RAGBRAI 2016 Day 4 - Leon to Centerville 65 miles, 2,708' of climb

Day 4 was finally the day I was going to spend some time with the Sacramento Moore-Ons, Paul and Tommy. For the first 3 days, they always left a little later than the rest of us, and definitely came in a lot later than the rest of us. I learned Paul's nickname was "Party Paul" and understood Paul and crew really wrung out the best fun RAGBRAI had to offer each day and spent the day experiencing it, rather than coming back to camp to relax like the rest of us.

Here is the host home where we stayed in Leon.

Here is Paul's Colnago. I love love love the beautiful paint on these older Colnagos. Gorgeous.

Here's me and Tommy getting ready for the day! It turns out Tommy is my neighbor back in Sacramento - he lives only a couple of blocks away from me.

And here's the Party Paul crew starting the day out. Paul, me, and Tommy. Tommy was amazing- he only started cycling in February. He is one strong guy!

I was so happy to see my banana people!

And I found some pandas!

I enjoyed Team Fart - their motto is "draft at your own risk."

Here's Paul cruising along.

 Here's Ole to greet us at the meeting town.

This is Bill and it is his birthday. He was passing out thousands of bottles of free water to celebrate. This came in mighty handy because I was never able to locate the water fill station in the prior town.

The weather was simply gorgeous.

Paul had a boo-boo (splinter in his hand). I had tweezers in my saddle bag. Paul initially wouldn't let Tommy work on it, but after I botched in my digging work (I think I pushed it in further), Tommy took over and got the job done. Actually these two were a joy to hang out with. They are clearly dear friends and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Love a good bromance!

A little history of the Midwest.

And look who whizzed past us - it's Moore-On Jim! (I'd recognize that jersey anywhere!)

This is a poor shot of a human foos ball game. It was fun to watch the kids play. Paul and Tommy, both whom have the entrepreneurial mindset, assessed the potential profitability and came up with a break-even point on the fly. Impressive! (They decided it could not pay.)

Here are the Sacto boys in front of the Ritz Hotel.

And our host home for the night. Check out those solar panels. This home owner's yards were the size of a park. And beautifully groomed.  There's my little tent in the foreground. And my nifty miniature camp stool. Loved that thing.

More gorgeous park lands.

And our faithful Mooronosaurus always there to greet us. Once back at camp, I reunited with Tom, who put in a 100-mile day due to the bonus "Karras loop" offered. I usually take the century ride option at RAGBRAI, but not this year. I preferred to stay with the Sacto boys. And yes, my legs were pretty tired from all this climbing. (Okay I admit it - I wimped out!)

Here are some cool looking buildings in downtown Centerville.

And wonderfully decorated kybos - the theme was the Wizard of Oz.

On our way to dinner at the Methodist church, we encountered Miss Pancake. This is evidently a big think in Centerville. Go Pancake girl!

This church supper was the best meal ever. For a mere $8, we got: 2 ham balls (another "never heard of these before, we must eat them" item - they are like meat balls made with ham and some richly sweet spiciness); a baked potato complete with sour cream, butter, and some bacon bits; green beans (deliciously prepared); a slice of tomato; a huge dinner roll. After this gut bomb, we headed over to the dessert table for pie and a scoop of ice cream. It's amazing how much food we can put away on these cycling trips. (And I have the RAGBRAI belly to prove it.)

A beautiful church.

Some more local entertainment along with their pre-teen groupies.

Here's a cool display in the book shop.

Tom and I headed into the "Good Times" dive bar. The offerings were minimal and the vibe was no bueno. I told Tom I could not hang in there. Too scary for me!

One should never regret not participating in RAGBRAI craziness, but I regret not joining JR to go see "Hair Ball," a hair band cover concert. As you can see, JR dressed the part. This was the first day I started getting to know JR. He was cool and quirky and smart and fun. He slept in a hammock strung between two trees each night. More often than not, he wore a cape. He sported a kilt in the first few days. He likes to party and I wish I hung out with him more. Net year, JR, you shall be mine....

At the end of Day 4, we had completed 249 miles and climbed 12,634 feet. I am happy and tired and looking forward to another day of RAGBRAI adventures.