Laura's Cycling Blog: August 2012

Folsom-Loomis Loop - 42 miles 2000' of Climb

We had an excellent ride today! Although temps were forecasted for 106, we headed out at 8 AM to beat the heat. We met at Dave & Debbie's. Steve and Jeffrey were there and the 6 of us set out together. This was the first time I saw my RAGBRAI sister and brother since we parted ways two weeks ago. It was soooo nice to ride with them again. Even though I nearly took Debbie out in the first couple of miles. We were riding abreast on the bike trail and I saw a fork in the rode and decided we were going left. Debbie, who was on my left, knew the rode curved to the right, while the path to the left was an access road. I went left and immediately Debbie and I were handlebar to handlebar, fighting for our balance. Debbie skillfully held her line and I somehow eased right and we saved the day! (So sorry for that rookie move, Debbie!)

Here we are assembled at Debbie/Dave's driveway - our usual starting point.

Love riding through Loomis. Here are some friendly alpacas.

Jett stops to get a good look at the alpacas.

Isn't he (she?) sweet? Looks like an oddly-proportioned poodle.

Beautiful country roads. Jett was a tinge under the weather, but manned up admirably all day long. Dave was in his hyper mode. Always fun.

The 3 amigos!

Cute RAG-doll!

Cute RAG-boy!

I could not get Jeffrey in front of me for a clear photo shot (yes, all shots are taken while on my bike). I finally got lucky with a behind-the-head move here.

And here is a less successful behind-the-head move. That's my ponytail! (and Jeffrey's shadow)

Here's one of Dave's singing goats.

Dave baahs at them and they baah back. We wanted to take them home with us! So cute except for the creepy eyes...

More gorgeousness. Love cycling with my life partner, Jettie... xoxoxo

Dave is "cocking the hammer" (add strange European cyclist accent here)

Steve is the MAN!

Cute girls. Debbie - you look like a model...

Again, Jeffrey gets away from me! My camera just could not catch her today.

Friends ahead.

Here we are at a stop light after the tempo ride down Auburn-Folsom. Jett is done.

Debbie has had it too.

And our reward for 3 hours of fun and work - pool party! That water felt awesome!!!

Dave is winding down.

Jeffrey, aka the chow-hound, is going for seconds on the pasta.

Jett (who makes a mean sangria) is delivering her delicious concoction poolside!

And here's Joey, aka the sangria hound. He really enjoyed lapping up Jeffrey's sangria.

Cannot wait for the next fun ride!

2012 RAGBRAI Post Summary

I now have 4 RAGBRAIs under my belt: 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2012. 2012 was a humdinger. The heat and humidity were off the charts. Our wonderful charter guru, Ron Oman, told us all that we should be very proud of ourselves for sticking it out and finishing the ride. In his 30 years, he has not seen this level of heat. He said a lot of people who has registered canceled the week before due to the weather reports. Lots of others bowed out after 2 days. We are all proud of ourselves for persevering under tremendous hardship.

We got to our hotel very late on Saturday, and went to sleep even later due to having to wait for our bikes to arrive. After 5 hours of sleep, we headed to the airport for the final trip home. Jett picked me up at 1 PM and I said goodbye to my RAGBRAI family. :(

I was mentally, emotionally, and physically shot when I came home. I finally got a good look at my injuries. Funny, at RAGBRAI you really don't have the means (good lighting, mirrors, time) to check things out. Then you get on the bike and you kick into survival mode, just trying to keep pedaling all day. At home, I found out my misery on the saddle was due to an open and angry saddle sore!!! Also I had stepped on a tent stake a few days earlier, and now had a huge gouge in the sole of my left foot, which somehow did not hurt at RAGBRAI, but now became so sore I could not walk on it. For the rest of the week, I had to pad it with a thick layer of gauze, add bandages, and wear flats to work. I also had a huge scrape on the back of my right calf due to catching myself on my chain ring to avoid a fall when some RAGBRAI cyclists came to a full stop in front of my without warning. Why this did not hurt me in Iowa, but became infected and painful when I got home is beyond me. These were my 3 open wounds. The unseen pain came from simply being beat up. All of my muscles ached. My feet were thrashed and my calves knotted up. My neck and shoulders were so aggravated that I started a formal series of chiropractic case immediately upon coming home.

I stayed off the bike for a full week to allow the saddle sore to heal. It's been a full two weeks now since I returned, and I finally feel back to normal. What a wild ride. So hard. So fun. I will totally do this again. Debbie says she doesn't need another RAGBRAI experience. Steve is being noncommittal (but I'll bet he'll get some Iowa yearnings come next July). Brent of course is a RAGBARI diehard, and so am I. I will totally do this again!!!! (Surely we cannot experience the humidity again...)

Thanks for reading. Peace out...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sacramento, CA

RAGBRAI Day 7 - 70 miles

I am writing this final RAGBRAI post a full two weeks after I returned home.

Here we are on the final morning. Our 7th consecutive day of riding. Over 450 miles on our legs. Days on end of extreme heat, humidity, sleep issues, questionable food choices, and lots and lots of laughter.

Brent cannot seem to get a real smile going (and look at those socks), Debbie is wearing arm covers due to her sunburn/sun rash, I cannot get my eyes fully open (to be sure, it is around 6 AM in this photo), and Steve's zebra-striped scalp is looking swell. On this morning, I was certainly happy our ride was soon to be over, sad that it was ending, and a bit anxious to think that we had to cover 70 miles and get back early enough to pack up our bikes and catch the first bus back to Omaha.

We had some lovely views on this day. After hundreds of miles of nonstop corn and soybean fields, some lovely green rolling hills were a welcome sight. The weather continued to be cooler and quite nice. After the first 10 painful miles (when we all moaned and groaned as our poor bodies got over the morning stiffness and got into a warmed-up groove), we all felt good and the ride was pleasant and managable.

In this shot, you can see a good stretch of RAGBRAI pavement. We always have 2 full lanes to ourselves (cars are fairly rare). Slower riders stay to the right (mostly!), allowing cyclists to pass on the left. The far left is the sweet spot for those speedy double pacelines. My favorite section of the pavement to ride is immediately to the left of the double-yellow line. Although, I usually moved to the right when there was room.

So happy to see Superman out today! We all felt like super heros at this stage!

This mother touched me so much. As we rolled out of one of the tiny towns, she was giving away ice cold water in honor of her son's 30th birthday. All she wanted was for folks to say happy birthday to him. I was sorry not to get a better photo of her face, but she was busy handing out water. When everyone is selling ice water for $1-$2 a bottle, to be given water by a regular citizen is so heart warming. And obviously this meant so much to her son.

We found Steve riveted to the vocal performance of this little local band in one of the last towns. I really cannot tell you how badly they sang. But they were having the time of their lives - and everyone around them was so encouraging. I am sure they felt like rock stars!

Coincidentally, the day before we were remarking that we had not seen any elyptical cycling machines at RAGBRAI when we seem to have seen every possible thing on 2 wheels. The next day - voila! Here they are. I did not ask them if they rode the entire route, or were just out for the day. It's funny. I found myself so weary at this stage that I took few photos and asked few questions!

The final push to the river. Horses to the stable at this point!

Success! We made it to the Mississippi River in the town of Clinton, Iowa. So happy. Bittersweet. Our little foursome made for a wonderful RAGBRAI family.