2018
RAGBRAI photos are included in the monthly summary, July 2018 here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qdQEQt4xeVdDYAom6
Finally, we decided to ride RAGBRAI. This ride is legendary. I had even heard of it in California when I was in college. I hired a friend (Cade) to drive me, Savannah and Jacob, out to Onawa, Iowa. We saw lots of wildly painted team and charter buses on the way. We met Corky and Janet at the camp site.
July 22 Onawa to Denison
We headed out. There were some hills to climb out of the Missouri River floodplain. We stopped at Josh Schaben's house on the Loess bluffs. He was my student and a classmate of Savannah's. She ended up buying a Viszla from him years later.
July 23 Denison to Jefferson
We went through the Iowa corngrowers' display to get some corn propaganda, then a free ear of sweet corn. We stopped at the distillery at Templeton, where I bought a cheap T shirt.
July 24 Jefferson to Ames
At Iowa State University they routed us through the stadium while blasting Pink Floyd. It was awesome and unforgettable. That night I saw the Spasmatics. They were very entertaining, playing a lot of nerd rock, even the intro to Rush's YYZ. I met up with the rest of our gang and we walked to where a shuttle was supposed to take us back to the campground. No such vehicle appeared. Savannah stated emphatically, "I've been waiting her 45 MINUTES!" and we laughed at that. Corky called an Uber and we took that back.
July 25 Ames to Newton
We stopped in Colo, one of the pass-through towns. It's named after a dog. There was a petting zoo of farm animals. Savannah picked up a squirming pig, but didn't hold onto it long. We camped at a park in Newton that had a really nice statue of a rabbit out front that I forgot to photograph. That night right as I was going to sleep, they rousted us and made us go to the shelter because of bad thunderstorms and tornado watch. Corky had earplugs in, and, hearing nothing, slept on.
July 26 Newton to Sigourney
When we pedaled out in the morning there was half a case of Hamm's on the ground next to the sidewalk. An old dude with an already heavily loaded bike picked up all of it. I came upon a couple riding a tandem and towing a trailer with a small dog inside. I talked to them a while and got a good photo of them. The dog was a Havachon (Havanese-Bichon mix) that they had gotten expressly for this purpose. I ran into them again four years later when they camped next to me and Corky.
July 27 Sigourney to Iowa City
We stopped in Riverside, the hometown of fictional character Captain James T. Kirk. They milk that for all it's worth, holding an annual Trekfest and having a large model of a starship much like the Enterprise. It was neat to see.
July 28 Iowa City to Davenport
There were some great prairies, and I saw a couple of guys riding unicycles. That had to be tough. Not sure which day it was, but I saw a few triples, and even talked to the captain of one. I think his wife and daughter were the stokers. I talked to a guy who had used vintage Honda motorcycle panniers on his bike. It looked pretty cool. His giraffe theme not so much. We reached the river and dipped our wheels before Davenport. There was a guy driving an amphibious dune buggy in the river there. Stacey picked us up and drove us home. We had done it!
2019
Again, I had Cade drive us out to Council Bluffs. We camped in a field that had just been mowed, but the plants were really thick-stemmed and pokey. So unpleasant!
Sunday, July 21: Council Bluffs to Atlantic
I believe this is the time it rained almost all day. We got soaked through the pants, but it wasn't cold and didn't make the ride any more difficult. We stopped in Avoca and took photos in front of a "150" sign. I don't recall the significance of it, but is was made of little bicycles.
Monday, July 22: Atlantic to Winterset
At Casey, there was a big steer on a trailer. We stopped and had Beekman's home-made ice cream. You can hear them from miles away because they use old, loud engines to power their ice cream machines. The ice cream is good, but expensive and usually the lines are long. We stopped and ate lunch in Bloomington, which has a beautiful courthouse. I remembered being there years before with Stacey; we had taken a photo of Big Guy with his head hanging out the window of the Taurus. We saw a covered bridge in Winterset. It's John Wayne's home town, and there's a statue of John Wayne in a park. Corky climbed it, then fell off. We joked, "John Wayne's dead, and he still kicked your ass!"
Tuesday, July 23: Winterset to Indianola
We stopped at one point and listened to The Loudmouth Brass Band. There was one dude pulling a big trailer behind his bike that held his horn. He joined in.
Wednesday, July 24: Indianola to Centerville
We had breakfast at Casey's, but this was the year we figured out that eating egg dogs was the best. I think Mo's was the name of the place, with their distinctive striped umbrella. Centerville also has a very nice courthouse.
Thursday, July 25: Centerville to Fairfield
There was a lady towing a big trailer with a 60-lb doodle in it, Beatrix. Lovely dog, but I wouldn't want to pull all that weight.
Friday, July 26: Fairfield to Burlington
When we got to Burlington, there was an option to climb the incredibly steep, brick-paved, Snake Alley. We all did it, but it took all I had. We got free slap coozies for our efforts. Keep in mind these are designed to keep your can of beer cold. Afterward we ate at the Methodist church. One of the ladies asked us if we had ridden Snake Alley. When we replied in the affirmative, she asked, "Then where are your wrist bands?" We had so many laughs about that afterward.
Saturday, July 27, 2019: Burlington to Keokuk
At first I thought this part was a waste, since we had already reached the Mississippi River and dipped in Burlington, but it turned out to be one of the most scenic legs of RAGBRAI ever, following the river road south. At West Point there was a tower made of bicycles, and a giant ear of corn made of milk jugs painted yellow. At Donnelson, someone had a sign that said Welcome to Keokuk. Like the ride was over. We went to the campground at the high school in Keokuk. The festivities were somewhere down by the river, but we never went there. We ate dinner at Dr. Goodwells, and went back to the campground. In the morning, everyone was gone, so we got hot showers at the high school. What luxury.
Sunday, July 28, 2019: Keokuk to home, the RAGBRAI extension
Janet had come to meet us in Keokuk, and followed us back home. It would have been only 45 miles by gravel, but we weren't on gravel bikes. About halfway through the ride my body suddenly quit, so the last few miles were agony. We stopped at Murphy's in Monticello and got milk shakes.
I now tell people we basically got dropped off in Council Bluffs and rode back to my house. It was 555 miles total, a RAGBRAI plus one.
2022
Sergeant Bluff to Lansing. Overnight in, Ida Grove, Pocahontas, Emmetsburg, Mason City, Charles City, and West Union. Lansing. I rode this one with Corky Clanton.
Day 0, Friday, July 23: Sergeant Bluff.
I had Nathan Smith drive me out to Macon, MO, where I met Corky and Janet. I put my bike and bag on and in their car and we drove to Iowa while Nathan drove my car home. We ate with Galen somewhere near Omaha, then continued to Sergeant Bluff. There was hardly anyone in the campground. We met a young woman who was doing it for the first time. Her front derailleur wasn't working, but I don't think we fixed it. We rode down to the Missouri River, on considerable gravel, even though I was on the Litespeed bike. Janet drove us back to the campground. We met a couple of guys from California, which was interesting because we're a couple of guys from California. We went to the Bike Expo, where I bought a complete set of 2019 RAGBRAI kit because we had ridden that one.
By that night the campground was absolutely full of tents.
Day 1, Sunday, July 24: Sergeant Bluff to Ida Grove. Miles: 53.2
We stopped to see some llamas and a giant bicycle with hay bales for wheels. That night we camped next to a family (or church group) who had never done RAGBRAI before. They were debating whether to put the rain fly on the tent or not, and Corky urged them to do so.
Day 2, Monday, July 25: Ida Grove to Pocahontas. Miles: 71.2
In the morning, they were glad they had put the fly on their tent because all the tents were soaked with dew, which is normal. We rode to a Casey's. I parked my bike on the side of the store, and when I walked around the corner to the front I saw Ryan Van Duzer (a famous cycling YouTuber who I follow) there. I got a quick selfie with him. We saw him repeatedly for the rest of the trip. We stopped at a farmhouse that had a huge slip-n-slide. I can't remember if we went down it, but we watched a lot of people try. A few guys went down it naked. Extra points or applause were given when descending while carrying a beer without spilling it. When we rode into Pocahontas, kind of late, all the campgrounds were full. We pitched our tent on the grass in Senior Housing, which the manager said was OK. We were sponging power from one of the housing units when we were told to move to another. I said I thought there was no one living in this one, but they assured us there was. In the morning there was a cat in the window, which confirmed the occupation.
Day 3, Tuesday, July 26: Pocahontas to Emmetsburg. Miles: 56.4
We got to see the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, and impressive religious shrine made of rocks, geodes, agates, crystals and other somewhat precious minerals. It's quite large. At Emmetsburg we saw the Pork Tornadoes, but we only stayed for half their set.
Day 4, Wednesday, July 27: Emmetsburg to Mason City. Miles: 105
The baggage drop line was pretty long, as it was almost every day. This was the century day. We had favorable winds and flat roads, making it the easiest century of my life. I lost track of Corky halfway through. They ran out of patches but sent them to us in the mail later. In Britt they had closed off the downtown to traffic and all the vendors were there. An old police car from the Andy Griffith era was parked there. We ran into Ryan Van Duzer again, and Corky talked to him about his bike. That night we saw Sugar Ray play. They were remarkably good, and rocked harder and louder than they do on their recordings. The opening band was a funk group that was good. They did a lot of songs I had not heard covered before.
Day 5-Thursday July 28: Mason City to Charles City. Miles: 47.9
We stopped at a big quarry that was now a State Park in Floyd County where we were able to look for fossils. This was the first year they had lifted the limit on tickets, and there were a LOT of people on the ride. The pass-through towns were really packed. There was a lot of the typical limestone stuff, such as crinoids. I put a small one in my bag, but never found it later. Charles City has a river running through town, and a lovely bike bridge over it to get to our campground.
Day 6-Friday July 29: Charles City to West Union. Miles: 63
Leaving Charles City we saw the whitewater course that runs through the middle of town. There were some people jumping from a bridge to swim in the stream. When we got to the campground in West Union, we set up our tents and I noticed a blue tandem with a little trailer and a dog. The rig looked familiar and I talked to the people. They were the same I had met and photographed 4 years before on the 2018 RAGBRAI. I'd remembered that the little dog was a Havachon.
Day 7-Saturday, July 30: West Union to Lansing. Miles: 65.4
At some point I lost Corky again. But later I finally ran into Julian Landsom, a young friend who I knew was on the ride, but had not managed to meet up with. He had had some mechanical problems (broken derailleur hanger) earlier in the trip, but was back on his own bike. I caught up with Corky in Lansing. We dipped our tires in the Mississippi River, then rode up Mt. Hosmer, which is basically the bluff of the river there. It was very steep and quite difficult with the high gearing on the Litespeed. There were some great overlook views on that bluff though. Nathan had driven my car up to pick us up, so we found him and drove home.
2024
Day 7-Saturday, July 27: Mt. Pleasant to Burlington. 42.81 mi, 3:28:09 moving time, 827 ft of climb
I had hoped to go up on the Thursday night to Ottumwa to see Night Ranger and ride the last two days, but those plans didn't work out. Instead, Stacey and I drove up on Saturday morning. She dropped me in Mt. Pleasant at about 9 a.m. I had decided to take the new Cannondale gravel bike so I could do the gravel segment (for the first time on a RAGBRAI). Right away I saw a sign by a body shop: Enjoy your last day on the RAGG! Pretty funny.
I knew that starting so late I would be near the back of the pack. I began by passing people, thinking everyone at this end would be a slow poke, but it turned out to be not the case. I pushed myself too hard for the first 5 miles and I think that hurt me in the end. The headwinds were moderate but tolerable. The hills were mostly long and not very steep. I passed one improvised stop, and, before you know it, Mediapolis at 20 miles. There were lots of people there, but I didn't need anything, so didn't stop except to change my music. I did talk to a guy on a mountain bike. Asked him if he was going to ride the gravel. He didn't know what I was talking about. Turns out he was a RAGBRAI virgin, and was only riding one day, like me. The bike was borrowed. I informed him on the gravel loop and other customs of the ride.
Shortly after Mediapolis I turned off on the gravel route and stopped to air my tires down to 35 psi with the battery-powered pump. The gravel was not bad, though there was some washboard in parts of it. There were few other gravel riders, but I caught up to one guy who I talked to for quite a while. Turned out he was from Bedford, Indiana, where Fanta C Giant Schnauzers (our breeder) is located. He had a real gravel bike, but a couple of other guys I ran into had skinny, smooth tires. I don't understand it. There was a nice downhill coming off the bluff, but otherwise it was fairly flat. The area was mostly corn and beans, but there was a nice part along a stream for a bit. We stopped at some farmer's house and got some water. There were only about 2 miles of gravel after that, then paved road leading into Burlington. I didn't get a gravel patch because you had to scan a QR code on a sign and send it in. I was not a registered rider, so I wasn't getting one. Plus, only the first 500 riders would receive one. I pumped my tires back up to 70 psi again.
I pedaled into Burlington, passing the old guy with the hockey helmet that is on all these rides. He was the only person I recognized all day. I rode into town and headed straight for Snake Alley. I had planned to stop and empty out my water, but I had so little left I didn't feel that would make much of a difference. I shifted into my lowest gear and started the climb and a slow pace. It was fairly easy until about the last two switchbacks. I was huffing and puffing at the top, and hit my highest heart rate there, 167. There was no armband hand out this year. I rode down to the vendor area and looked at the old jerseys. All the middle sizes were gone, and they were $50, so I left. The line to dip tires was super long, but I had never planned on doing that on this trip. I rode down and found Stacey at the BNSF building. I loaded up the bike and we went to lunch at Mazzio's Pizza. She drove home and I napped.
I was more tired than I thought, but my average speed of 12.3 mph showed me that I had pushed myself a bit hard, even on the gravel. I never took a long rest and my legs felt tight a lot of the way. The next day I was fairly stiff.
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