To The River. Day 7

63 miles today.  Easy with wind at our backs and cool weather.  Ride again today with Jon Gaul.  He is an outstanding riding partner. Made it to dip my tires in the old Mississippi river at 1 pm.  Just a great ride today.  A woman I do not know helped take my picture and I took hers at the river.  There is s picture of the Ragbrai arch at the river.  I do not know the guys celebrating.  I also included.a picture of mt. Ragbrai in. West Point.  I have no idea of who are the women celebrating.  See a pattern. Yeah, thats Ragbrai. 
Finally I have a picture.of Cheryl with Betty Pozs at her home in Ft Madison.  Betty is in umw with Cheryl.  She let me use her shower and get ready to travel home. 

Fairfield last night

50 plus mile day into fairfield.  Beautiful temps. and weather.  Ate a very nice meatloaf super at the umc with a friend Scott who travels with the same outfitter.  They served 1000 meals.  Had two more pieces of pie today.  Nice evening walking around town and visiting.  Saw Dave Peterson, an conf leader,  at noon in Packwood.  They packed them in at packwood.  Rode with Jon Gaul and Mike Metts in the afternoon.  Fun ride.
Here is a picture of Tom and Linda Carver at super.n Fairfield

The NaDa's

I got right up by the stage for the picture.  Fun music, but some folks were getting a little too exited for me, so I headed back to the camp after watching a fun juggling act by Team Road Show.  Juggling Fire while riding 7 ft. unicycles, yes,  america's got talent. 
Some lightning off in the North may mean wet tents tomorrow. 

In Pella

Here is a nice picture of Paul and me in front of the Pella plant today.

Ragbrai Day 5

53 miles generous with hills today.  Harvey, one of the senior cyclists with this support truck, said tonight they were 3' s & 5' s.  When asked what that means, he said the number designated how fast he was going in mph.  Ha, but true. 
Route crossed the red rock dam at pella.  Very beautiful. 
I was excited to spend some time with Shanna and the grandkids in Pella.  That was the best part of the day and was hard to leave town.  Paul was able to step out and visit in front of the Pella plant.Maybe next year we can ride a few days together. I again met folks along the way and ate and ate. 
Supper tonight in Oakaloosa at Central UMC with the Rev. Tom Boomershine.  So good to visit with an old friend.  Then watched the NaDa's for a bit. Good day, but missing home.

Ever Wait in Line?

The line for the bathrooms in Runnels.

View from the road

Bikes a far as the eye can see.  On a hill between Runnels and Monroe.

Day 4 Des Moines to Knoxville

Another beautiful day to ride.  Started in the state fairgrounds where I left off the night before.  This was a hilly 50 miles, therefore glad it was a cool day.  Met some great people and ate 2 more pieces of pie.  Good chicken noodle supper at the UMC here in Knoxville.  Here are before and after pictures from the state fair grand concourse.

Lance Sighting

Having pie with Dennis from Muscatine in Dallas Center this morning when the often talked about Lance Armstrong comes up around the table.  Seems Dennis and his buddies ran into Lance last night on Perry.  They said he was very open and easy to visit with.  Dennis asked of he would sign his bike, which was the same model as one on which Lance won the tour early in his career.  Lance signed the bike with a sharpie.  Then Dennis had to decide how to ride the bike for the rest of the week and not mess up the signature.  So he wrapped it in plastic and covered that with duct tape.  Makes it look like a bike with serious problems.  No one will want to touch it looking like that!  We all had a good laugh.  Dennis wants to figure out how to preserve the signature when he gets home.  The four of us eating pie, and now you, are the only ones who know.
I heard Lance is done for this year and heading home.  Don't believe everything you hear on Ragbrai.

Day 3 Perry to Des Moines

Stayed at the farm with Howard overnight.  Cheryl took the first picture as I was leaving.  It was a fun easy day only 46 miles.  Great to visit with Charlie and Judy Rinehart in Dallas Center.  Gov. Branstad was having some trouble with his bike in their parking as we spoke. 
The whole Dallas Center experience was the best of the day.  The UMC was jumping.  Wow.
Easy ride into Des Moines through Van Meter. Valley Junction was hopping.  I got to the truck in Water Works Park and for the second day repacked my tent onto the truck.  Visited with folks a bit then rode downtown, up past the capitol to the fairgrounds.  I called Cheryl and she picked me up at The Old Mill. Good day, nice to be home for the night.

Day 2

Long hot day.  I finished with about 90 miles.  The first half of the day was on hyway 44 from Harlan to Guthrie Center.  I was at 47 miles at Guthrie by 10am.  Started at 5:15 on the road after waking at 4:10.  The ride through the early morning fog was very special as we cut through different temperature thermals.  The pancake man served me breakfast at 6 AM.  He said some guy on a bike woke him up at 3:30 asking for pancakes.  He was out of luck. 
Rode through spring brook state park and came up the big hill, I walked the last half and didn't care.  Health over pride was a motto today for me.  It got hot getting to washington school where we had some watermelon.  That hit the spot.  Got to the truck in perry a bit before 4pm, I reloaded my packs and rode loaded to Forest Park Museum where Cheryl picked me up.  Staying at Grandpa Howards tonight.

46 miles of Hills

Just arrived in Guthrie Center.  Left Harlan at 5:15 am.  Hyway 44 all the way.  46 miles so far and about half done.  Woo hoo.  Time for a fruit smoothy and a little rest.

I wasn't kidding

Here is a picture taken from the show ring over my tent with the beef barn in the background.  Never far from the fairgrounds in my heart.

Camped in Harlan

We are camped tonight in the Shelby County Fairgrounds in Harlan.  My tent is on the edge of the show ring, just East toward the Beef Barn, where we showered.  I just have to laugh at how life goes in circles sometimes.  I plan to go to the United Methodist Church which is serving a pasta dinner tonight.  Just resting and enjoying the day for now, some rain clouds gathering. DA

A visit with the unicycle guy

Between Tennant and Harlan Jon and I stopped just to rest on a nice spot in the shade.  Pretty soon other riders joined us, just because.  Then Jason, the unicycle guy, stopped and joined us.  As we introduced ourselves, we had passed each other several times this morning, we found his name is Jason.  He is from Muscatine, Iowa and has ridden ragbrai four times on a unicycle. 
The twist its that on his way to Council Bluffs yesterday his unicycle fell off the car and was run over by a semi truck.  it was ruined.  He called another member of his team who brought him another unit.  This new unicycle has shorter crank arms which is throwing Jason off, but he is making due.  He beat me going up hills. Just amazing as he is quite tall as is his unicycle.  He rides head and shoulders above every one else on the road.  Jason rides with Team Road Show out of Des Moines. 

First Day Surprise

Less than five miles in, I found the Rev. Jon Gaul passing me.  We rode the rest of the way to Harlan together.  Jon is a super riding partner and we have ridden many days together on ragbrai over the years.  Guess it was just luck.  Not.  Very beautiful day on the bike. 

Saturday Night Host

Staying with Nancy Hildreth in Council Bluffs.  Great hospitality, Thanks Nancy.  Here is a picture of Cheryl and Nancy.

Dipping in the big Mo

Here we are at the Missouri River dipping the tires.  406 miles to go.  Woo hoo!

Loading Up in Council Bluffs

Met the Lost and Found Adventures truck at the mall of the bluffs to load my gear.  Greeted a couple folks I've ridden with before.  One is Don, who is the administer of the nebraska med center.  Great guy to ride with.

I'm Packing, literally

Does this look like enough stuff for a week? Should be plenty.  I've added a couple items to the packing list, like my toothbrush  and taken off a couple items, like my leatherman tool.  Cant take everything, just feels like it.  Oh yeah, I am WAY under the 40 pound maximum on my bags.  I did bring a pillow, a luxury.

Packing List

OK, here we go!  Sometimes I think this is too much stuff, but I have taken a  lot more on other years and found I did not need all that baggage.  We are allowed 2 bags of 40 lbs each, not counting tents and bag chair.  I am WAY under that amount. Way under.  Way, way under.  Maybe I need to take more stuff.

On Bike

Bike Shoes
Helmet
Gloves
dew rag
2 water Bottles

Pack in Handle Bar Bag

sunscreen
Lip balm
tire tools
extra tube
patch kit
ft wheel tool
leatherman tool
Sun Glasses
Clear Glasses
Reading Glasses
Baby Wipes
Billfold
off bike hat
Phone
Tags

Shower Kit

1 Towel
Body wash
Razer
Tooth brush and tooth paste
bag balm
My Meds
Ibuprofen
3 in 1 antibiotic
More Baby Wipes

Clothes & Personal Items

Ragbrai paperwork
cash
Light
3 pr on bike socks
3 pr under-ware
1 off bike shorts
1 wind pants
1 long sleeve tech shirt
2 off bike tee shirt
3 on bike shorts
3 on bike shirts/jersey
1 rain coat
off bike sandals

Camp - tagged in Yellow

Tent
Ground Cloth
Sleeping Bag
Pad
Tent Fan
Pillow case
Belt or Pack for Camp stuff
Bag Chair

2 Panniers Tagged in Yellow for clothes, etc.

The day before, the day before

Today I pack and check my lists to be sure and take what I need.  Tags, meds, and the bike are the essentials.  A person can buy anything else.  I will try to throw my packing list here for you.

Surly Disc Trucker

So here is the picture of the new bike. It does not yet have a name. Any suggestions?

RAGBRAI 2013

A new bike. The Surly Long Haul Trucker is a tank. It is a Jeep, a pickup, a truck. It is not a topical fish or made out of wax paper. This bike is sturdy, strong, and heavy. Built to carry big loads over long distances, it is my bike of choice as I carry more weight, more stuff. I like it. But it is not built for speed, which I kind of miss. Here is a picture. Ok I'm having trouble pulling the picture off my phone. More to come later.