I suppose some might wonder why I call the days by number. Truth is we lose track of which day it is. Our maps all have the day number and really that is all that matters.
Day 5 means the rest of the riders have arrived. By now everyone that will participate has ridden at least one day. The day is going to start early because we are getting concerned about heat.5:00 is to be the wake up hour. Oh, wait a second though, this indicates some sleep has happened. I'm in the living room with the Rathje's and Rodney. All night there is significant snoring coming from where Karen is sleeping. Quite honestly I was surprised she might snore that loudly. Toward morning the snoring gets really loud and suddenly I hare a loud slap. That's when I realize that Bob has fallen asleep on the couch near Karen, and I'm not sure that Karen hasn't injured Bob. At any rate the snoring has ceased and I'm happy.
The ride. Today I rode with the group Jan rides with. This includes Joan BD, Marybeth, Debbie, Jackie, Vickie, Kim, Josset, Carol, Jim and Karen, and Susan. A large group and they do this in a rather interesting way. They start together and then pick the next meetup area. They then ride separately or in small groups to that spot and eat, watch entertainment or whatever. Neat way to do it.
First stop was Farm Boys, home of the famous breakfast burritos. I'd never stopped there before so was anxious to try it. Like all things ragbrai, it was delicious. The next stop was probably the meetup town where Jan and I got tattooed. The previous one really was temporary. I believe this was Colfax, and the surprise was Colfax mountain. Seriously, when it came time to mount up on the bikes, there was a hill going straight up. Who plans these things. Later we learn that our friend Carrie from yesterday took a spill here. Nothing serious, just one of those unable to unclip things.
We survive this hill and the next stop will be the first watermelon stop. This is another first and that really hit the spot. This is about the time I get a text from an unknown caller. It was something like - Baxter has homemade apple pie. Mike + 1, I'm back in the game. I don't think I gave an update yesterday on pie counts. Starting the day I believe the count stood at Mike 8, Denny 6. This is actually becoming a contest! So I'm down an additional pie, but have no desire to add to my total. I did later in the day discuss this with the human pie machine, and he explained that I'm still in the wax on, wax off stage. I'll assume that was a compliment.
Next stop will be Beekmans for homemade ice cream. Deb and Carrie introduced me to this yesterday, and it will be a treat again today.
Maybe I should pay more attention to our maps but I thought today was to be flat. I couldn't have been more wrong. We also enjoyed a head wind much of the day. I explained to my companions that "Windy" had decided to join us. I was teaching Jan the art of drafting. I think she was surprised at how much difference it makes to ride behind someone. It must have been working because coming off one of the hills I hear Jan yell DRAFT, so I pull in front of her. Next I hear SLOWER, so I dropped the speed a bit. I heard a nearby rider complement her on how well she had me trained!
I know there were more stops, but sort of forget them when they get mixed in with all the hills. Finally we arrive in Grinell, a beautiful town by the way and I learn that there is one more part of the ride that hasn't been yet explained to me. Last stop is a bar. We talk about bad decisions and this may have been one. I know I had three beers, and I suspect others had that many or more. I think these gals are better practiced at this part of ragbrai than I am. As we hop on the bikes I wonder if they give DUI's to bike riders! At least our host is a retired judge, will that help?
We finally make it to the host home and again what a beautiful home. Dick and Sis prove to be wonderful hosts. We find we will bein air conditioning again. Dinner is grill your own steak, salad, baked beans and baked potatoes. They had friends awd family help prepare and serve us! I should probably mention the pies. Apparently our hosts follow the blog and are well aware of the relationship between ragbrai and pie. I forget the actual number, but there were several homemade apple pies and pecan pies. There were a couple of frozen lemonade pies. There were a couple of lemon pies. This was bad for me, well not bad, but tough decisions. Mike increased his days total to two. Me? Ok I was a pig and found the apple, pecan, and lemon pies to be absolutely wonderful. I believe that brings the total to Mike - 10, Denny - 9. Now its me that is back in the game!
Tomorrow will be a long one of about 75 miles, it is late and need to see about sleeping.
No comments:
Post a Comment