Hello Friends and Neighbors,
So it is Saturday, the final day of RAGBRAI. Always my least favorite day. The final day is a short ride - today's was only 43.2 miles with a mere 1,145 feet of climb - because once we reach the mighty Mississippi, chaos ensues as we have to pack up for the journey home.
Here's Janie bright and early in the morning on our final day. We weathered the storm in our tents just fine the night before, but as usual, we had to pack up wet tents in the morning. I have always loved tent camping until I started doing it in the rain. Now I realized I am a fair weather camper!
Back to Janie - she is wearing the jersey she bought in Hawaii during our cycling vacation there last February. I also wore my Hawaiian jersey today too. Big mistake - I lost count of how many people asked me about Hawaii today. They all assumed I lived there. Even after I explained I was merely on vacation and bought the shirt, they still asked me questions!
Okay, first weird sight on the road today - a guy lugging around his tuba in a Burley trailor... Hmmm, I've seen cyclists with guitars. They usually sit around and play during rest stops. But a tuba???
Here's Janie and Mary Ann, heading up another little rise in the road. The climbing was not bad today, but we did have winds. All in all, this was a very challenging RAGBRAI due to the hills and headwinds.
Here's a familar sight - the farm families display their tractors on their front yard. They usually line them up in size, from biggest to smallest. A couple of days I saw the best display - there were about 8 vehicles ranging from a huge tractor right down to a tiny tricycle (and everything in between). Very cute. But I was either climbing a hill and didn't have the energy to pull out the camera or I was flying downhill and it is too dangerous to take my hands off the bars even for a moment...
On our final day, we found our Captain Morgan Dogs, Mikey and Twix. These were among our favorite Dogs, also being new to the Dog Pound and still struggling (as we were) with their Doggy identity. They pulled us for a bit today - fantastic!
Along the side of the road, in between towns, a bunch of kids were holding signs and shouting for the cyclists to stop for free water and "luxurious bathrooms." Well, we were doing fine with water, but after 6 days of kybos, we all wanted to experience a luxurious bathroom. The stop turned out to be one of those massive mega-churches. We headed inside, and indeed all was luxurious. However, the ladies room smelled terrible! From inside my stall, I could hear Mary Ann moaning, "Help...Help," from the next stall. I asked her what she needed, and she replied, "A gas mask." Yes, she cracks me up every day.
So the shot above is of me and Janie in front of the church, huddled by the license plate of some trailer. Why? I have no idea...
We were instructed by our Dogs to all meet together at noon to gather up in a pack and cycle down to the Mississippi River together. We arrived with 20 minutes to spare (and in fact we ended up waiting until 1 PM for the rest of the Dogs to arrive before leaving our gathering site). For entertainment during this wait, Mary Ann (in blue) joined some Dogs to cheer on the cyclists riding by. Mostly they were shouting, "Show us your tan lines!" Those who did pull up the leg of their shorts were rewarded with a big cheer and some whistles. Reportedly only one female cyclist decided to show a different body part to display her tan line. She received a much bigger applause.
Here's MAD greeting the cycling club from Chicago, the CUBS. Very cool.
Okay I did miss out on a different kind of photo opportunity with our Dog family during the wait. A bunch of them (even the quiet and seemingly restrained JJ) crossed the street and gathered my a fire hydrant (as Dogs are known to do). I thought they were going to lift their legs or something like that. But no, they suddenly turned into a pack of Moon Dogs and mooned all the cyclists riding by. And they posed for the Dogs taking photos. Did I mention how they pose for photos? They all chant, "Wait for it... Wait for it... Wait for it... NIIIIIIIICE." Maybe you have to be there, but believe me, this is hilarious. I think MAD and I will take this little jewel of a tradition with us.
Alrighty, were are the Dogs - about 100 strong, heading to the Mississippi together. We chanted the "Give me a T!" "Give me an A!" etc., to spell out our club name and also barked to the "Who let the dogs out?" ditty all the way to the river. Except for a section where we had a short climb - no breath for shouting then!
Another shot of the Dogs on a beautiful day in Burlington, Iowa.
Here we are at the river.
MAD, Janie, and me at the Mississippi River. (I got confused and forgot to bring my official "Dog" shirt. Bad Dog! I am wearing the Dog tag they gave me, however.)
After the wheel dip in the river, we all cycled back to the Dog's truck to get our bags and bike boxes. We scrambled to disassemble and pack up our bikes (I did a really good job!). Then the big challenge was to get our bike boxes to the Fed-Ex drop-off point near the river...a very long way away from the truck. We were faced with the unpleasant task of walking these huge boxes a couple of miles (across massive railway tracks) and then walking back to the Dog's truck area. Luckily the fine folks with the city of Burlington had staffers driving golf carts around to help people just like us. Here I am behind our bike boxes, waiting at a train stop. See my tan line?
Here's MAD on the golf cart after 7 days and 450 miles of cycling across Iowa. She did a great job - a super strong cyclist. And the funnest girl ever.
Last shot in Iowa (note the lovely farmer's tan on my arm). After we dealt with the boxes (a very smooth process thanks to Fed-Ex), we hitched another golf cart ride back to the Dogs' truck where they had 2 chartered buses ready to take us west to Des Moines. We parted with our dear Janie in Des Moines (where she left her car). She had a 16-hour drive back to New Jersey. We left Des Moines with our XC08 buddy and Dog friend, Bill. He drove nonstop for 3 hours to his house in Kansas City, MO. We spent the night in his lovely home, getting to sleep around 11:30 PM. We were up by 5:30 AM Sunday to leave for the airport by 6. Again, our good man Bill drove us to the Kansas City airport for our 7:50 flight home.
Other than a horrendous and disorganized crowd at the airport (we got on the plane with only 10 minutes to spare), the flight home went smoothly.
It is now Tuesday morning. I spent all day doing laundry yesterday, washing absolutely everything we brought with us - because everything smelt like... You guessed it - ass!
Mary Ann is back to work and I am spending this week doing errands and getting organized. If all goes well (I am waiting for the results of my 2nd TB test), I will begin my new job at UC Davis Medical Center on Monday, August 3rd. RAGBRAI this year was great, and now I am thrilled and excited to be home and to be starting my new job. Life is good............!
Here's MAD getting frisky and ready to roll.
No wine tasting on this trip to Napa. But here we are riding past one of MAD's favorite wineries - Cakebread Cellars,
We rode with Dave, Debbie, Mark, Carol and Kim for the first half of the ride. Here's Carol with her cracked helmet! She competed in Eppie's Great Race and won first place for her age group - even though she crashed on her bike! (Eppie's GR is part cycling, part running, and part kayaking.)
Here's Janie looking slick and MAD looking sick. I think there was some bonking going on. The uber-steep "Ink Grade Road" section of the ride kicked our asses butt good!
Ah, the best part of the ride - food afterwards! Here's Jeffrey and Janie chowing down.
MAD having a moment with her Ben & Jerry's.
Here I am, looking a little worse for wear, but also enjoying my ice cream. 
I woke to find a massive red grandaddy long-leg spider on my helmet. Eeeuuuwww!!! I have had a repeated series of run-ins with spiders on this RAGBRAI trip. The day before I had a huge black one IN my tent. I have a policy of not killing spiders (except the ones with red dots on their bellies). I carefully and cautiously "escorted" the spider right out of my tent, feeling all non-violent and good about myself. Until I felt the little fiend crawling up my thigh. I shrieked and screamed and somehow flung it out - not caring whether it lived or died. So much for my state of spiritual evolution in regards to harming innocent creatures...
We were once again traveling through Amish country today. Here's a quick snap of a horse and buggy. I was riding downhill and didn't want to risk getting any closer. Did you know most of these photos were taken by me while riding my bike? Not recommended for new cyclists...
A couple of years ago I saw a bike made for 5 people. This triple was about as fancy as it got for me this year. Don't they look cute???
We camped tonight at a country club golf course. Right off the green for the 3rd hole! Out of the blue a very friendly (and slobbery) dog came joyously to greet us! Turns out she belongs to one of the country club staff.
Here's our XC08 friend and official favorite "Dog" - Bill. Also known to us as Porn Star Bill, he is featured in a short video on You Tube called "XC08 Gone Wild" (it is better when you mute it).
Don't really remember the guy on the left, but here's a snap of "Eman" - my main Dog organizer and contact. He is wonderful (and very dashingly handsome we all thought). In the middle is his wife, "Ewoman." No, I don't remember her name either!
