RAGBRAI Day 6 - the Joy is Back!

Hello All,

First of all, sorry this posting is going out late. We lost Internet service on Friday, then when it was back up, the blogspot website went down for scheduled maintenance. Luckily I was able to save a draft of my blog and here you go. Later tonight I will try to finish up my final day of this year's RAGBRAI experience...

Ah, the RAGBRAI love had returned today! We woke up to cloudy skies, but no rain (hurray!). Even my tent was dry on the inside (yesterday everything touching the sides of the tent got wet). We found Brent's cell phone at the local Community Center, then found coffee for me and Darrin (whoo-hoo!) before taking off with a rather late start at 7:20 AM. We were told that we would have rain in the afternoon and many people left town early to beat the storm.

This bad news did not deter us - we cruised along, having a grand time. It was 69 degrees at around 10 AM. Very nice cycling weather overall. We had plenty of hills with over 3,000 feet of climbing over 65 miles, but - best of all - no headwinds today!!!


The headwinds over the last 2 days really drained the life out of me. And yesterday's rain put me in a very bad mood. Today all was well. I even got back in a paceline this afternoon, catching the wheel of a 2-tandem steam train. We got up to over 30 mph. Sa-weet! I love the pacelines. This is one experience that you have to be fully present and focused to engage in. You have to pay strict attention to the wheel you are following - you cannot let yourself get too far behind or you will lose the effectiveness of the drafting (and fall off), and you cannot get too close - if you kiss the wheel in front of you - you (not them) will go down in a heap. So there you are, hammering along at 25-30 mph, flying with so little effort, watching their wheel, watching their pedal strokes (for indications of whether they will change their pace), fingers hovering above your brakes, so you are ready should they slow down unexpectedly. It is an awesome and exhilarating experience.

We ran into a number of bananas today. I love these guys. They like to stay "hydrated" so to speak (usually with alcohol I think).

They normally hang out in a bunch. (I won't tell you what banana # 3 was doing to that inflated thing right before I snapped this shot.)

Here were the messages for today: "No Whining Today" for Laura; "Where's Painfreak?" for Brent; "Hammer This!" for Darin; and "Cornfield Virgin" for Cathy. Painfreak is our buddy back home (Mike) who always gets lost and just returned from a 2-week solo cycling vacation from Oregon to California. Cathy has been avoiding the cornfields. Maybe it is because some guy on day 1 read her message ("RAGBRAI Virgin") and told her he could take care of her problem in the cornfield. Darin, Brent, and I have been visiting the cornfields regularly. We like the corn, we commune with the corn, we christen the corn. Today I was a few rows away from Darin, and he was talking to the corn. He told me he encountered (orally, not visually) a couple of cyclists smoking some weed in the cornfield today. They cordially invited him to join in (he passed). As they say at RAGBRAI, "What happens in the cornfield stays in the cornfield!" I've also heard that what happens at RAGBRAI goes on YouTube (try it - you'll see).

Me and my happy crew: Laura, Brent, Darin, and Cathy.

A very friendly Iowan state police person helping direct traffic. We always say thank you. They are very nice and patient.

Breakfast: a "walking taco" (Doritos, taco meat, lettuce, and cheese in a Doritos bag - quite tasty) and a burrito for Darin (he had to buy 2 more later - this boy can eat!).

I was coveting this guy's jersey (Rock Racing - check out their cool website). But for $120 a pop, it is out of my price range...

We lost Brent early today, but found a fellow charter friend, Mike. He is blogging his experience at www.news.jacksonville.com/ragbrai. Check it out! Look how styling he is. Fully kitted out in the Liquidgas gear. His bike has golden handlebars. Ooooooo. He says to just wait to see what he will wear tomorrow. He says he only wears this particular outfind once a year. We are all in suspense.

Here we are waiting for the train to pass after coming out of a meeting town. We are basically following a trail that runs along the train route. We hear the trains at night and frequently cross the tracks.


Brent eating his Mr. Porkchop # 2 and Darin eating his first ever Mr. Porkchop. If you are into pork products, I would recommend Mr. Porkchop. (He has some fun videos on YouTube.)

Here's one of Mr. Porkchop's grill guys. He's a real farm boy!

The next thing you know, that "Superman" song started playing and me and farm boy broke out dancing. Very fun. Very spontaneous. This is what RAGBRAI is all about - having fun in the here and now.


Here's one of my favorite RAGBRAI hang-outs - the Internet bus. Let me give a thankful shout out to Iowa Telecom for providing free internet and phone service.

Here's the inside of our little technological communications world. Everyone was very friendly and patient in here each day.

And I got my first glimpse of the elusive Pink Squirrels today in the Internet bus. Now that I know they are here, I'm going squirrel hunting! (They are really so adorable.)

Tomorrow is our last day! Take care and love to all!