Wednesday, July 27, 2005

RAGBRAI Day 4

Day 4 started out cool. When we stopped moving I began shivering pretty quickly. Again, why didn't I bring my cycling jacket? I'm stuck with this Gap anorak that gets the job done, but it doesn't really breathe, so I'm either too hot with it on or too cold with it off.

We stopped for breakfast at this 140+ year old farmhouse. It had "an addition" that was added in 1895, the year my house was built! They had bagels and coffee. There were lots of people around, and the owners were giving tours of the house. I thought the stairs in my house were steep, they were tame compared to this one. I can't imagine trying to walk up the stairs while carrying anything. It was quite a challenge in with my Look cleats.

Farmhouse

Next up was a stop in Dan's hometown of Titonka. The red carpet was rolled out for Dan. We stopped at his parents house for a super breakfast, before heading downtown for some more breakfast. Then it was back to his parents for photos, and to pick up his sister and his niece for a portion of the ride. They did 14 miles or so with us that morning. The sun was shining, the air was warm, and the birds were singing...

Titonka

Overall it was another long day, we pulled into Northwood and had a shower lined up with a friend of a friend. Dinner was at a local church, here is one of their decorations out front.

Northwood

Finally, a photo of the camp. We were camped at the county fairgrounds. Not as good as camping at a school, but this was better than our camp to be tomorrow, where we were pitching tents inside of a dirt race track! The white bus is Team Dragon, our team for the week.

DragonCamp

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

RAGBRAI Day 3

Things are kind of back to "normal" today, if you call getting up at 5:00 AM and riding your bike for 80 miles normal.
A much better day today, we all slept good last night because the cold front came through and temperatures are much more reasonable. It was actually chilly in the morning, you can see I have my arm warmers on. I almost didn't bring them, but I wouldn't have made it through the week without them. I'm kicking myself for not bringing my cycling jacket, I could have used it for the first hour this morning.

Not too many pictures today. The highlight of the day was the town of Ringstead, where we had abelskivvers and other Dutch food. We met Victor from the Netherlands, he was dressed as a cow. We're not sure he even knows why he is dressed as a cow, just that he is on team cow so they made him do it.

Some town I forget, a little town halfway between somewhere, had Cornelius the giant corn man greeting the riders:
Corneilus

We were moving today, it was our fastest day of riding. A nice tailwind helped out, and we made it to Algona early in the afternoon. At Algona, we had to ride through a volcano to get to the camp. Their theme was something to do with the Survivor TV show. They did have a nice goodie bag with water, asprin and a banana in it.
Algona

Our shower contact didn't pan out, so we had to take a cold shower at the school. You never really get a clean feeling in the school showers, because it is about 500% humidity in there. You just can't get dried off...

Tonight was our first night of "vendor food". We wandered downtown to see the entertainment. While downtown we came across the coolest pet store any of us had ever been in - Pet Kingdom. It was in a reinovated old building downtown, and all of the decor was done really well. If you're ever in Algona, stop in, even if you don't have pets. Its just that well done.

Monday, July 25, 2005

RAGBRAI Day 2

(July 25)


Today is the hardest day, for several reasons. A big thunderstorm rolled through last night about 1:00 AM, bringing winds up to 70 miles per hour. Not fun when you're in a tent. The police didn't come through soon enough, so we didn't get the evacuation order until the storm was right on top of us. My tent was collapsing on itself under the wind! I was really getting worried, the lightening seemed right on top of us, and I didn't know if my tent was going to stand up to the wind, or if I would be rolling across the campground. I heard a police siren and a message to get into the school. I decided to run for the school building. The door I (and about twenty other people) ran to was locked, so we had to run to another door to get in. The rain was sideways.



I was absolutely soaked... and cold. After a few minutes, Dan and Bridget found me in the school, and at that point we figured out that we were sleeping in the school that night (along with everybody else). Dan's tent had blown down and a lot of their stuff was wet.



There was a lull in the storm, so I went out to my tent, which was still standing somehow, and brought in my sleeping bag and a few clothes. We camped out in the science lab and got a few hours of sleep.



The next day we surveyed our camp. Dan and Bridget decided to sag that day, they were going to try to find a laundromat in Esterville to dry out their stuff. Tim's tent was fine, he stayed out there through the whole thing. (Note to self, buy a tent like Tim's) My stuff was dry except for what I had carried through the rain to get into the school, so not too bad. We packed up out stuff and Tim and I set out for Esterville, about 80 miles away.



The mood in the ride was kind of down, everybody was tired, wet, and we had heard that one rider was killed when a tree fell on his tent. The only thing we had going for us was a big tailwind that let us cruise along at 24 mpg with no effort. Of course, the wind shifted and we made a turn, so we had a good 30 mile stretch straight into the wind. Our speed then dropped to about 12 mph.



Not too many pictures from today, but here is the little town of Melvin.
Melvin



Lunch today was at the "Lovely Looney Luthern Ladies" food stand out in the country. Good hamburger, but the corn was overcooked.
Here is a photo of another roadside vendor from today, don't remember what they were selling.
Vendors

Sunday, July 24, 2005

RAGBRAI Day 1


Day 1 started out hot and humid. We left around 7:00 am, in a large pack of riders. At this point, I'm wondering what I got myself into, and if my preparation is going to be enough. The riding is pretty flat, so no problems there. We are crusing at a comfortable 16 MPH with no problems, except for the number of riders to contend with.



Breakfast today is Farm Boys breakfast burrito. Very good. Here is a photo of folks waiting in line for food in the morning. Its a long line and everybody justs lays their bikes in the ditch while they wait and eat.
FoodLine



RAGBRAI brings out the nuts from the woodwork. Its known for weird costumes and wild parties, but I think it has calmed down a lot, because we didn't run into any wildness or loud parties the whole week. We did, however, get passed by this group of riders wearing tutus.
Tutus



Due to the heat and humidity, it felt like a long day, even though it was a shorter mileage day. Here's a shot of Dan taken in Orange City.
Dan

Saturday, July 23, 2005

RAGBRAI Day 0 (July 23rd)



Le Mars, Iowa. Ice cream capitol of the world...
LeMars
This "art" is made out of old bike frames and wheels.

This was also my introduction to "tent city"... The photo below shows about 20% of the tents in the campground this first night. It was hard to sleep due to the heat and humidity that day.

TentCity

Its hard to imagine the amount of people hanging around on day 0. Riders and non-riders everywhere. Vendors selling all manner of bike accessories and making repairs. Isn't it a little late to be making repairs to your bike? I mean, you're starting a 500 mile ride tomorrow morning!