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...

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Location:Sacramento, CA