So after I get up I fold up my blanket and then head to stand in line for the porta potty. But don’t forget your flashlight…those are not great to do in the dark!! Once  get back to the tent I get my clothes out for the day, do a full legs, arms face application of SPF 50 sunscreen. Then it’s time for chamois cream…a must!!! Then I repack my sleeping clothes in their bag, get the phone charger packed away. Now it’s time for new contacts and getting the glasses secured so they don’t break in my bag. After that it’s time to brush your teeth…but you have to make sure that you have water in your bottle because brushing your teeth at a sink isn’t an option!  By then time you’re done with that you can roll up the mattress and get it strategically in the bag. It’s a game of Tetris repacking the bag every morning. Next you get all the bags out of the tent, making sure you have everything ready to take with you in your helmet and shoes. Once everything is out of the tent, you get the rain fly off and remember to put it back in tent!  We’ve seen rain flies lying on the ground with nobody in sight. Unstake the tent, get the poles out and then fold up the tent. Final step is to roll the tent stakes, poles in the tent as you roll  it up…then you can’t lose them!  Once I get the tent in the bad and Tetris complete we have to carry them to truck to load. Sometimes it is close….sometimes NOT. I’ve gotten really good at carrying two 30 lb bags at once! But wait…don’t forget to put your flip flops in the bag before you take it to the truck!!!! If you forget you hope a friend hasn’t taken their bags yet!  Not that I have any experience with that in past years!!  Next step…fill water bottles, get the helmet and shoes on and roll out. That whole process takes about 90 min but I can do it in a hour if I rush, but what’s the point in that?!? Repeat that process for 7 days. You get really efficient on days 4&5 and really not caring on days 6&7. 

Enthusiasm of Mary Cole

Well today was not for the faint of heart!  They weren’t kidding when they said there would be hills! 

This morning was a slow roll out of town. It was super crowded and it took us over 31 min to go 5 miles. Everyone’s spirits were high and excited to start so that helped for sure. As we got out of Sioux City we suddenly came to a stand still and everyone had to dismount. We were crossing two sets of railroad tracks that went at an angle after a 90 degree turn…it was definitely the safest way to cross the tracks because there were way too many people. They actually had police there to control traffic and keep people safe.

Today was also the mile of silence where they ask people to silence their stereos and not talk to honor cyclists who have been killed by motorists. Did you know that in 2021, 961 people were killed in the US while riding a bike?  Keep that in mind the next time you get angry seeing a cyclist on the road. They just want to get home safely like you do!  

I lost Ray, Chris and Emily in the first 20 miles, so that meant today was a solo riding day for me. I stopped for a breakfast brat at the Iowa Craft Beer tent. That place was packed and a total zoo. The good news to that was it broke up the traffic on the road. The first town was 30 miles today and that is a really long way by RAGBRAI standards, but I will say the houses and people along the route were great about having little stops and opportunities to rest or get some fuel. 

I saw quite a few people Dream team and I talked to Nora one of the Dream Team members. She is doing her first RAGBRAI and she said she was having a great time so far!  The Dream team is a youth team out of Des Moines. The kids train all spring and summer and if they do all the training they get to keep their bike and gear at the end of RAGBRAI. It is a really cool program that gets kids on bikes!

Did I say already that today was hilly? They just kept coming!  They weren’t long or all that steep, but constant. At the top of one of the hills there was a family giving out free freeze pops!  It hit the spot for sure and they refused to take any money. They said they gave out 1300 in about 2 hours. 

You know you’re in trouble when they stop counting miles to the next town and instead they say, 3 hills until Washta. Once we arrived in Washta they said it was the coldest town in Iowa…that must not be the case in July!  They did have a fun bubble snow machine so I decided to take advantage. I’ve never had a grilled cheese on RAGBRAI and everyone raves about them. So today I decided to give it a try today. Grilled cheese with tomato and bacon. It was good…but not awesome. Then I decided to go for the first piece of pie. I went with strawberry rhubarb. It was definitely homemade and the crust was great BUT…the rhubarb was still crunchy. That’s not my ideal in pie eating. 

While eating my grilled cheese I got surrounded by 8 guys from VA all on their first RAGBRAI. Their support driver is one of their daughters and she said she’s just here to wrangle them and keep them in line. After 30 min around them…I hope she is getting paid well. 

One of the next towns was Quimby, population 250. They are know. For their watermelon festival every year. They were giving away free watermelon and it was COLD. When I got there at 12:30 they said they were starting their last pallet. They started with 3000 lbs of watermelon!  That was a lot of watermelon but it was sooo worth it! That little town of 250 people served A LOT of watermelon. 

From Quimby to Storm Lake it was starting to get hot. I stopped at a couple places just for some shade and water. Approaching Storm Lake I was excited to be back in land of the BVU Beaver alma mater of the great Sharon Feld!  We rode right by the track where I won a conference high jump title back in the day at Central. 

As we rode into Storm Lake we went past a nursing home and many of the residents were sitting outside under several tents. They had the best shade of the day!  I rode up and talked to them for awhile. I asked if anyone wanted to ride with me tomorrow….all said no with varying levels of vigor…but one shouted YES!!  Mary Cole, I will pick you up in the morning!  I love that kind of enthusiasm! We all should approach life by saying yes to more things!!

We have a great camp tonight on the lake. I have a lake view right from my tent. Ray got the great spot and was even a nice guy and got my name on the shower list. Vince, Carlos, and Ed all had a great day too. They stopped for the all you can eat Belgian waffles and I’m still kicking myself for passing that up!! 

After getting my shower we hopped on the shuttle down to the expo I got a double cheeseburger and fries and it was amazing. Definitely the best food of the day. Followed that up with some delicious rolled ice cream from a local ice cream shop. 

While eating I ended up sitting next to Andy who had the thickest British accent you could imagine. You would have thought he lived there, but he has been in the US for the past 43 years!  He went to Kalamazoo College and loved it so much he decided to stay in the US. He travels all over the world and seems to have quite the exotic schedule. It was fun to talk to him and get to hear his perspective on the Monarchy, the Midwest and life in general. 

After we got back from supper we were sitting around chatting and all of a sudden this guy said hey can we use your tree?  It was Jimmy Ebensberger and his daughter Amber. They were setting up their clothes line. They know my dad and do RAGBRAI every year. This year Jimmy has two new knees to help him spin up those hills!! It’s possible that Chris or Emily may decapitate themselves on the clothesline if the get out of their tent in the middle of the night, but hey what is RAGBRAI without a little excitement!!?!?

Today we covered 73 miles and my Garmin had us at 2966 ft of climb. Sure seemed like more than that, but there were lots of downhills too. My top speed today was 41.4 mph. You know it’s going to be a good downhill when there are signs saying steep downhill ahead!  It was fun to fly down that and not have to go up the same grade once you got down!!

I’m hoping for a calm warm-ish night tonight. Last night got a little chilly. And I’m also hoping this blog will post. We had great cell service when we first got into town but as more and more people arrived I lost all connection. I had zero service on the route today and I think it’s just because there are sooooo many people!

Tomorrow is a shorter and flatter day!  Which is welcomed after today!! And as I finish this blog…there is country music blaring from Vince’s tent. Maybe he’ll sing me to sleep!!

50 Years of Pedaling - RAGBRAI 2023

Ok I haven’t been pedaling for 50 years but this is the 50th Anniversary of RAGBRAI. The motto this year is One “L of a Ride!  Welcome back to my blog of the ride!  

An early wake up call this morning to catch the bus in the Quad Cities. Since this is a big anniversary they are expecting A LOT of riders this year. Typically there are 9000 registered week long riders and then several single day riders. This year they have said there are 28,000 registered week long riders and they are expecting some days to have 60-70 thousand riders. So needless to say the bus drop off was a bit busy this morning. Several charters were leaving from the same place QCBC does. That was a first for sure. 

There is a good crew of people riding this year. Ray, Vince, Carlos, and Ed have all returned from Philly. Just missing Paulie and Jaime to make a complete “Philly Boys” contingent. Gary is also back and probably an adopted Philly Boy by now. Chris and Emily have returned as well!  So I’m excited to have a good group of friends and crew with me this year. By the time I got to the buses they had all claimed a seat on the bus. I had told them that if they wanted bus brownies then they needed to save me a seat!  Food always brings people together!  

Murray and Boomer came to help with drop off. They got a lot of pets and love from the Philly boys and people who were sad to have left their dogs behind at home. They even made it one ladies Instagram!

We have six buses this year. I don’t think everyone is camping with us but just using a ride to the start. Since the ride ends in the Quad Cities there are a lot of people busing from the end town to the start. I sure hope we don’t have 6 buses of people for our 6 showers!! Emily, Chris and I got a picture before we got on the bus. 

The excitement and buzz is high for sure on the bus. Lots of cheering as we finally pulled away. I think the lines are going to be long this year and patience will need to be at an all time high.

Speaking of all time highs…the temps this week are supposed to go up and up each day. Some weather outlets are predicting high temps over 100 towards the end of the week. Here’s hoping for a solid popsicle and slip and slide week!!

You can tell it’s been a few years since Vince has been in Iowa. He’s out of practice on his farm knowledge. “Hey Dorice…I thought corn was supposed to be knee high by the Fourth of July. Why is it so short?” Well….those are beans! A five year hiatus from RAGBRAI will do that to you!! As long as he remembers that he shouldn’t pee in a bean field we should be fine!

We made it to the halfway point on the bus…it’s like ants scattering when the buses get parked. Everyone scatters and rushes to get food and a nice bathroom. That Casey’s gas station bathroom might be the last great bathroom of the week. It’s the little things. I’ve already had a first on this RAGBRAI…I slept on the bus. It was maybe 30 minutes but it happened. I’m exhausted and thinking about a tent nap and that never happens. Must be because of all the cleaning and stair trips I made at my parents the last few days!!

Arriving into Sioux City we went past one of the RV campgrounds and it was packed before 2:00 pm with a line mile long waiting to get in. Our campsite is a ways out from the main expo so we went past the expo and then found our site. I wish I could do it justice as to what happens when 6 buses pull up to an empty camp site…people are scattering everywhere in all directions to find a good piece of real estate. I got my bags and headed off to a more open area. Ray and Ed ended up going that way too. When we go there we got a big area by some trees with lots of open space. By the time I had my bag unzipped we had been surrounded by other people. Thankfully I yelled across the field and Chris and Emily were able to get a spot by us too. Both them and Ray have upgraded to larger tents this year. I think we’ll be able to have movie night in Emily’s tent…it’s HUGE. It may serve as a tornado shelter it’s so big!  I have to give myself a Pat on the back for getting my tent set up so quick given the fact that the last time I set it up was the day after RAGBRAI last year!!

After we got set up and got our bikes reassembled we headed to the expo. There is a nice bike path along the river so we were able to ride that. As we got closer we had more and more people, tents, bikes, etc. to navigate around. There are so many people here. The Hilton Garden Inn probably has more people camping on every square inch of grass outside the hotel than they have rooms inside. 

The tradition of RAGBRAI is to dip your rear tire in the Missouri River and then your front tire in the Mississippi River when you finish. Many years our starting town isn’t that close we haven’t dipped but this year it is right on the river and we got pictures!  Hopefully I can crop these two guys out when I get home!  Love the slogan here too, “Dip your rear, Get in gear!”  God willing I’ll be dipping my front tire next Saturday in Davenport!  

Emily, Chris and I walked around the expo and got some dinner. I opted for a rice bowl. It was good but not awesome. I also ended up buying a new pair of cycling sunglasses because mine had huge scratches on the left lens and I think I would have been severely annoyed by Tuesday if I kept wearing them. 

On our ride back to camp, I was talking to a guy named Anthony. He and 5 friends came to ride from California and Seattle. He said it had always been a dream of theirs to do it, so they decided this was the year. Little did they know it was an anniversary year and they were in for the largest RAGBRAI ever. His friend Jody from Seattle talked to Chris a bit since they are moving to Seattle in a couple weeks. We’re already making friends!

I got to talk to Bob tonight at camp. This is his 34th RAGBRAI and he still seems to be going strong. He always asks about Stacey. I’m beginning to think he likes her more than me!!

I think it will be an early night tonight. I’m tired and tomorrow will be a long hard day. Lots of hills and over 80 miles. Time to organize my tent and get some sort of routine figured out for packing and what not. I had briefly thought about grabbing a quick shower but that seemed like a lot of work. Good news though we have 2 shower trucks. So hopefully we don’t have to wait forever tomorrow!  The other good news is that the cell signal has been pretty strong today, so I hope that means this blog will post!!

I’ll leave you with the sun setting over camp!  Oh and if you’re new here…Welcome!!  Please know this blog is typed on my phone, while standing in lines and any other spare moment of the day so it will have typos and poor grammar!!