Linda

A friend of mine from Chicago, who also happens to be well connected with the dog rescue community in the southeast, reached out to me yesterday afternoon with a request. A german shepherd mix had been rescued and saved from euthanasia, and a family had gladly offered to adopted her. Only problem was, the dog was in Decatur and the family was in Canton and unable to drive to Decatur to get her. My friend asked me if I was willing to transport the dog. As it turns out I work not too far from Decatur and I live not too far from Canton. So this seemed like a really good fit. I gladly volunteered.

RAGBRAI: The Untold Stories

During the week of RAGBRAI I did my best to write a blog entry every day. But typing on a droid micro-keyboard in the heat of the afternoon while surrounded by a dozen other riders and thinking about where I can get dinner is not an environment that is very conducive to thorough writing. Now that I am comfortably seated at my desk and I have all the time I need, I can go back and write up all the stories that I didn't have time to tell before.

Day 7: Wilton to Davenport

Finished!

I took the shuttle to the town of Wilton so that I could ensure my arrival in to Davenport at noon. That still left 35 miles of biking to accomplish in under 3 hours. That meant my stops had to be short.

The passthrough towns were not as busy today as they have been the rest of the week. Like me, most riders are in a hurry to finish so they can catch their charter buses home. I did stop briefly for water and for pie, but otherwise kept the pace up. The route was pretty flat, but the headwinds were back, which slowed me a bit.

We were greeted in Davenport by residents lining the streets and applauding us as we went past. It seemed like everyone was out cheering us on and yelling congratulations. We felt like we were finishing the Tour de France.

Much of the route from the border of the town to the river was downhill. This made for a fast and fun ride. But there was still one more big hill in our way: Fairmount Street. When the final route was announced earlier this year there was some grumbling on the RAGBRAI forums about the inclusion of Fairmount Street on the route. Those who live in Davenport said there were better ways to get 10,000 bicyclists to the riverfront that didn't involve such a steep hill. But the city insisted that this route would be the safest and would minimize the impact on automobile traffic. So up the hill we went. And yeah, it was a doozy. Not the worst one we have done all week, but still pretty challenging to throw at us in the last 5 miles of a week long ride.

After the hill we soon turned on to River Drive and got our first glimpse of the mighty Mississippi. Just a few more miles and we were at the riverfront park and the end of the ride. I took a moment to stand along the railing and get my picture. But my day still wasn't done. I had to ride 4 more miles along the riverfront to get to the parking lot where my bags and my family were waiting. Then, finally, I was finished.

This has been a fantastic experience and I am glad that I was able to share it here. I did a total of 362 miles in 7 days, and saw America's heartland along the way. It was short of my goal, but I still feel good about what I have accomplished.

Day 6; Grinnell to Coralville

Today we rode through all sorts of towns. After leaving Grinnell we had about an hour's riding before entering Brooklyn (the one in Iowa, that is). After that it was a succesion of rural Iowa towns: Victor, Ladora, Marengo, South Amana, Homestead, and Oxford. Each one welcomed us with lots of hospitality, food, and entertainment. It is impossible to ride through any of these towns as there are so many riders and other people packed on to the roads. And really, the whole point of RAGBRAI is that you don't ride through: you stop and enjoy the town, see the sights, talk to the locals, and enjoy the food. I did more of that today than any other day. The weather stayed cool enough that I didn't feel like I had to rush to beat the heat. This helped me to enjoy more of the stops along the way. It is amazing how many local residents come out for this ride. There are people parked along the roadside just to watch and wave at the riders. Many of the passthough towns were holding festivals in the town square, which the local residents were enjoying right along with the riders.

If you have been watching me on the tracker then you may have seen that from time to time I appear to stop in the middle of nowhere and stay there for awhile, sometimes more than 30 minutes. I'm not napping under a tree. Farmhouses along the route set up booths to sell food and drink. Some vendors are well known to RAGBRAI regulars and set up a new trailer every day of the ride in a different farmhouse yard. The longer stops I make are to eat food and take a rest. The shorter stops are to refill on water and gatorade (or to grab a muffin for breakfast). Today I stopped at a trailer that I have been wanting to try since Sunday. It is called "Pastafari" and it sells some very good pasta. Customers then relax in the shade and listen to reggae music. I spent quite some time there today and was so relaxed that I didn't want to leave.

I rode almost 78 miles today. The first 58 were very enjoyable. The last 20 not so much. The weather was excellent this morning with some cloud cover. Even once the clouds broke the day didn't heat up too badly. We stayed in the 80s with a bit of a wind. The roads were mostly flat, which added to the enjoyment. But in the last 20 miles the rollers started again and the hills turned steep. I couldn't make the stretch without stopping once, catching my breath, and drinking an entire gatorade.

The final ride in to Coralville was wonderful. We were on a smooth divided highway with only one hill. Since this is "college spirit day" the road was lined with college logos from all the riders. As I went flying down the hills I anxiously looked for mine. Yes, it was there!

Tomorrow is the last day of RAGBRAI. There were times when I never thought I would make it to the end. Now I nearly have. However, family obligations are putting some time pressure on our return to Atlanta. So I have decided to start the last day in the town of Wilton, which is the middle of the day's ride. This will ensure that I get to Davenport in a timely fashion and we will be able to return home to Atlanta by late Saturday. It will reduce the day's 65 mile ride to about 30 miles.

Day 5: Altoona to Grinnell

I got out early again this morning to beat the heat. I was on the road by 6:15. As I was leaving camp so were two other riders, so we rode out of town together, and one of them (Mike from chicago) wanted to do about the same pace as me. We rode the entire route together. It was great to have company and the conversation made the miles go by faster. We had a good pace and got the first half of the ride done quickly. As we departed Colfax we had to climb a monster hill. Some folks walked it but I still had enough energy in the legs to make it. At the top, unfortunately, someone fell over which caused quite a bit of confusion. On the plus side a group was giving out free water as a reward for making it up the hill. Then the ride got tough. The road was a never ending procession of rolling hills, some of them steep.

We stopped for "lunch" just outside Baxter at about 10 am. While we were resting a few rain showers came through, but by the time we were ready to leave the rain was gone.  The weather was otherwise improved today, as cloud cover kept the heat down.

To make it more interesting we started hitting headwinds after we left Baxter. I even had to peddle on the downhills to keep from slowing down. This road also had some vehicle traffic, including a few tractor-trailers. The wind and the hills were so bad that one cyclist sought relief by hanging on to the side of a tractor-trailer as it slowly made it's way through the traffic.

It was a relief to climb the last hill and ride in to Grinnell. Tomorrow we hope for less wind (or at least wind on our backs), fewer hills, and no rain.

Day 4: Boone to Altoona

It is hot in Iowa this week. Really hot. Very very hot. Almost as hot as Atlanta. Maybe even hotter. Did I mention it is hot?

At the beginning of the week I would get up and get moving at my leisure, usually getting on the road between 7 and 7:30. But this kept putting me out on the road in the heat of the day, struggling to finish. So last night I set everything out, woke up this morning at 5:15 and got out on the road by 6. This made a huge difference, and my ride was very enjoyable.

Today was flat and short, making it easy to get to Altoona before noon and the worst of the heat. We also had good cloud cover until about 10:30 and by then I was close to the end. It's a shame that I have to rush through the route to beat the heat, as there are plenty of interesting things to see in the towns along the way. But I minimized my stopping time to be done early.

Still, I saw an alpaca, a lady playing an electric piano outside (with a large fan keeping her cool), a Cessna airplane for sale, children throwing buckets of water on the riders, and a large model airplane flying over the route.

One thing that fascinates me as a bicyclist is the variety of cycles I have seen on the road. There are many recumbents, quite a few tandems, some recumbent tandems, some recumbent tricycles (usually called trikes to distinguish them from the child's toy), a triple tandem (3 seats), and even a 2-seater surrey. There was also a rider with two prosthetic legs on a recumbent that is powered with hands.

I even saw a bike that was a tandem with a recumbent seat up front and a regular seat in the back. I talked with the riders of this last bike for awhile. They tried a regular tandem and the wife hated it. The heavier rider has to be up front to improve stability, and life can get pretty boring for the woman stuck in back. But this tandem puts the lighter rider up front in a reclined position with the head in front of and below the other rider. This couple love the arrangement because she has a great view and they can easily talk to each other. I understand this is only made in one place in the world, and it takes a year to build one.

Tomorrow will be a bit longer and a bit hillier, and probably just as hot.

Evening 2: Carroll

I wanted to make a special mention of last night's experience. I had to leave my tent briefly to adjust a flap. When I stepped outside I was awestruck by the beautiful night sky. The night was crystal clear and there wasn't much ambient light so the stars were out in full force. I went over to the lounge area that our outfitters provide and sat in one of the recliners to gaze at the sky, and was rewarded with several shooting stars. It was a very peaceful end to the day.