day 7: Charles City to Manchester

I have about 3 minutes to write today's post. So I'll sum it up with a series of haiku

Biking through rain
Many towns do not exist
Sun in afternoon

Jubilee on map
But not in reality
Shady Grove same way

Looking for coffee
Brings adventure, laughs and fun
But no coffee found

New iPod case can
Be made from a beer cozy
Technology rocks

There we are-more tomorrow!

day 6: Charles City to Waterloo

Feel free to start singing the Abba tune "Waterloo" right now. I've tried getting it out of my head, and have been entirely unsuccessful.

Today was a longer day: 82 miles advertised, 86 in reality. Which is fine-I like biking long distances. But within the first 2 miles, I encountered Chat Man. You know, the guy who just wants to talk about anything and everything just to hear himself talk. Nothing is ever in-depth, and you find yourself wishing for some route to escape, but there was none for about 10 miles. Because the first 10 miles were downhill and easy, he had no trouble keeping up with me as I was getting warmed up for the day. Finally, we encountered some hills and i was able to ditch him.

Today's first stop was Clarksville. Clarksville is the home of the first yellow fire truck in all of Iowa. Yes, the entire town was this exciting...

After leaving Clarksville, we headed towards Stout. Stout's motto should have been "We're not even going to try!" So, I didn't stop

Soon I began to see signs for Parkersburg. Parkersburg is a town knit together by tragedy. Two years ago, half the town was obliterated by an F-5 tornado. Then, a year later, a student gunned down the high school football coach. When I biked into town, the first person to say hello to me, and chat with me for more than 5 minutes was the mayor. He was very grateful that his town was chosen to be on the RAGBRAI route. It was really cool to watch him talk with people who had come into town. When I turned the corner into town, the Lions Club was tallying up people from different states. I was proud to represent Idaho in the tally, bringing the total up to 37 states represented at RAGBRAI. I'm sure all 50 are here.

After biking through old town, there was a definite shift to new houses and developments. It's too bad that when something is destroyed, the first instinct is to put up crappy styrofoam Corey Barton-esque homes. I stopped in at the Lutheran Church and had a slice of pie, and went on my way.

Next stop? Dike!

Dike very awesomely recognized the full potential of their town's name. I got a nice "I biked through Dike" picture, although I opted not to buy the T shirt. Dike routed us through a neighborhood, which was very neat. Families were gathered on their front yard to say hello to and cheer on RAGBRAI riders.

After Dike, we went to Hudson. While the town itself was none to exciting, they did earn valuable bonus points for the theme "Pirate Island!" I got some neat pirate ship photos, but somehow missed out on the pirate tattoos that were advertised.

The day ended in Waterloo. I still haven't explored Waterloo-that's the next order of business. But there is supposed to be a Beatles tribute band, which should be fun.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more updates!

day 5: Clear Lake to Charles CIty

Here I am in the Charles City library. The Charles City Library people were vastly underprepared for the number of people who might like to come in and use their internet connection. So, I'm typing this up first, and then will post at some other free WiFi spot.

Last night in Clear Lake was interesting. After jumping in the lake, going to the Methodist church for a big pasta dinner and pecan pie, and wandering around town for the wily, yet nonexistent in Clear Lake Margarita, I headed back to camp to maybe read quietly and go to bed early. But in camp there was an Irish band. They were pretty good-the fiddle player was decent, but everyone said that their show was the same as last year. That's not cool.

After trying to read and relax a bit, I figured it was pointless, so I hopped on my bike for a little adventure. I found a really nice bike path and went about 10 miles. Then, I risked my life crossing a major intersection and went for a cheeseburger at a restaurant whose name escapes me, but they had something called a butterburger. After eating one, I still remain mystified as to what a butterburger is-do they butter the bun first, or what? Asking any of the shellshocked teenaged employees gave me no insight. It will remain a mystery.

I got back to camp in time to throw my laundry bag onto the laundry truck. This is literal. The best part is that on the first throw, I wildly overestimated the amount of force needed to chuck my bag onto the truck, and overshot the thing by several feet-in plain sight of everyone. It was pretty spectacular. The second throw was successful.

About 15 minutes after I turned in for the night, all this music came blaring in from the campground speakers. It seems that someone thought it was a good idea to broadcast the concert going on downtown into the campground. I wasn't interested in the band, which is why I didn't go. But I was still assaulted by their music. Then, the fireworks started! I had organized my tent so I could watch the fireworks without getting out of the tent-clever, eh?

About an hour after falling asleep, a giant storm came. It was very close, too, and I became vaguely worried about getting hit by lightning. But not so worried as to stay awake for very long.

In the morning, I was proud to note that while several of my neighbors had flooded, my trusty Eureka Apex came through with flying colors. But, there was this one guy who was sleeping on the sidewalk by my tent, only with no tent of his own. Did he just not bring one? It was strange.

The biking was fine today-very easy, actually. Only 56 miles total. I was done and set up in camp by noon. I did crank it out pretty hard, but my quads are starting to pay. I don't think I've got too many jump lunges in my legs this afternoon.

I stopped for breakfast at the Girl Scout burrito stand. They are saving up to go to the national conference. Plus, they gave me Thin Mints as a little breakfast dessert. Awesome!

The first town of the day was Swaledale. It was by far my favorite. While they didn't have any real kind of theme, everyone was super nice and enthusiastic. Plus, there were all these great old machines labeled with droll signs "First Wind Powered Car", etc. They has a sense of humor. I hope they did well today.

The next town was Rockwell. There wasn't anything too special here, except for a nice Veteran's memorial. There was also a girl trying to raise money to go to Carnegie Hall with a regional choir. Go get 'em!

After Rockwell was Cartersville. This wasn't really a town, but kind of a side street. But it was home to the best rope swing ever. Part trapeze, part diving board, the rope swing took you about 15 feet out over a pond. It was excellent. This is another little place I hope RAGBRAI did well by.

Then onto Rockford. What's with the rock towns today? This was nothing special. But there was a great garden about 2 blocks off the main drage that I spent about a half hour at. I talked to the guy who designed it and his wife. It's been featured in many magazines. There were a big variety of plants, big rocks, nice pathways, a beautiful pergola. I'm glad I went a little off the path to see it.

I got to Charles City and found the campsite. It's a big one today, and i've made an effort to find a spot near shade and away from people. We'll see how that goes. Now I'm off to see what Charles City has to offer.

day 4: Algona to Clear Lake

Hello, RAGBLOG followers! I'm sitting by the wireless truck here in Clear Lake. The theme for today is "Surf's up!" and it has already surpassed my expectations.

Clear Lake is a nice little town. I get the impression that it is the town people go to when they want to go to the beach, or have a semi-swanky getaway. There's a nice park, a clean beach, lots of boats. I'm writing earlier than usual today, so there's not tons to report about activities, but there should be tomorrow. I've already jumped in the lake once, and I suspect I'll be back in an hour or so.

Today is HOT. I was on the road around 6:15 to try and avoid most of the heat. The last 10 miles (of 60) were really warm. I could feel the sunburn coming on. I now have a whole series of really attractive tan lines. Note to self:either buy shorter bike shorts, or longer other shorts.

The towns today lacked any real excitement. The first town promised us the General Lee and Dukes of Hazzard lookalikes, but they were nowhere to be found. The next town tried, but selected a very odd "Hobo" theme. Let's celebrate homelessness, everyone! The next town (Garner) theme could be summed up as "Garner: We're not quite ready yet...we're still setting up...." Although Garner did have this very strange taxidermy display on the way out of town. Everything was nicely done-it was just a very weird choice.

Today's ride was pretty good. I hammered out a lot of miles at a fairly high intensity yesterday, so I took the first 14 miles pretty easy. The next 15 I went after with a high level of intensity, then alternated between high and low intensity thoughout the rest of the line. I pulled another paceline for awhile-it was fun, but the ehadwind was pretty brutal, so that did me in. I took almost every possible opportunity to stop during the last 15 miles-ice cream, water, pickle on a stick, if there was some kind of stand, I was getting off my bike to check it out.

I'm slowly getting pictures uploaded to Facebook. I did forget my camera, so there may not be a lot from Clear Lake. I'm off to go wrangle some sort of lunch and then chill out for awhile. Do let me know if there's anything you'd like to know about the ride at all-I'm happy to talk about it!

day 3: Storm Lake to Algona

Today was the 100 mile day-whoo! I did start the day with a teensy bit of a hangover-last night was Free Margarita Night...need I say more?

The day started with this guy asking me if I'd ride the Karras Loop with him. This is the loop that brings to total mileage up to 100 miles, and is a bonus. I said 'sure' and made a plan to meet him. I spent about 2 hours of my day waiting around for this guy, and we never connected. I know I am faster than him, but I can't imagine being that much faster than anyone. Anyone, I am waiting for an awkward encounter later in the day.

I seem to attract a myriad of stalkers...this guy has stalker potential, and there was a Creeper Shirtless Guy who followed me around awhile.

Probably I encouraged this behavior today by duct taping the word "Hi!" to the back of my shirt. Mostly, this worked out great, because everyone said "hi!" and I met some nice, non-creepy people. I pulled a paceline for 10 miles (averaging 21mph!) and we nicknamed ourselves "The Hi Line!" because I got everyone to say hi to the people we passed.

Anyway! The first part of the day had a longer than average start-the first town (Varina) was 17 miles away. There wasn't anything really exciting to see here, but I did get to hear a kid play "Charge!" on a bugle over and over again. The best part is that he ALWAYS started on the wrong partial, so it never sounded 100% like "Charge!"

The next town was Pocahontas. This town was excellent. You could get your picture taken in The Giant Kaliedoschope, do the Hoky Poky, have an Indian feather taped to your helmet and get your picture taken with Pocahontas. Several cute girls in full indian princess dress handed out water. Nice job, Pocahontas!

After this town, I visited my pals at the PBJAm. Today, they had instruments out, and anyone who wanted to have a go at it could jam. Two girls who sing in a band together sang for a bit, then I joined them on the beater violin they had lying around. It was fun. I'll probably stop in there again tomorrow.

Then it was off to do the Karras Loop. I waited around for that guy for awhile, and then took off. It was chock full of headwinds. They did have a nice oasis where you could buy a large Gatorade for $2 and get your official patch. Then, we biked through the town of Rolfe, which I must say, did not even try to be cool. There was a half hearted kid selling water, but that's all.

Next stop? Plover. Plover rhymes with lover, according to the dozens of Burma Shave style signs I saw. Plover is also famous for ham balls. (that what SHE said!) Ham balls are like meatballs, only with ham and brown sugar. I made several ball jokes with the people in line. The ham ball I had was pretty tasty. I gave the local kids playing in a band a tip for their college education, or so the bucket said...

After Plover it was time to hit West Bend. West Bend is famous for The Grotto of Redemption, a giant structure built entirely of indigenous stones. It's about the size of a 3000sq foot house, and features the stations of the cross, depicted in quartz, marble, geodes, etc. It was pretty impressive.

From West Bend to Whittacre(?) maybe this is the town name...Anyway, this is where I pulled the paceline. This was totally fun. Most of the time, I don't go after RAGBRAI with any kind of speed or power-I'm more in it to just ride an enjoy. But here, I really put the hammer down and cranked it out. The best part about this is that it was after having ridden 82 miles. Yeah! Go Hi Line!

After Whittacre, it was time to go to Algona. Algona is the overnight town. It has an excellent theme "That 70s Town-we're cycledelic!" I got a button and a bandanna, and am seriously contemplating going to "Cycle Idol" and singing some random 70s song. There are peace signs, tie dye and more around here. Algona has done a nice job with a fun theme.

More excitement tomorrow!

day 2: Sioux CIty to Storm Lake

Today was the first day of bike riding. And it was perfect. The weather was great, most people were courteous, there were interesting things to see and people to talk to. This is why I love RAGBRAI.

It's about 70 miles between Sioux City and Storm Lake. I've opted not to turn on my speedometer for this trip. I spent so much of the spring being concerned with time and mileage that I think it's more relaxing to just not think about it.

The day started early: I woke up around 5am. Most people wake up early on RAGBRAI so they can beat the hest. After packing up all my stuff and dragging it out to the charter truck, I was off.

The route for RAGBRAI isn't really marked in the towns. So when it was time to leave, I didn't really know which way to go. Guess which way I went. That's right-the wrong way! But not for very long.

The first pass through town of the day was Leeds. There wasn't much to see here, but there was a rocking donut stand, staffed by cheerful and excellent girls. You rock, donut girls!

The next town was about 20 miles away-I've actually already forgotten what was going on in this town, it was so forgettable. But the next stop was something called The PBJam-a combination band/peanut butter sandwich stand. There's lots of gimmicky things on RAGBRAI, and their gimmick was that you could fill out a postcard with whatever your sandwich order was, and mail it home. I had to take advantage of that, for sure.

Then, it was time for Washta. Washta boasts the coldest temperature on record for the state of Iowa. Celebrating this fact was a big pool in the middle of town filled with ice water. Bikers were encouraged to jump in and enjoy the cold water. I totally particpated. Washta also had an outstanding petting zoo, where I fed a nice donkey, a calf and several goats.

After Washta, we biked to Quimby, which was celebrating Watermelon Days. There was free watermelon handed out by the local church groups. There was an entire semi filled with watermelon.

Finally, we ended up in Storm Lake. My campsite for the evening is by the lake. It seems like a nice place. I am currently enjoying the hospitality of the Grand Central Coffee Station, where I've mooched some Internet and had some good coffee.

During the day, I'll often bike by myself. But I've noticed a trend...if someone is going to talk to me, it's usually a 50 year old or older man. I'm not sure what about me seems approachable to this demographic, but there it is.

I'm having some techincal difficulties uploading pictures today, so I hope to have some to you tomorrow. And as always, if there's something you'd like me to write about, just let me know!

day 1

Today was all about getting to Iowa. I got up crazy early, went to DK Donuts with Chad, and then spent many quality hours getting to Iowa.

Of course, about 12 minutes into the flight, I realized that I had FORGOTTEN to pack my RAGBRAI credentials. This means I didn't bring my wristband, the license plate, anything. But I did get to spend a nice long time waiting patiently in a line to explain to the RAGBRAI powers that be that I am an idiot. Fortunately, I am not alone in my idiocy.

While waiting to ride the bus to Sioux City, I met some new friends. Todd, a father of five, Harvey, a retired microbiologist, Lynn, the government drone and Alison, who I think doesn't have a job. The best part about these new friends is that they gave me 2 beers to enjoy on the ride to Sioux City. Even though the beers were of the "Bud Light" persuasion, they were free, and set a nice tone for the afternoon. It made reassembling my bike much less aggravating.

The rest of my day involved checking out the sights and sounds of Sioux City. I listened to the "Rockestra!" (which was a little sad...) wandered around the expo where I saw a very cute Snoopy jersey, and had a flavorful bratwurst. Next, I am headed to "A Million Spokes",which is a documentary about RAGBRAI.

But tomorrow is the big day-actual bike riding! Stay tuned for pictures and stories!