RAGBRAI Day # 6 - Ottumwa to Washington - 68.5 miles, 2,541' of climb

Day 6 of RAGBRAI is always the last full day of the week. It is always a little bitter sweet. You want to squeeze all the fun you can out of it - it's your last chance! Here's a shot of me and Tom in front of the Moronosaurus. Tom and I started this RAGRAI week as riding buddies, and this was how we would end our last full day. We are matchy-matchy in our 2015 Cal Bike jerseys. This is for my buddy, Debbie, who is our Cal Bike ride director.

And here's a shot of the beautiful gardens in the host home. This was host homeowner Karie's 3rd RAGBRAI hosting and she was a consummate professional! She had a whole spread of snacks for us upon arriving - and all the right foods: bananas, salty snacks, carbs... And she had printed menus of local restaurants and entertainment venues in downtown Ottumwa. So thoughtful!!!

After coffee at the host home (thank you Karie!), we rode a bit before stopping for breakfast. Tom had experienced Mr. Porkchop a few days back and needed to have one more go before leaving Iowa. I am not a huge carnivore, but a nice, juicy, calorie and protein-packed hunk of meat is a good base for cycling fuel. We did not have the pleasure of seeing the authentic Mr. Porkchop this time as he has retired. He was an unforgettable character. Check him out on You Tube. Only at RAGBRAI....

Here's a shot of the pink Mr. Porkchop bus in the back. They marinate these thick chops in some deliciousness, then smoke them over corn cobs. Tasty! And look at those threatening clouds overhead. We made it to Day 6 with perfect weather conditions. Now I get to start to worry about rain... It's another long day (~70 miles), which would suck to ride in. This is another reason Tom and I peeled off from the others - I wanted to put some good miles in before the heavens opened up!

Here is Tom with his favorite milkweed conservationist people. He loved this. And loved the Iowan grandmas...

Here is a bucket of milkweed balls. Tom and I loaded up!

Tom under the stormy skies. We were not cold at all, which is awesome. At one point, we started to fee the telltale little drops here and there, someone said, "It's raining!" Another RAGBRAI rider said, "No, that's just blessing upon you." Tom and I liked that positive attitude and adopted it for the rest of the day. And guess what - it never turned into rain! Perfect weather!!!!

Here's Tom checking out some bike art for his pad back home.

And we checked out another dive bar. This one had a shuffle board, which always reminds me of my dad.

This is Beekman's homemade, freshly churned ice cream. Here is a line of generators churning away. On RAGBRAI, Beekman's is always set up - usually about 3/4 of the way through. You can heard the familiar sound of those generators each day. For some reason, Tom and I had not done the Beekman thing, so today was the day! 

Close up of one of the generators and churns.

Beekman's sets up their site at a local home/farm. This home was beautiful and had their garage open to display their treasured family heirloom. A 1928 (???) something or other vintage car. Obviously I am not a car buff, but this was beautiful. Their grandfather brought this car out to Iowa way back when. True history!

Joy oh joy! Wine! Wine! Wine!  I am not a beer drinker. RAGBRAI is a beer drinker's paradise. Finally some WINE! 

Yes, I knew Iowan wine could not possibly compare to the Napa Valley California Cabernet that Jett and I drink on a regular basis, but I was game to go for some big Iowan RED! They gave me a tast of the two reds they offered. The Judge was drinkable. The Pvt. GW was not. I will not comment on the light pink stuff nor the white Tom drank...

Sweet little wine bottles. I was so happy to be back in winery land...

Adjacent to the winery (in their beautifully remodeled barn) was a lovely studio art exhibit. (See what I mean when I say there are constant delights to discover each day at RAGBRAI?) Here is a lovely Iowan artist (and probably a grandma, which Tom loves) who gave us a tour.

She designed the artwork for this wine bottle and created this gorgeous horse eye artwork. It was mesmerizing. I loved it. Not sure I could have it in my home - it was too haunting. But I loved experiencing it here.

Here's a view of the winery tasting room from the barn. Wine + Cycling = Perfection

Here's a shot of the converted barn. They did a beautiful job. It is used for events, weddings, etc.

Tom trying two new types of pie (he's running out of time you see, and must double up): raisin and raspberry peach 

I love love love these little quilt pattern signs that you often see on the farms and barns. I was told these were hexes that ward off the 'haints. I want one for our little bungalow in East Sacramento. It would fit right in, right??? 

This little  route town (West Chester) had a huge crane welcoming us. A bike was suspended. It was awesome.

Tom and I were very excited to see the crane lower and a woman strapping on all sorts of safety harnesses. What would happen??? Would she mount that bike? How far us would she be suspended?? We were all anticipation!

Okay, this is how far they lifted her up. It turned out she was a photographer. Expectations Denied!

Here's the pennyfarthing. This guy was amazing. He rode the entire way, hills and all.

File this under "wWe've never done this before - we must do it." Tom and I had our photograph taken int his amazing combine. It was deluxe, very tall, and had an amazing and commanding view.

One of the public safety officers, keeping us safe on the route. She was actually yukking it up with the locals. 

And this is the best bike parking ever. In my 5 previous RAGBRAIs, I have never seen the wonderful and ever present corn fields used as bike parking stations. Brilliant. I hope this catches on.

This was a new beer drinking game. The two poles each have a beer bottle balanced on them. The frisbee players were trying to knock them off. I think...

Here we stopped for free beer (Tom's favorite). They also had free sweet corn! Love love love this ride.

Here are the grounds of the next amazing host home we enjoyed. Fred and his wife were simply wonderful. They made us all (35 people) dinner this night. I love Iowans.

More views of the house. Gorgeous yards. Not sure how anyone has time for this upkeep. (I guess they are not cyclists.)

Here is the lake across the way. Notice the skies are clearing for us! Blessed weather!

We were able to park our bikes safely in the garage at most of the host homes. This is such a luxury to keep them safe from weather.

Here's Jim at dinner.

And Party Paul and Tommy. (Yes, they came in somewhat later than the rest.)

Not only did Fred and his wife (so embarassed I forgot her name) provide dinner the night before, they also had an amazing breakfast spread the next morning. Here's a shot of our Moore-On organization extraordinaire, Karen, partaking of some goodies. I am surprised I did not take more photos of the Moore-On women. I did not start to get to know them until the end of the trip, alas.

And here are the homeowners. Wonderful people. We shared our breakfast coffee together as she regaled us with tales of an Amish wedding reception they attended. Fascinating!

Tom and Paul getting some caffeine and revving up for the last day...

Oops. I just realized I have started Day # 7 in this blog! Yikes! Cutting off now! Will finish the tale in the next blog!