RAGBRAI Day 5

Hello All,

Here's my 2nd posting for the day. I have decided to try something new. Instead of coming into the final (overnight) town, setting up my camp, getting a shower, then going to the Internet bus (a painful experience when I'm riding in my street clothes); I am now hitting the Internet first thing when I blow into town.

So here I am, tired and still in my bike clothes trying to coherently cobble together a blog message for you all.

Things picked up after my last posting - I regained the will to live again. I must apologize for the sour mood I was in earlier. I was just not ready for RAGBRAI rain. I was so spoiled last year. We really had extremely perfect weather last year.

We had a most excellent lunch at the American Legion (here's Cathy in front of the AL hall). We actually ate sitting down at a table!!!! (Instead of grass or a street curb if you are lucky.) They had excellent pie (cherry for me, rhubarb for Darrin) and best of all - free coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so coffee deprived out here, I cannot tell you. I told Brent he'd make a fortune with a mobile coffee service for tent campers first thing in the morning.

Mr. Cornstalk makes his 2nd annual appearance at RAGBRAI. You may recall his premiere last year. Hmmm, the cornstalk is looking a little limp. But poor Darrin's is in worse shape.

Highlight of the day - we all got to sit on a long-horned steer. Some kindly farmer man had "Ralph" out in his front yard. He patiently (Ralph was even more patient) put cyclist after cyclist on top of Ralph for photo ops. I was looking for the expected donation can (why would anyone do this willingly?), but saw none. Wonderful Iowans!

Here's a close-up of Ralph. Looks are deceiving - he really was a sweetie.

This is to prove I'm not the only chain-greasey cyclist out here. This guy had an almost artistic "chain tattoo" as we call them.

Darrin got his first gander at Mr. Reverse Mohawk today and was totally captivated. The guy on the left rides with Mr. RM and doesn't say much. He looks scarier to me that the RM!

A close-up of the Reverse Mohawk. I think Brent and Darrin must think this is a sad waste of a perfectly full set of hair.

That's it for the day, photo-wise. Due to the rain (which we had off and on all day), I had to keep my camera safe in a ziplock bag. Along with my wallet, my mostly non-functional cell phone (curses to AT&T!), and anything else I didn't want to get wet. When you cycle in the rain, you can expect several things. Among them, everthing will get wet, a filthy dirty bike, a strip of mud splattered straight up your backside and up your back from your rear wheel kicking up water behind you (unless you have a bike fender,which we don't); and you cannot draft too close behind anyone, or else you'll have mud splattered all over your front as well.

It is currently not raining, but is cold and ugly outside. I plan to set up camp and get some food and huddle up in my tent for the evening. Brent says I need a trip to the beer garden to cheer me up. We'll see how it rolls. Let's hope for better weather tomorrow. In spite of all my whining today, RAGBRAI is a great great great experience.

Love to All!