Day 0: Niles to Glenwood

I spent the night in a hotel near O'Hare airport. The organizers were adamant that the bus would leave Niles at 6 am and not wait for latecomers. I set two alarms just to make sure I woke up on time, and went to bed at a reasonable hour.

At 12:30 I awoke to the sound of thunder and stayed that way as the entire region was pummeled with storms for over 2 hours. I finally got back to sleep but the alarm still woke me before 5. I got ready and called the front desk for a cab. But when I got to the front they told me the cab was not there yet due to flooding. I waited 20 minutes before one was finally able to get through. My cabbie was an interesting fellow with some very colorful language, but he got me to the bus with 5 minutes to spare. As it turned out, the organizers did wait for latecomers as some folks were having difficulty getting there. Some roads were completely flooded out.

We are on our way now, somewhere in western Illinois. I see another thunderstorm in front of us and I sincerely hope they all stay away from Iowa. I am sitting next to a sheet metal worker who retired in May and has ridden 2000 miles since. He is ready for RAGBRAI. With my 600 miles I feel inadequate.

Live Tracking for RAGBRAI

I will be leaving home soon to head to Iowa for the Great Ride. The bike is ready and most everything is packed. I've spent the last few weeks putting together a website that will track my progress. I have an app on my phone that uploads my position at regular intervals, and the website updates its map from that. It will show my route each day during the ride. The success of this tracking will depend on the availability of cell data service along the route, so there may be stretches where the updates won't succeed. I've used this before for rides and had great success, but never in the midst of 10,000 other riders and never in the middle of Iowa. According to my service provider's maps, Sunday may have spotty coverage but the other days look pretty good. Keeping my fingers crossed.

The website is http://www.followbill.org.

6 Days and Counting

In less than 6 days I will begin my big adventure. I will join 10,000 other bicyclists in a 1-week ride across Iowa called RAGBRAI. Right now I am making a list and checking it twice, writing down all the things I think I will need for a week in the cornfields, and getting everything ready to pack in my duffel bag.

Beautiful Ride in the Country

I have three weeks left to get ready for RAGBRAI, and I feel woefully unprepared. I am far away from my goal and don't feel as if I have built up the strength and stamina that I wanted. Nonetheless, I am moving ahead with plans and am prepared to tackle whatever I may face.

Cartersville Century

Yesterday I rode 50 miles (well, more like 48) in Cartersville, as part of a charity ride for the Boys and Girls Club. I'm rather partial to this ride as it was the very first group ride I ever did, two years ago. I've learned a great deal about riding in those two years, but I really enjoyed going on this route again and finishing it with ease.

Vaughn Road

Vaughn Road. Every time I climb the steep hill on Vaughn Road I tell myself I am never riding down this road again. And every time I get back to my house I am already making plans for the next time I can ride on Vaughn Road. I think cyclists have masochistic tendencies.

Theater Upgrade: Blu-Ray

We have been enjoying our home theater for over a year. But during that time it has only been able to play DVDs. When I first put the equipment together I purchased a (used) Sony 400-disc DVD changer. I found the notion of one-touch play appealing, and through the automation system I was able to achieve that objective with the changer. Sony also sells a 400-disc Blu-Ray changer which it has been prohibitively expensive for quite some time.