The Oklahoma Freewheel 2024

 

Given the massive crowds and other problems with RAGBRAI in recent years, my riding buddy Corky and I decided to do something different this year.  After examining all the rides offered in surrounding states, we decided to ride the Oklahoma Freewheel.  It would start and end in the same town, forming a loop; therefore, we would not have to be shuttled to the start or end town.  Corky had heard good things about this ride, and we were looking forward to seeing some new country via bicycle.  We expected there would be many fewer people, and we were right, as about 140 were registered (compare to ~30,000 on RAGBRAI last year).

I left the house early on May 31 and arrived at Corky and Janet's sometime after 10.  We loaded up Corky's bike and gear and headed toward Oklahoma.  Corky did most of the driving, which gave me an opportunity to nap. We stopped at Buc-ee's outside of Springfield, MO, and it was packed with people.  I got a burrito and overstuffed myself with it. We rolled into Pawhuska, found the Constantine theater and got ourselves registered.  We ran into a Rooster Cogburn impersonator and I told him the story of Corky falling off the John Wayne statue in his hometown of Winterset, Iowa. We had said, "John Wayne has been dead for years and he still kicked your ass!"  We checked out some of the interesting stores on Main Street, including the Buckin' Flamingo, which held many amusing novelties.  We set up camp at the school.  I saw some people with wristbands, and recalled that we didn't get any in our registration kits, so I went over to the little shelter where the ride organizers were set up, and got mine put on and one for Corky.  The Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were numerous at the school and they put on some antics around dusk.  Not sure what they were doing.  We spent the night in our tents under the bright street lights. 

Day 1: Pawhuska to Pawnee. 49 mi, 2000 ft of climb. We packed up, threw our bags on the trailer and headed downtown for the mass start.  There was hardly anyone there.  A few people accumulated, but there were still only about 20, as most of the people had left much earlier.  The organizer, Paul, mentioned the location of nearby bathrooms, so when he gave the official start, we didn't leave.  Instead, we went back to use the bathrooms.  As a result, we started at the back of the pack.  Gradually, we overtook people on the route. We saw about 5 roadkilled tarantulas, and finally a live one.  We stopped to photograph it and get it safely across the road.  They don't occur where we live, so I get pretty excited about them.  I saw a number of interesting roadside flowers, and photographed them for later uploading to iNaturalist.  We passed a lot of wind farms, and we could hear the blades swoosh as they turned.  

In Fairfax we stopped at the main intersection and photographed the old buildings, many of which had their old vintage signs still painted on the windows, even if different businesses lived in them now. We headed over to a converted gas station. It was named Treats. I thought I could get ice cream there, and Corky thought we could drink beer at their picnic tables.  We met Carol Connor, who operates the county paper, the Fairfax Chief.  This is her retirement gig, as she used to be a research psychologist.  We exchanged stories about running small newspapers, such as the graduation edition, legal notices and advertising.  She was a fount of knowledge on the local history.  It turns out the Killers of the Flower Moon had been filmed in Fairfax, as that was where many of the events in the book had actually occurred. There was currently an effort to save the Tall Chief theater, which had been built by an Osage man named Tallchief. Across the road was the Baptist church, which had been founded by a chief who quit the Catholic religion in favor of keeping his two wives. We spent a long time chatting.  I got an ice cream (free!), and we drank our beers.  Corky and I each bought necklaces for our wives from the gift shop.  

We continued on the route to the overnight town, Pawnee. There were lots of rolling hills. I had not ridden this bike with the new saddle and my butt was hurting.  Later I adjusted the angle and set-back, which helped a lot. We set up our tents right next to the courthouse to get out of the wind. The local paper there is the Pawnee Chief. We walked to the local motel, where the organizers had arranged to get our showers.  We got a room key from the dude outside, who just decided to start calling himself Tader, and got nice, hot showers.  What a luxury! The high school athletics group was selling food in the park.  I got a good burger there.  A band played in the bandshell.  They were country, of which I am no great fan, but they played a lot of stuff I like, and played it well, including the Eagles and Jimmy Buffet.  Then they played "Poke Sallet Annie," and I loved it. It was fairly windy overnight, but it did not blow us away.  It pulled a few of the guy line stays off of Corky's tent, though.  

Day 2: Pawnee to Perkins. 36 mi, 1700 ft of climb. There was rain in the forecast that morning, but I left my rain jacket in my bags.  We were 5 or 10 miles into the ride when I began to feel drops.  They evaporated as soon as they hit me so I wasn't worried.  Then the drops became larger and more frequent.  We stopped because Corky had plastic ponchos in his bags, but it took so long to find them that we were soaked before we got them on.  Still, they kept us warmer as we pedaled along through a driving rain.  I was more worried about the occasional lightning than the heavy rain.  We stopped at the fairgrounds and stayed under a lean-to for awhile. The rain let up a bit and we continued.  Then the rain started again and got heavy.  It was interesting going fast downhill in such conditions.  I actually overran the end of the ride and had to backtrack to Oak Lodge, a Methodist events center.  Corky had gotten us a private room for the night, which was really nice.  I've never had such luxury on a bike tour.  We got showered and found lunch at a food truck that was set up on the grounds. We had a nap, and walked down to the Dollar General to get beer.  I also got a pair of shorts, as I had apparently not packed enough for the evenings. I got an insulated bag to put the beer in and we got some ice from a convenience store.  We dried our rain-soaked clothing in the sun. We ordered pizza for dinner. We talked to the director of the Oak Lodge.  It used to be the local summer camp for Methodist kids.  The local church bought it and uses it for various ministries, such as feeding children once a week, and rents it out as an events center.  It has a lot of buildings and grounds, so it's quite a task to take care of it. I photographed a huge jimsonweed growing next to the lodge. The seeds are hallucinogenic but also potentially lethal. It was probably planted under the ornamental name, "moonflower." We were the only ones drinking beer at the group meeting that evening, but I think that broke the ice, as we saw more people drinking beer after that.  I had a great night's sleep in an actual bed.

Day 3: Perkins to Prague. 52 mi, 2500 ft of climb. The story of the day was wind, wind, wind. We were headed south, but the wind was headed north.  It was a grind for about 30 miles, then we had a crosswind for 10 more.  The wind speed was so great (10-20 mph?) we couldn't even coast on the downhills.  At one point there was gravel all over the road.  We found a thin strip down the middle where there was less gravel, and shortly found a bottom-dump gravel truck on the side of the road.  The driver was climbing on top of the trailer and on the phone to someone.  Guess he lost his load.  At some point we met a young (well, younger than us) woman named Dot.  After awhile I learned that she had been trained as a botanist.  We had some interesting exchanges about plants.  Sadly, she has never been able to work in the discipline. We had lunch at Lawsons, a convenience store and cafe.  Corky had a gigantic ham sandwich, and I had perhaps the best cheese steak in my life. We ate them outside, sitting on a curb, drinking beer and swarming with flies. Since the rain on the previous day, the streams were running high and red, a result of the red Oklahoma clay.  We had cold showers in the old gymnasium that night, but it was the only time we had cold showers. It must have been the old junior high gymnasium because the mirrors were far too low. There were some food trucks set up across the road from the park we were camping in, and I got a really good chicken and bean burrito, as well as some caramel kettle corn (and beer) for dinner.  A big storm was predicted for that night, so we set up our tents under a picnic shelter. About 10 o'clock the storm hit.  It rained really hard for about 2 hours, with plenty of thunder and lightning to go with it.  I mostly stayed in my tent, but some of the other guys stayed up and watched it from the shelter.  I guess it flooded pretty badly in some parts of the park, but I knew we were on high ground, or concrete, and pretty safe.  

Day 4: Prague to Drumright. 39 mi, 1700 ft of climb. You know you got a lot of rain when a crayfish wanders into your camp. That's what greeted me outside my tent, which was fortunately intact, if not dry. We packed up and were late for breakfast at the school cafeteria but still were served. The biscuits and gravy were hearty. On the way out of town, I saw a couple of huge earthworms on the road. Although our route had turned north, we had headwinds again. Fortunately, it was a short day in terms of mileage. I crossed an intersection and saw a box tortoise in the road. It pulled its head in, so I knew it was alive.  I turned around, picked it up and took it to the roadside.  It peed on me.  We had Casey's pizza for lunch. While we were standing in line, a guy walked in and paid for everyone in line, including our lunch. This had never happened to me before. We got to Drumright and set up our tents in what would be shade in a short time.  I took a righteous nap. We were in a park, not near a school, so they had arranged a shower trailer. It was very nice.  This night was the free catered dinner, and the barbecued brisket was delicious. There was a live band that was a bit southern rock, blues, and country. They played some Jimi Hendrix, which I do appreciate. The singer was funny too.  Dot sat with us and it was revealed that she had been a punk rocker in a previous life.  I related to her some of my punk creds, such as seeing the Dead Kennedys play on the eve of the new year 1984 in a nearly destroyed roller rink.

Day 5: Drumright to Pawhuska. 60 mi, 2200 ft of climb. We got an early start. We had a pancake breakfast at the Masonic lodge. The first 40 miles went fast, as we had light winds and mild hills. There were some nice country roads, smooth pavement and long downhills. I even saw two live tarantulas. At one point I saw a pair of scissor-tailed flycatchers harassing a crow in a field. There was a looong bridge over the Arkansas River near Cleveland under construction. We had to go about a mile in a single lane against traffic.  I waited for the wide loads to pass first. After awhile, I noticed my right leg and foot had become sunburned.  There was a nasty headwind the last 10 miles.  I met Corky at the school at the end. I took a shower in the school and the water was blazing hot. It's the only time I ever took a Navy shower because the water was too hot.  We loaded up and hit the road. We stopped in Vinita at Clanton's Cafe for a late lunch.  Corky's last name is Clanton, so this is a big draw for us.  The food was good.  We stopped at Bass Pro Shop in Springfield to pick up my reel.  I spent the night at Corky's house, and drove the last leg of the trip the next morning.

It was a great trip. I saw quite a number of Mississippi kites (a life bird for me), upland sandpipers, and numerous roadside flowers that I have yet to identify.  Upon my return, I found that my wife Stacey had a copy of Killers of the Flower Moon.  I read it in less than a week.  It was timely and relevant, as I had just visited many of the places mentioned in the book. 

An online photo album of this bike ride can be seen here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NsfwtLVgVLFz3MPU6

Sketchbook profile

For Member Mondays, I composed this dog biography.

Joe Coelho grew up in a dog-crazy family on a farm in California, where his mother was a poodle breeder and all-breed groomer.  Stacey Nicholas grew up in an animal-loving family in rural Indiana, with a variety of mixed breed dogs in the house.

Joe and Stacey had hunting dogs for some years, including a Britany mix, a Golden Retriever and a Standard Poodle. One day, after the last of these had died and we had been dogless for several months, Stacey found a lost Miniature Schnauzer.  The owners reclaimed it, but we were smitten with the breed, and soon obtained a puppy from a “rescue”.  Gretchen is a typical mini: high energy, lots of prey drive, and very affectionate.  A couple of years later Stacey became aware of a black Giant Schnauzer in need of rehoming.  100-lb Big Guy joined us and soon became our soulpet. More years went by and we started thinking that we needed a Standard Schnauzer to complete the trifecta. About that time, Big Guy died of lymphoma and left us heartbroken.  Shammy Johnson connected us with Liz and we all went down to Columbia.  Liz showed us a pair of nearly 1-year-old females, and we took them both (Shammy got a Picard, but that’s her story to tell).  

The standards were full of energy and spent many hours running and playing in the  back yard.  We called them the Sisters of Chaos.  Indigo (Sketchbook Wheel of Fortune CGCA CGCU TKN) is the black sister, and as adorable as they come.  She has the friendliest temperament of all our dogs and doesn’t know a stranger.  She passed the canine good citizen tests (CGC,  CGCA and CGCU)  and is registered with Therapy Dogs International.  She makes a monthly visit to our local nursing home, and sometimes serves as a model for Joe’s presentations.  Last year, while Joe was giving a talk on dog anatomy, a student walked in and said, “Oh, my God, that is the cutest dog I’ve ever seen in my life!”  Don’t let her sweet disposition fool you, however.  She is known to give love bites, especially in the morning when trying to get Joe out of bed.  If she is really enamored with a new person, she will sneak up and bite them on the rear.  Hence, one of her nicknames is “Butt Biter.”  She is also a stone cold killer. Blessed with a strong prey drive, she has vanquished a number of mice and moles, as well as putting the finishing bite on a few squirrels. She does well in barn hunt practice, but we haven’t made it to a competition yet. She is smart, but resistant to obeying commands. In spite of this stubbornness, she has passed the Novice Tricks test. Among all our dogs, Indigo tolerates wearing clothing the best, and she and Joe have won best costume at the kennel club Halloween party two years running.

Isabel (Sketchbook Who Wants 2B a Millionaire CGCU NAJ TKP) is the pepper/salt sister.  Just watching her run, we could tell she was physically gifted. Her solution to nearly any problem is to jump.  High.  The first time our physicist friend saw her, he said, “What a powerfully built dog!”  We started training her for agility, which led to our joining the Quincy Kennel Club. We added a tricks class to her schedule and found that Isabel is not only smart, but very biddable.  She will do just about anything we ask of her.  She progressed through the AKC trick titles to Advanced Trick Performer and we are working on the Elite title.  She has given 17 public performances to date. Her routine includes lots of jumping tricks, but also scenting and floor work such as leg weaves. Yes, she performs while wearing a red cape! She knows so many tricks that we can’t squeeze them all into a performance.  Isabel has titles in three different areas, which collectively qualify her as an AKC Achiever Dog. Fun fact: Joe’s greying goatee sufficiently resembles Isabel’s beard that they once won an owner/dog look-alike contest.

Joe and Stacey live on a farmlet in Lewis County, Missouri.  Like Liz, they have chickens.  Their current pack features one Miniature Schnauzer (Gretchen), three Standard Schnauzers (Isabel, Indigo and Luna), and two Giant Schnauzers (Miss Kitty and Delta). Through the good people on the Sketchbook team we began volunteering with Boxer/Schnauzer Rescue of the Ozarks a few years ago.  We have fostered about 20 dogs, including the recently adopted 3-legged wonder, Miles (a mini). Stacey is Coordinator of Community Outreach Initiatives at Douglass Community Services.  Joe is a Professor of Biology at Quincy University.

Rather than upload a ton of photos to FB, here’s a link to a variety of images of Isabel and Indigo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/p46d2aaMGxGwqiiS6

Canton Camera Club Kayaks the Salt River

Canton Camera Club Kayaks the Salt River

Five members of the Canton Camera Club recently took to their kayaks, hoping to capture some fall colors along the Salt River.  Though the lack of rain slowed their progress and muted the colors somewhat, they still enjoyed a fun-filled outing.

Members enjoying the trip included Club President Bob Benton, Jamie Bowles, Joe Coelho, and Jim & Marcia Lewellen.  Jim grew up in the area, knew its history and lore, and that made the trip special as he regaled the group with stories of a plane crash, water skiing in corn fields during floods and Indian paintings on the cliffs.  They put their kayaks in the stream at the Spillway Recreation Area, just below the Clarence Cannon Dam which forms Mark Twain Reservoir.  The flow on the Salt depends on how much water the Army Corps of Engineers is letting out of the dam.  This day the flow was low, which would make for almost no current.   The lack of current resulted in halving the speed of travel as compared to two months ago when the water was up considerably.  The upside was that exposed banks and gravel bars provided a break for legs, backs and rear ends.  It was a sunny, cool day, but the wind was against them almost all the time.  

Fishermen in bass boats were patrolling the shores, as it appeared a bass tournament was underway.  Fishing was poor, as none of the bass fisherman were seen to catch any.  Coelho tried his hand at fishing and caught only a small white bass.

Birds seen included Bald eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Common Coot, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, several Pileated Woodpeckers, and many migrating Turkey Vultures. 

Jim knew that some Indian pictographs were located up on the bluffs, but the stream had changed over the years, making it difficult to determine the exact spot where the paintings were located.  He stopped at the site where he believed them to be.  Coelho made the steep hike up and along the cliffs, but found no obvious paintings.  

The stream was very scenic, having very few signs of human use. Otherwise, it was heavily tree-covered, and beautiful.  There are a few cabins on the banks and bluffs.  The fall colors were not the most vibrant, perhaps because of the dry fall.  However, plenty of scenic photos were taken and the group had an excellent time.  They completed the 7 mile stretch in 5 hours, and enjoyed a hearty dinner at the Rustic Oak afterward.  Information about the club can be found at CantonCameraClub.info. 

Jonathan

I took my kayak across the road to the lake for some fishing.  There was a guy on the dam already with a big white SUV and two boys.  I complimented him on taking his kids fishing, but he said the kids weren't fishing.  They were playing with toys in the tall grass on the bank.  Ah, well, at least he was getting them outside.  He caught a nice bass and returned it.  I took the kayak into the middle of the lake, but over the water I could hear everything said on shore.  The youngest boy began saying, "This is stupid!" "Fishing is stupid!" The Dad told him to stop saying that word.  It was downhill from there.  The boy went into a complete meltdown.  They hadn't been out 10 minutes yet.  The Dad put the boy in the SUV with the engine running.  I don't know what was in there to entertain him (DVD player?), but it seemed to work.  The older boy even fished for a while.  

I had a good time, catching a number of nice crappie.  A friend of the Dad showed up, fished for a while and left.  The Dad starts picking his gear up and heading back to the SUV.  That's when I heard him say clearly:

Jonathan, unlock the door.

I avoided laughing out loud, and turned the other way to hide my smile.  Jonathan, unlock the door.  Come to the front and unlock it.  Negotiations continued in this vein for some time.  Meanwhile, the truck was running.  I find this power struggle fascinating, and keep listening for the outcome.  Dad is noticeably trying to suppress the anger in in his voice.  Clearly, he knows that blowing up at the kid is not going to work in his favor.  He changes tactics.  Jonathan, we're hungry.  Unlock the door so we can go eat.  Appeal to sympathy.  Variations of this approach go on for some time.  Finally, I hear a car door open.  Dad loads all the gear in and they leave.  I haven't seen them come back.  I wonder if Jonathan didn't get a stern lecture at some point afterward.  

RAGBRAI 2023

 

Saturday, July 22

I did RAGBRAI alone for the first time this year, 2023.  I have a former student who lives in Davenport, the end point of the ride, and I offered to pay her to haul me out to Sioux City. She had to work, but her husband was available.  I got up early, drove to Davenport, and Matt drove me west. We saw a few team busses on the highway. We stopped in Cedar Valley and had a delicious burrito at Pablo's.  When we got to Sioux City, there was a massive traffic snarl.  It was hard to tell where we were supposed to go, and even when we found out, we typically chose the wrong lane.  After about an hour, he dropped me at the campground. I found an area of open flat grass next to a parking lot to pitch my tent.  Shortly, I saw that I was very close to the kybos, so the smell was not so favorable.  I dipped my rear tire at a nearby launch ramp, and rode my bike over the the Bike Expo to explore the booths.  I met Cathy Murphy (AKA Murph) from the Just Go Bike podcast, as well as Marley Blonsky, a recent subject of said podcast and co-creator of All Bodies on Bikes (https://youtu.be/JytAXpxmmQY).  I saw Ryan van Duzer at the Priority Bikes tent, but he was backed up with people wanting selfies.  I checked out a lot of the booths, picked up some freebies, and stood in a long line for the RAGBRAI merch tent.  They were fairly wiped out of stock because of the crowd, but I managed to find a few bargains.  

I took the goods back to my tent and returned with my chair.  I got a hot dog for dinner and watched the opening band.  They were a pretty good cover band. The Spin Doctors took the stage, and they did not disappoint.  I don't know their work that well, so some songs were unfamiliar, but they also did their hits, of course.  They had the most amazing sound quality I heard the whole trip. Very clear and free of distortion.  I rode my my bike back to my tent with a headlight for the darkness. I'm not used to sleeping under street lights, with traffic and people walking by, or kybo smell, but I slept surprisingly well.

Sunday, July 23. RAGBRAI day 1. Sioux City to Storm Lake. 

68.70 mi, 5:28:24, 2,972 ft of climb

I got up at 5, thinking that would give me a jump on the crowds.  Not so.  I was packed by 6, but I had to stand in the baggage drop line 45 minutes.  I heard later that other people had 2-hour waits. Eventually, they stopped requiring people to weigh their bags (there's a 50-lb limit).  My bag was 39 lb.

It was cool and overcast to start.  I took advantage of the mild conditions to get as many miles behind me as I could while it was nice.  The hills provided some great vistas, but were killers on my legs, and they sapped me.  When I finally arrived in Storm Lake, I stopped at the campground for baggage pick-up and the first thing I asked the guy was "Is this the regular RAGBRAI pick-up?"  He said yes, and we spent like 20 minutes looking for my bag.  Eventually, I noticed all the bags had a white tag, which led to the realization that it was actually the baggage for the Pork Belly Ventures charter.  I was pissed.  I was hot, tired, and had wasted a bunch of time.  Plus, I had stopped my bike computer, and it was another 5 miles to my actual campground.  I should mention that the Pork Belly campground was right on the lake and had many large trees for shade.  My campground was an open ball field at the high school.  No shade anywhere.  

I took the shuttle down to the lakefront and got a nice, fat burrito.  I sat on the bank of Storm Lake, which is quite large, and watched people and boats while listening to the warm-up band.  I went into the venue and got a beer before the Spazmatics started their set.  Their nerd rock did not disappoint.  I've seen them twice before.  Very fun.  

I walked back to the shuttle pick-up and saw two busses loading.  I broke into a trot and soon as I got near I asked a volunteer which one was going to the main campground.  He said the first one, which was then pulling away.  I said, "Son of a bitch!"  I think he was offended.  If I had known, I could have run straight for that one and made it.  So I waited like 20 minutes for the next shuttle to main campground (meanwhile 5 other busses came for the other campgrounds).  While talking to another volunteer, I learned that 500 people had wanted to take the sag wagon that day. That far exceeded capacity, so they were stranded in the first town until later, when the ride organizers sent school busses to pick them up.  Not sure how their bikes were hauled back.

Monday, July 24.  RAGBRAI day 2. Storm Lake to Carroll

57.71 mi, 4:41:09, 1,526 ft of climb

I had breakfast at the nearby Hy-Vee.  They had a nice breakfast buffet and almost no line. I sat with a guy named Patty who was going to ride RAGBRAI, then ride self-supported up to Winona, MN with a huge amount of climb.  I don't think I would try that.  I left an hour later than normal and that turned out well, as there was no line for bag drop. 

The ride was relatively short and easy, which was quite a relief.  The campground was another ball field, with no hope of shade.  I pitched my tent next to a fence, which was handy for locking up my bike, but I hadn't noticed the generator-driven yard light that was running later that evening. When I was trying to sleep.

Fortunately, the high school was serving hot lasagna for dinner.  Their showers were cold and communal though.  I met a 1st year medical student in line for food, and we decided to beat the heat by sitting inside the HS, charging our electronics, and chatting. Then another guy joined us.  He was a writer for MSNBC, and very interesting to talk to. I missed the Pork Tornadoes that night, but I had seen them before.  They're good but not in my genre.  After sunset I walked back to my tent for bed.  

Tue, 7/25/2023 RAGBRAI Day 3: Carroll to Ames, century day.

101.13 mi, 7:51:29, 1,827 ft of climb

I tried to get an early start, but the bag drop was a long line that spiraled through a parking lot.  Weird. Again, I tried to get miles in early while it was cool, and we had some overcast sky.  I made few stops, as usual, and tried to listen to my body when it needed water, drinks or specific foods, such as ice cream. The route was very well designed, with relatively little climb, and the century loop was late in the ride, so you could more readily decide whether you wanted to attempt it. Plus, the ride was going to be 86 miles without the loop.  What's another 15?   My right thigh was complaining a bit, but when I reached the decision point, I decided to go for it.  I'm glad I did.  The route was pretty easy, with plenty of tailwinds.  More importantly, I made a friend in Alton from Montgomery, Alabama. He's a real southern gentleman, and we made the miles fly by with our conversation. We picked up our century patches together and celebrated for a bit.  We rode the rest of the ride together.  There was a guy with a little dog in a box on the front rack of his bike.  He also had wooden box panniers. As a woodworker, he had built them himself.  The dog box was labeled "I bite!"  A rare silky terrier, he was a rescue and "mean as a hornet."  Nobody I saw tried petting him.  Alton and I rode through Jack Trice Stadium at Iowa State in Ames.  Their cheerleaders were lining the route, and boy do they have a lot of them.  

The campground was Brookside Park, and I probably got my best camp site here, right next to the brook.  I got pizza from a vendor in the campground. I took the "bum's shower" in the water jet area, which was intended for filling water bottles.  I rode my bike downtown to Casey's to get some food and a beer. I rode to the venue, but they wouldn't let me take the beer inside.  After consuming it, I went into the downtown mall area where they had set up a bandstand.  The opening act was Burnin' Sensations, which struck me as awkward because the Burning Sensations had a hit in the 80s with "Belly of the Whale," but this was not them.  They were actually a really good band, though, and played some unique covers, like "Fat-bottomed Girls" by Queen (and we all yelled, "get on your bikes and ride!" at the appropriate point).  One guitarist had an unusual left hand with no obvious fingers.  He could somehow hold a pick, however, and I thought he was just going to play chords and rhythm, but the guy could play lead.  He sang too.  They ended with Head East's "Never been any reason," which has a lot of keyboard parts in it.  The keyboard player was dressed like a 1970s British rocker, with long hair, skin tight black pants and red lame' jacket with no shirt underneath.  He came out with a keytar and was playing the solos with the thing over his head and absolutely killing it.  I sure wasn't expecting that.

Since I was there fairly early, I was up in the front, near the right speakers.  When Hairball came out, the volume was deafening.  I felt near-field effects throughout my body, and when the bass hit the deep notes, I could feel it pushing and pulling the air in and out of my lungs when my mouth was open. I stayed there anyway. I haven't experienced that kind of loud in a long time. Probably won't again for awhile.  The crowd was huge, estimated at 5000 filling the downtown.  They played classic rock favorites, each time with one of the three lead singers dressed and made up like the original, such as Gene Simmons of Kiss or Dee Snider of Twisted Sister.  They put on a hell of a show.  They change it every time, and even though I'd seen them twice before, they did not do Alice Cooper or Queen previously, and that was a treat.  They really should have done Queen's "Bicycle" though. Their encore was AC/DC and I took that opportunity to get on my bike and ride, beating the crowds back to the campground.

Wednesday, July 26, 2023.  RAGBRAI day 4. Ames to Des Moines.

57.12 mi, 4:25:48, 1,227 ft of climb

They were closing a major highway for the route, but only for a fixed period that day.  So if we got to Ankeny too soon, we would have to wait.  I elected to sleep until 6.  The late start was a plus, as there was no line for the bag drop.  I think one of the themes was that people were trying to beat the crowds by getting up earlier, but that doesn't work when everyone does it. One thing I noticed was that people would ride out of town and get breakfast at the first stop.  By eating in the overnight town before departing, I had no lines or crowds.

This day was predicted to be the biggest.  The news said 20,000 riders were registered for the whole week and 9000 had day passes.  Probably several thousand more joined us for this fairly short route between two big college towns.  I saw plenty of bikes and people without wristbands riding. And it was, indeed, crowded.  Most days were, but this was the proverbial elbow-to-asshole ride.  We had to wait for a train to get out of town.  A couple on a tandem blasted over the tracks right ahead of the train. I would not have tried that! 

The campground was another big park.  I tried to guess where the sun was going, but apparently I was disoriented because my tent ended up being the last to get shade.  So I went out exploring on my bike and discovered a secondary stage where a band was playing Living Colour's "Cult of Personality."  Intrigued, I sat in the shade and watched them a while.  They consisted of three young men.  They all took a turn at the drums, and all sang except the bass player.  The other two traded off guitar and drums and were quite proficient at both.  They played of diversity of seldom-covered rock songs, including "La Via Strangiato" and "Working Man" by Rush.  I think nobody covers Rush because their stuff is so difficult to play, but these guys nailed it.  I was in heaven.  Meanwhile, I got food and beer from vendors who were right there, and there were no lines.  Oh, and the route trail ran right in front of the stage, so I got to watch bikes and people go by.  The next band looked familiar, but they were a few songs in before I realized it was the Kris Lager Band, an excellent blues group that I'd seen before on a Big BAM ride.  Kris said, "this is the most people that we've played for 10 seconds in front of," referring to the bikers streaming by.  I went and took a shower at Joe's Wet Shack, then rode my bike down to the main venue.  Lynyrd Skynyrd were only a couple of songs into their set.  I got some pizza and a beer and sat down out in the middle of the crowd where it wasn't too loud.  They played all their hits and sounded great considering all their original members are dead.  

Thursday, July 27, 2023.  RAGBRAI day 5. Des Moines to Tama-Toledo

94.78 mi, 8:28:55, 4,402 ft of climb

With everyone wanting to get an early start, it was a long line for baggage drop again.  I have a photo of about half of it. It was cool weather early and I tried to get those miles in by skipping most of the towns, but it was a long hard day at eight and one-half hours in the saddle.  Man, was my butt sore. It's hard to find a saddle that works well with the lower position that aerobars provide.  It was almost certainly the hardest day of RAGBRAI ever for me, and for others that I spoke to who had done it more years.  The hills were never-ending and fairly steep.  Last year I changed out the cassette on my bike for one with lower gearing, but even the lowest is too high for my liking.  Still, I never walked up a hill or took the sag wagon.  I will have to change derailleurs to get some lower gears, and it's not that easy on an older bike like my Litespeed Tachyon. In Kellogg, I met a cute little white dog named Snowball.  He was barking at everyone, but turned out to be friendly.  The bank doorway in Grinnell was super elaborate, so I photographed that. I stopped in one town for a drink and a snack. The little grocery was wiped out of stuff, and one guy had bought a half gallon of orange juice. He walked out of the store and said, "Anyone want a drag off this before I put my lips on it?"  I was about 4 miles out of the end towns, Tama-Toledo, and there was a biker down in the road ahead.  Later I heard he had crashed into the ditch.  They had called for a helicopter to evac him, but canceled that and took him out in the ambulance. I never saw him because I turned off when I saw a sign for Indian tacos.  They were having a pow wow later that night, and I was able to get an Indian frybread taco, which I hadn't had in decades. I had to ride some gravel to get into their park, but there were no lines.  I met some people from Ukraine, which made for interesting conversation.  They had Ukrainian flag jerseys and olive branches on their helmets.  I rode the short distance into town. At one point I could see a school and campers ahead, but there were no signs and most bikes were turning, so I turned and went another few miles (from Tama to Toledo, which are across a highway from each other).  There I learned that I was now in the WRONG campground, and rode back to the first one, fuming with anger. So I had to ride an extra 6 miles at the end of an already difficult day because RAGBRAI has shitty signage.  I picked up my bag and found a place to camp by the elementary school. When I checked my bike computer I was at 94 miles and I really thought about going around the block a few times just to notch another century, but I was just too dead to realistically attempt that. The line for Joe's Wet Shack was really long, so I took the bum's shower again in the water spray area, which was probably intended for cooling, rinsing clothing, and filling water bottles.  I had plenty of company there.  The water's cold, but it's free. There was an older couple there, and the guy was washing his wife's hair in one of the jets, and it was just an adorable moment.  I found out the elementary school was open as a cooling center.  I went in and charged my electronics.  The air was really nice and cold inside.  I chatted for awhile with a guy from California who lived in Redlands, not far from Riverside where I went to undergrad.  I was in no mood to ride my bike, and the shuttle routes looked really goofy, so I decided to skip seeing Foghat.  They have one original member left.   We left when the school closed at 9.  

Friday, July 28, 2023,  RAGBRAI day 6. Tama-Toledo to Coralville.

82.04 mi, 6:56:24, 2,497 ft of climb

I had seen the Kwik Star convenience store on my unfortunate trip to the wrong campground the previous afternoon, so I went there first thing in the morning.  Almost no one was there. I got coffee and a cholesterol-infused sandwich.  I sat with a couple of guys from San Francisco, so we talked about California a bit.  One guy had bought a half gallon of chocolate milk.  I jokingly asked if he was planning to drink it all.  He said no, and offered me some.  I finished my coffee and drank 2 cups of the stuff.  It was college jersey day, and I wore an old QU Women's Soccer Team jersey that I had found in a pile of freebies on campus a few years ago. Though lacking rear pockets like a proper bike jersey, it was remarkably cool and comfortable.  

Coming into one of the towns, the bottleneck was so great that we had to get off our bikes about a quarter mile out.  Normally, that doesn't happen until you're in town a bit.  I took a side road past some goats and bypassed most of the happenings, though I was tempted to stop and get a better look at the live reindeer and camel.  It got hot later in the day. I stopped in a town, listened to a band while sitting in the shade, and had a soda. That helped for awhile, and later in the day I stopped at a farm and did their slip 'n' slide just to cool off.  There was a pool of soapy water at the bottom, where I was completely submerged.  It felt great, but I never did get it all rinsed off.  

It was another long, hard, hot ride.  When we rolled into Coralville I went to the information booth to ask where the baggage pick-up was.  It was right in front of me.  I found my bag and was walking out when I ran right into Alton. What luck!  We surveyed the surroundings for camping, and he said most of the area was too far to carry his bag.  I told him I'd carry his bag for him, and as far as necessary. I went back with him to help him find his bag.  He described it and I found it. Fortunately, it had backpack straps and I carried it a short distance to a flat spot we had picked out not far away. In fairness, Alton is 72 and I'm only 61. We set up our tents and sat in the shade awhile to rest.  We chose well this time, as the shade gradually crept up and covered our tents.  We got showers at another pay trailer whose name I can't remember (Million Waters?).  It was much nicer than Joe's Wet Shack.  A couple of his friends from Alabama joined us for dinner at the Methodist Church, and Alton paid for all our dinners.  The food was great and abundant.  I rolled out of there, stuffed. I ran into Josh Mittelberg from my area, pretty much the only person I knew on the whole ride, as Julian was unable to come up and join me. We walked out of the church and were crossing the street when I saw a large, black dog running in a yard ahead.  I couldn't have been more pleased to find a giant schnauzer.  She was young, friendly and beautiful.  She really made my day, which was about to get MUCH worse.  

Alton wanted to buy a fresh T-shirt so we went down to the venue and vendor area. There were no T shirts to be had.  Alton left, and I went to the ID line to get my age confirmed, which is required before you can buy a ticket, which you need to get a beer.  A police officer went to the mic on the stage and announced that a huge thunderstorm was coming and the band (Bush) was probably not going to play, and we were going to have to take shelter in the nearby rec center and school.  I quickly bought my beer before they cut off sales.  The air raid sirens went off and the roadies started pulling some equipment off the stage and covering the rest of it with plastic.  Then I saw the ominous shelf cloud coming in from the north. Everyone was heading for the exit, but when I got there, the security guard said I couldn't leave with a beer. Great. I walked back and downed it as fast as reasonably possible.  I hoofed it back to my tent right when the gust front hit, and it was a doozy.  I secured my tent and headed for shelter.  I wanted to go into the rec center because my phone was charging in there but the line was too long and police were motioning us to cross the street to the school.  I did so, with dust blowing in my eyes.  The wind was fierce and already some tents were blown down. At least I had my chair, so I didn't have to sit on the gymnasium floor.  The only reading material I had was the maps of Coralville and Davenport I had gotten at the information booth.  I can look at maps for a long time, but 1.5 hours is a stretch.  The side doors were open in the gym, and I could see the lightning, wind and rain were ongoing.  Finally, people started drifting out. I briefly talked to one guy who had been trying to sleep on the floor next to me. He had been unable to get the fly on his tent and had just taken his sleeping bag out of its waterproof bag when the storm hit.  It was going to be an ugly night for him, with presumably all of his stuff soaked.  I deployed the little poncho-in-a-plastic bag that I had been carrying in my fanny pack all week and ran across the street to the rec center. I found my phone and was able to start contacting people.  I let everyone know I was OK.  I found out one of my former students who lives in Iowa City had come down for the concert.  He wanted to meet, but the storm canceled that.  He said if my tent was down I could stay at his place, which was super nice.  The rain let up a bit and I went out to my tent.  It was still up and fairly dry inside.  I had left the air vents on top open in my haste, but not much water got in.  Sadly, Alton had collapsed his tent to prevent it blowing away, and it was full of water.  I helped him re-erect it and hammered in his stakes.  He sopped up the water with his towel and eventually got to bed.  I got in my tent and went to bed with the sound of raindrops on the fly.  In the morning, the tent was soaked on the outside, but I I shook off the fly and packed it up anyway.  

Saturday, July 29, 2023.  RAGBRAI day 7. Coralville to Davenport

73.20 mi, 5:19:09, 1,535 ft of climb

In the morning I heard Alton and his friends outside.  I dressed and packed in my tent, thinking I'd see them before they left, but when I got out, they were gone already.  The wind had blown over two kybos. Fortunately, nothing leaked out. A number of tents and things had been thrown in the dumpster, but I could not find anything worth salvaging.  I got breakfast at a Kum and Go just outside Iowa City.  Again, no lines.  I bought some cheap sunglasses, as I had dropped mine somewhere that morning before I left. A couple of miles down the road we had the option of going through Kinnick Stadium at University of Iowa. It was pretty cool, and I read later that the option was cut off at 8:00 a.m.  Although over 70 miles, the ride was comparatively easy, as it was fairly flat with a modest tailwind.  I bombed through it, seldom stopping. I talked to people that had slept in the school the previous night because their tents were destroyed.  It was awful, as people were up all night making noise and walking around.  I dipped my tire and took the obligatory photo in Muscatine, as I knew the tire-dipping line in Davenport would be long. At one point I fell in behind three riders because I wanted to draft the last guy, who was pretty big.  After a few miles I lost them, but found I had gained about 5 riders who were drafting ME.  That seldom happens.  I didn't mind and pulled them for quite a few miles. Outside Muscatine, someone was giving away drinks and snacks.  I got a Coke and some pretzels.  When we rolled into Davenport a train was coming through, blocking us from entering the riverfront parks where all the event stuff was.  I made my way to the luggage pick-up, found my bag, and went back to meet Matt, who had driven down to pick me up.  I got a shower at their place, and it was absolutely fantastic.  I drove home, but I stopped for sunflower seeds because I was falling asleep at the wheel.  

Final thoughts

This was definitely the hardest of the four RAGBRAIs I have ever done.  I don't think I was in any worse shape, as I had trained fairly hard this year.  The length and hills made it brutal.  534.68 was my mileage total, plus probably another ten for unrecorded miles.  I don't think I will do it next year unless one or more of the following occur: the route is more southern and easier, and they cap registration at a reasonable number. 

It took about 3 days for my legs and butt to feel normal, but that's typical.  My resting heart rate has gone down to about 54, which is super low for me.  Probably didn't get below 60 last year.  I lost 2 lb on RAGBRAI and have lost 2 more since.  Usually, I lose 10 lb or so, but they don't come off until the weeks following the ride.

I met a lot of interesting people, and found that conversation helps pass the time.  I talked with one woman for about an hour, and when she pulled over I found that we had gone 16 miles without noticing.  Meeting Alton on the century loop was the best though.  We talked each other through it.  I met another woman who had a vacation home in Lake of the Oaks, which is in my county.  Crazy. I got a lot of comments on my bike.  One guy was riding a Litespeed that he claimed had 75,000 miles on it.  Another guy said he had one, but it was too precious to take on RAGBRAI.  My jerseys initiated some conversations, including my Ped Jam jerseys, but mostly the Mount Diablo jersey.  Anyone who had lived near it wanted to talk about it.

I want to record some of my strategies here for reference.  I ate breakfast in the overnight town to avoid crowds. I ate flexibly and in out-of-the way places to avoid lines.  I used cornfields, and defiled a few, to avoid kybo lines.  I got up at 5 and was ready to go by 6. This did not help avoid crowds, but I put more miles in early when it was cooler.  Any earlier and it's dark out, requiring lights on the bike. Usually, I rode past the first few towns without stopping unless there was something really interesting. I tried to listen to my body to understand what it wanted in terms of food or drink.  I wore a different (old, unwanted) T shirt every night and threw that and my underwear in the trash every morning, so my bag became lighter and emptier each day.  I brought a battery bank so that I could charge my phone without having to compete for limited outlet space every night. I downsized a lot of my stuff, such as tent, pillow, sleeping pad. I used a bike light as my tent flashlight. Extra space adds up.  

Next time, I would carry fewer shorts and jerseys, maybe 3 each, and attempt to wash them periodically. 

I tried to take more photos this year.  An album of them can be viewed here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GkC1k5ezvGCqLYdu6

Reincarnation of the Gran Turismo

This story starts with a different bike, a 1980 Univega Super Ten that my daughter bought at a garage sale for $10.  It was all original and in mint condition. Red lettering on black paint looked great.  But with a steel frame and wheels, it is an absolute brick. I lightened it up by changing out some of the components, but still it was a bit of a drag to ride.  It just wasn't as rideable as I remembered my old Gran Turismo, though it reminded me of it a lot. 

Super Ten before restoration.

Super Ten after restoration.

Eventually, I started to wonder why I shouldn't get another Gran Turismo. Surely, some had survived.  A quick check on eBay revealed about 3. The ones in good condition were over $400, plus another $200+ in shipping.  Not doable.  But there was one just on the other side of Kansas City for considerably less, and the distance was drivable.  It was the right color, but a bit rough.  It weighed on my mind until I decided to get it. The seller had dropped the price.  I contacted the guy on eBay, and set up a time to pick it up.  I drove across the entire state of Missouri for this bike, and it was an absolute beater. There was no hope of keeping it all original, particularly as the front wheel had been replaced by a steel Weinmann. I took it completely apart.  Normally, I just touch up the paint on a bike restoration, but this one was too far gone.  I had the frame powdercoated. A lot of the components were badly damaged. The front skewer was so bent that the wheel would not turn properly.  I substituted several components for better ones I had on hand and bought some new, such as tires, cables, brake pads, gear cluster, chain, brake hoods, rear derailleur. I bought a donor bike for a better (aluminum) but not original front wheel. I had to remake the decals myself, which was its own ordeal. As the original color was "classic gold", I went with a gold theme for some of the smaller parts. It was three months from start to finish.

Gran Turismo before restoration.

Gran Turismo after restoration.

It feels pretty light and rides smooth, at least down the driveway.  I haven't taken it on a longer ride yet.  I don't have many pics of my original bike, but this one shows my roommate and myself leaving on a bikepacking trip in 1983. I sold it the following semester.

Carl Sprung and Joe Coelho

The original Gran Turismo on the back of my 1971 Camaro.

The Big BAMs

2015

Back in 2015 I was on the tourism commission in Canton, MO.  When the Big BAM (Bicycle Across Missouri) came to us and asked us to be the end town for their inaugural ride, I was chosen to be the local coordinator.  I designed a really neat finish to the ride, and had been looking forward to that day, but it rained so hard that the last day of the ride was canceled.  We enjoyed the concert anyway. 

2016

The next year the end was to be in Hannibal, so Savannah and I decided to ride it.  We had never taken on a multi-day bike tour like this.  We both bought road bikes and trained for it. I put together the camping gear we would need. I rode the Fuji with a rear rack, one pannier and fenders. Savannah rode her Felt with a top bar bag and a seat bag. It started in St. Joseph, where we saw the amazing Kris Lager Band.  Sadly, I haven't seen them since. We stopped at Shatto Milk Company.  It was fun, but lines were too long to get any ice cream.  We got something for lunch I don't recall.  In Hamilton we stopped at the Ninja Moose Brewery, where some guys we had just met bought our beers.  I also learned about biking sandals from them.  This was the first time I saw A.J. Gaither, an amazing one-man band who builds all his own equipment.   Chillicothe had the nice water park that we swam in. That night featured the Final Mix Show Band, who played great funk. We stopped for a couple of beers in Bevier.  Brookfield I don't remember too much about.  I think  I stopped somewhere to pee and got a nice rash on my leg.  I still don't know what plant caused it, but I've had it again since.  At one point, Savannah had to poop really bad.  We passed a spot with a grain silo, which I thought was perfect.  But she said no, she'd wait.  Finally, the situation got desperate, and she had to blast through some high weeds and brush to get into a hedge row and do her business.  That will teach her!

In Macon we camped at the Fairgrounds.  I think Macon is where we met Matt and Deb.  Some people camping near us were up late making a lot of noise.  When we got up in the morning, Savannah intentionally stomped around to disturb their sleep.  They were not amused. In Shelbina we camped at the lake, but we weren't allowed to swim, sadly.  The ride ended at Hannibal.  Stacey picked us up and we went home.

The first couple of days on that ride it was really hot.  Savannah and I had trained in the heat and did not suffer any difficulty.  Many dropped out or at least took the sag wagon for the day.  Some people had crashed their bikes, and later I saw a guy with his arm all bandaged and in a sling, but he kept riding.  

One night we had carpenter ants in the tent. Boy, it only takes one crawling on your face to wake you up.  They're big.  Every night after that we made sure to get all the zippers tightly closed.  We also hadn't counted on the ground being so hard, making it difficult to set our tent stakes.  Later I bought a plastic mallet to use on future rides.

My photo album from that month has some images of the ride: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qJ2obcuTUvq3YPNG9

2017

In 2017, the Big BAM was ending in Louisiana, MO, which isn't far from home.  We decided to do it again.  It started in Weston on June 11, where we met up with Deb and Matt again.  They introduced us to Corky, who would become a good friend and riding partner.  We ate and drank at this old speakeasy bar that had many floors, mostly underground.  It was fascinating.  Every floor had a different band, and you couldn't hear the others.  One was an Irish folk singer who was hilarious.  Another guy was right next to us while we were eating, playing an unusual type of folk guitar.  

From Weston, we rode to  Kearney and stayed overnight at the Jesse James Park and Amphitheatre.

June 12, we rode through Watkin’s Mill State Park, and after crossing the Missouri River, wound up in Lexington, camping next to the Civil War battlefield of the Anderson House State Historic Site. The campground was kind of in a hole in the middle of town.  I think it was the athletic field of a school.  

On June 13, we traversed the rolling countryside and ended at the Missouri Valley College in Marshall.  I met up with Brian Nolan, a former colleague at QU.   I remember one of the bands was Bones, Jugs and Harmony.  There was another band that played bones too, and in the end they had both bone players on stage playing bone percussion.

On June 14,  we crossed back over the Missouri river at Glasgow and spent the night at Rothwell Park in Moberly. I think it rained like hell that night, and our tent leaked.  It was then I vowed to get a better tent.

On June 15, we rode through a covered bridge and Mark Twain’s birthplace at Mark Twain Lake, before camping next to Clarence Cannon Dam. We took a shuttle down the the spillway, where we heard the Kay Brothers play for the first time.  Molly Healey was their fiddle player at that time, and they were amazing.  I became a fan and have seen them several times since.  

The last leg of the ride was interesting, taking us west.  We came out just south of Louisiana and had to ride Highway 79 up the bluff.  That was where I learned I was heart healthy, because if not I'd certainly have had a heart attack on those last two hills. Stacey picked us up in Louisiana.  We left right away because there wasn't much happening.  We got a flat tire in the Echo, and limped home on a doughnut.

A few pics from that ride are in this album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/t4jd31XNmuAtaGnu9

2021

In 2018 and 2019 we rode RAGBRAI instead of Big BAM.  2020 was the pandemic, so we made our own ride on the Katy Trail.  In 2021, Corky and I rode the BAM.  It was more of a Ride Around Missouri, making a curve through southeast Missouri.  It was great for me, as I had never been to any of these towns.  I had recently sold the Fuji and bought a Kestrel carbon fiber bike, which I rode on this ride.  It was really great.  Super light, and the Ultegra components made for smooth shifting and easy braking.  It didn't have as low gearing as the old Fuji though.

I drove down to Ste. Genevieve and met Corky and Janet.  We had a nice lunch, loaded my stuff into their car, then drove down to Poplar Bluff to camp.  There were only about 150 people on the ride.  

Day 1 June 14 -- Poplar Bluff to Sikeston, 69.3 miles, +761 ft

This was about the easiest 70 miles of my life.  It was completely flat and we had a bit of tailwind.  At one point we came across a guy who had is mower stuck in the ditch.  Corky and the guy pushed while I drove because I was the lightest and have a similar mower.  We got it out. We passed some rice paddies along the way.  We ate at the famous Lambert's Cafe, home of the throwed rolls.  It was really good, but a lot of food.  

Day 2 June 15-- Sikeston to Cape Girardeau, 69.5 miles, +1377 ft

We found a road-killed armadillo, placed a beer can strategically in its grasp, and photographed it.  We left it there for others to enjoy.  We did the same later with a raccoon and a red fox.  

Day 3 June 16 -- Cape Girardeau to Perryville, 52.2 miles, +3821 ft

Corky got into it with some guys who were holding up traffic by riding in the lane rather than on the generous shoulder. They all had  little American flags in their helmets. We stopped at another covered bridge in Burfordville. At that point, Corky apologized to them.  We found out later they were noobs.  I found a road-killed rough green snake in one place, and a milk snake in another.  Both were new to me.  Perryville had a huge, amazing recreation center for such a small town. There was a big hill on this ride, and I couldn't quite make it up.  I stopped and walked the bike, which I never do. This was definitely the hardest day of riding.  Later that summer I bought a new cassette with some lower gears.

Day 4 June 17 -- Perryville to Farmington, 44.3 miles, +2583 ft

We passed through Knob Lick and drove by Big Dick's BBQ.  Too bad it was closed.  Maybe it was here that I heard the narrowmouthed toad in our campground, which was by a lake.  Sounded like a baby wailing.

Day 5 June 18 -- Farmington to Ste. Genevieve, 42.5 miles, +2318 ft

We stopped at a winery, and it was very nice.  Corky wanted to keep partying with some women (most of them lesbians) we had met, so he stayed there while I rode on.  At one point I saw an eagle land ahead of me on the roadside.  When I reached the point where it had landed, I found a dead cat.  An old, dead cat.  Janet met up with me at one point to make sure I was OK.  When I got into Ste. Genevieve, there was hardly anyone there.  They were still selling T shirts, but I thought they were too expensive.  I was able to get a shower before I drove home.  

Some images from this ride are sandwiched into the middle of this photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GcZokDGK9GKqYvj97