RAGBRAI Day 7 - Last Day

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............!

RAGBRAI Day 6

Hello All!

I am home now, but want to pretend I am posting daily dispatches from Iowa. Here goes! (My couch is very comforatable and there is no internet time limit here at home - bonus!)

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...

As the route began to flatten out, we finally started to see more pacelines. Here on Day 6 (Ottumwa to Mount Pleasant), we had 75.5 miles with only 2,841 feet of climbing. When there is too much climbing, the paceline has a hard time regulating its speed. Weaker members fall off the back, etc. So on a nice flat terrain, a paceline rocks. I love both watching them go by and being in them! I had a hard time with that on this trip due to my obnoxiously loud creaking vehicle. One wants to be sneaky when they "grab a wheel" at the back of a paceline.

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???

While we didn't have too many "killer hills" today, we did have winds. Lots of headwind and sidewinds. On this stretch we had a killer sidewind as you can see from the flag. That's MAD's helmet in the right corner.

By the way, after Day 1, MAD kicked my cycling butt throughout most of RAGBRAI. I thought I could pretty much keep up with her due to my better speed up the hills, but after a couple of days, she was faster than me whether we were flat or climbing. I'm very proud of her. Finally by Day 6.5, she started to wear out and I was slowing down for her - finally! We will be glad to bring our strong climbing legs back to Sacramento to ride with our friends there (and leave them in the dust!).

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!

It is Friday evening and we are at the Dogs annual awards banquet. The theme is hula... Here's MAD with her new Doggy friends Cheryl and Larry. (At least I retained some names.) Yes, Larry is wearing a bra made of flowers. I helped tie him up in the back. Strange things we do with these Dogs...

Raffle prizes were given out. Janie won a hand-made cribbage board! One of the main organizer Dogs, Lee (Lee Dog) makes these from ancient recycled wood. Very cool.

And then I won one! I was thrilled. My dad taught me to play (and cheat) cribbage. Can't wait to teach MAD. (I'll skip the cheating part. My little secret!)

MAD with her 2nd margie... Happiness reigns. Would you believe she also won a cribbage board??? We gave it to JJ. We are trying to pair down our possessions!

Shortly after the prizes and our dinner, we were told there was a massive thunder/lighting storm moving in. We all headed back to our tents to batten down the hatches. From our vantage point at the 3rd hole, we could see all sorts of crazy colored lights going off in the distance. MAD told me it was "heat lightning" (I think) and to not worry. So I didn't. I popped in my wonderful ear plugs and went out like a light (aided by a margarita at the banquet), only to wake up an hour later with Mary Ann staring me in the face, telling me that the lightning strikes were getting closer and we should move indoors for safety! I think I muttered that I wasn't worried and crashed back into sleep. Last year I was evacuated at RAGBRAI. I figured if the storms were bad enough, we'd get the official evac... Maybe I was just too tired to care!

As it turned out, the storm veered and we were saved. Although we once again had to pack up soggy tents into our duffle bags. I cannot tell you how bad things are smelling in there. Too much moisture. MAD said she had a full-blown science project growing in her stuff. A couple of days ago, one of the Dogs said he didn't like going into his tent because "It smells like ass." We laughed hysterically. Unfortunately now our tents smell like ass... I hope all this nastiness will wash out. Thank goodness RAGBRAI is only 7 days of camping!

Tomorrow is Saturday - the last day! We will reach the far size of Iowa = the great Mississippi River.

RAGBRAI Day 5 - 2nd Update

Hello Friends and Neighbors!

I am now in Ottumwa, Iowa, home of Radar O'Reilly. (Just had a little drinky-poo and can no longer spell - apologies in advance.)

Here I am over the Des Moines River. Yes, I have developed a "RAGbaby" here at RAGBRAI. Here's our friend from the XC08 tour - Bill (who introduced us to the Dogs) and our Janie-the-Great. Had the best cheeseburger ever at the 2nd Street Cafe. Bill and I are going to go dancing in the beer garden shortly. He can groove with the best of them!

Here's me and MAD. She charmed our server (one of the family) into diving us free drinks! Big tip!

Here's my nifty new temporary tattoo.. What do you think as a permanent body art??

Caught this tiger by the tail several times today!

We had a fantastic 77-mile ride today in great weather. Right up until the very end - we had to race to get to camp before the skies opened up. But alas, a heavy rain started during our last 2 miles. When we got to camp we had to find and rescue our bags from a complete drenching and we all (girls and bags) took shelter under a gazebo. I was worried we'd be pitching our tents in the deluge but MAD and the locals told me to give it a few minutes and would pass. I admit this California native girl did not believe them - until it came true! Then we set up camp under nice sunny skies. Now we are at Ottumwa Beach ready to party a bit.

Will post tomorrow. Another 70+ mile day...

One more thing - my Fuji bike is making the most awful creaking noises. I had it in the shop back home twice. Now it is getting worse. It is embarrassing. People are staring. It is driving MAD mad. What to do???

BUY A NEW ORBEA!!! Love to all!

RAGBRAI Day 5

Hello All,

No new photos on this post - I forgot my camera cord back at the bike. We are having another beautiful day on a 77-mile day. We had a heavy rain during the wee hours of the morning, but happily blue skies when we woke up.

Janie is riding the extra loop to make it a century day today. She is riding strong! Mary Ann is doing fabulously through these hills (3800 feet of climb today). I am slow and steady - heavy emphasis on the slow.

Got some temporary tattoos today. MAD has a big chain ring on her right inner forearm. I have a cool graphic cyclist on my left back calf.

Our bike club is camping out each day at a residence of a friend of a club member. Last night we were treated to a great meal and wine. The hospitality is awesome.

Sights for the day (photos to come later):

a red merkin
a tiger by the tail
a cyclists in a diaper
cyclists with bananas on their heads - the bananas wearing their own protective gear
a pink flamingo complete with a pink beard
a cowgirl riding her bike with boots

And we are riding through some Amish country today. I bought a homemade donut from one of the families. Tons of kids - everyone barefoot. I discretely took a photo and will post later.

Gotta run!

RAGBRAI DAY 4

Hello All!

MAD and Janie are waiting and I just lost all the text I wrote!
Here's a quickie:
Some excitement in our camp this morning when a number of "Dogs" dressed up as the cast from the Emerald City. Drinking mimosas at 8 AM helped!

Can you imagine cycling in this get-up?? Love it!

MAD and Janie at breakfast -Chris Cakes!

As this guy passed by, one Iowan cyclist said to his buddy, "Who needs a tandem if you can strap your wife onto your back?"

We are very near the hometown of Radar O'Reilly. Out stop at Milo, Iowa, was all decked out as the 4077th. Here's me and Hot Lips!

Gotta run! More later!

RAGBRAI DAY 3

Good wine and beer with some new friends!

Cast-offs from Team Captain Morgans..

Hello Friends and Neighbors!

Sorry to be out of touch for 2 days! On RAGBRAI Day 1 the internet bus was down. Yesterday it was raining and we did not want to venture out of the shelter of our campsite.

So I am way behind on news. I'll do my best to get caught up, but there are time limits so we will see.

First some snaps from the end of today...

My first Elvis sighting of RAGBRAI. This fellow was a bike. I cannot tell if he has helmet under all that hair.

And here is his cycling buddy. Vegas Elvis # 2! Note the dark and gloomy skies...

We rode through Madison County today, famous for its covered bridges. Here's me, Mary Ann, and Janie in front of a covered bridge? (Did you read the book?)

And as luck would have it - I met yet another Elvis today! Here' Vegas Elvis # 3! He was singing on stage in one of the meeting towns. Why are all the Elvis impersonators going with the Vegas vintage? How about a hot slim Elvis?

Here I am smooching on an igwana just moments ago, near the beer garden. We are in Indianola for the night.

Here's a quick summary so far. I will post more photos later.

Saturday: We met our "___Dog"charter group mid-day (I'm leaving the full name blank to protect the innocent) and our beloved friend Janie from New Jersey ("Jersey Dog"). We set up out tents and headed to the RAGBRAI expo and had dinner at a ribfest in the town of Council Bluffs. It was a weird set-up - not like our usual RAGBRAI starting town. I was a little disappointed.

Sunday: We rode 50 miles in the most beautiful weather you could ask for. Warm sunshine with cool breezes. Lots of hills, but truly the easiest 50 miles I have experienced. But RAGBRAI seemed lacking somehow. I'm calling it "RAGBRAI Lite." Not as much music and insanely happy people. Not nearly the number of people dressed up and being goofy. Then we waited 90 minutes (OMG) for a mediocre spaghetti dinner at a local church. We should never have gotten into that line, but after 30 minutes, we felt we were committed. Oh well. We came back to our tents - which were parked mere yards from a railroad track and that's when MAD introduced me to one of the best things in life: wax earplugs. They muffled the sounds and I slept well.

Monday (yesterday): We woke up to cloudy, cool weather. And 72 miles of climbing - over 5,000 feet of climbing. I felt like crap on Monday (the 2nd day of RAGBRAI is usually the hardest). All we did was climb tremendous hills and descend.. All day. And the sun did not make an appearance all day. I think we all had our crabby pants on on Monday. We were able to pitch our tents before the rain set in.

The one good thing about Monday was meeting a couple of the Dogs who drank Janie's favorite beer and Mary Ann's type of wine. I put their photos at the top.

Gotta run - getting kicked out! Will write tomorrow.

WE ARE HAVING A BLAST!

xx

RAGBRAI Day Minus 1

Hello Friends and Neighbors,

I am in an Iowa Telecom internet bus, looking out unto a field of tents, listening to a live band in the background and I can say the familiar sights and sounds of RAGBRAI has arrived.

Sort of... No Brent and his booming voice. No extreme humid heat. No Ron Oman charter company (we are using a different group). MAD and Janie (as well as a nice cooling breeze) are a welcome addition to this new and different RAGBRAI experience.

I am unable to post photos due to the slow computer, so hopefully more tomorrow. We are looking forward to starting the ride bright and early in the morning!

RAGBRAI Day Number Minus 2

Hello RAGBRAI Fans!

MAD and I have safely arrived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, by way of a Southwest flight to Omaha, Nebraska.

Turns out Council Bluffs is just across the Missouri River from Omaha. Turns out Council Bluffs has a sizable Indian casino just across from our hotel. Who knew?

We landed around 5:30 p.m. The weather was breezy and warm - not hot at all! This is a big change from the last 2 years. Instant heat and humidity from the moment we stepped outside the airport.

For the last 2 years, I had dinner in downtown Omaha. This year, because we are in Council Bluffs, MAD and I headed towards the casinos where we were told we had a choice of 4 restaurants. We passed up the all-you-can-eat buffet (long lines and a pricey fee of $24); we passed on the bakery/cafe, and settled upon the upscale and sumptuous Grille (cannot recall the name). The food menu was interesting, the wait staff exemplary, the Chilean wine "Alta Sur Malbec" vintage 2008 was surprisingly excellent (and a bargain at $36 for the bottle), and the food preparation mediocre. We overheard a staff member telling someone that the chef was on vacation. Maybe that is why my chop was overcooked...

Nonetheless, we are super happy to be here safely with all our luggage. Tomorrow we will enjoy Hampton Inn's breakfast buffet before heading out to our 1st campsite for RAGBRAI... Photos will be posted on the next blog. I forgot to bring my camera cord to the hotel's computer center...

Interesting tidbit. At the airport in Omaha, we spied a couple of very cool rock dudes waiting for their baggage. Mary Ann said they were in a band. I looked again and realized that they had to be in a band. Their clothes and hair were too way out to be otherwise. So I asked which band they were in - believe it or not, they are part of the LA Guns. They are doing a concert in Sioux City tomorrow night. In case you didn't know, LA Guns was a very early band that Axl Rose joined when he first hit Hollywood. Uber cool glam rock band... But what has happened to them? Why are they flying Southwest Airlines and why are they dragging their own luggage around? Where are their roadies? Where are their groupies? Is the lousy economic affecting all that should be sacred??? It's just not right.

Back in the Saddle - Training for RAGBRAI

Hello Blog Friends,



First of all, allow me to express my deepest apologies for not keeping this blog up to date over the past few months. I have been extremely busy with the new house and the job hunt. Blogging and even cycling has taken a distant backseat to all else lately.



But all of that has recently and rapidly changed. MAD and I had to become cyclists again in order to prepare for RAGBRAI, which starts on Sunday, July 19th. Experts say you should have 600 miles of training under your belt (or should I say butt?) before attempting RAGBRAI (a 500-mile weeklong ride across Iowa). MAD and I started training two weeks ago and we have about 120 miles in (oh dear...).



Here are photos from some of our training rides.





Here I am in my 2008 RAGBRAI jersey. Love the water tower and cornfields! I ordered a 2009 RAGBRAI jersey, but it is waiting for me in Iowa.





Here's an action shot (taken while pedaling) of the view from the Guy West Bridge at Sac State (CSU Sacramento). Our favorite 15-mile training ride starts from our house and accesses the American River bike path from the Sac State campus (less than 2 miles from the house). We roll through the campus and cross the bridge and voila! We are on the bike path.





The first day of training, we were lucky enough to encounter a group of 4 cyclists whizzing by. We followed them for many miles at their speed of 18 mph. We didn't draft off them - we just kept up with them. I fear if we did not have them for inspiration, we would have dragged ourselves along at 15 mph.



Here's MAD on her very favorite part of the bike path. It is near Discovery Park. The sun shines down on this section - so beautiful.



Then we exit the bike path in Old Town Sacramento and wend our way through downtown. I have a love-hate attitude towards this part of the ride. I love the charm of Old Town and the cool vibe of downtown Sacramento. And seeing the Capitol building always gives me a thrill. But I hate sharing the road with all those cars. It is very dangerous and unpleasant... Here's a shot of MAD stopped at a downtown traffic signal.



We cruise through downtown (hitting lots of traffic and stop lights), then through midtown, and arrive at MAD's work location on 28th and Q. Then I head east of Folsom Blvd straight home to walk Max the dog. 15 miles in one hour and our training for the day is done!



On the weekends, we try to get in some longer rides. Here's a shot with our favorite riding crew:

Steve, Mark, Dave, Debbie, Jeffrey, and MAD. I am behind the camera, of course. We were stopped for a potty break at William Pond park on the American River bike path


And not long after that break, we were lucky to get another break - Dave had a puncture and took quite a long while to install a new tube. Then he over-inflated the tube and blew it up! No matter, after heckling him a bit for his tire-changing skills, we continued to talk and laugh while he changed his second tube. Mary Ann had us going over a discourse about "bromances" and "dude-vorces."

Here's our happy girl, doing one of her favorite things in the universe - cycling with her pals...

One last shot of the beautiful American River from the bike path.

Keep checking the blog because RAGBRAI is mere days away!

Love to all!