I am finally home from RAGBRAI and a weekend wedding. Well I was home for a few minutes on Saturday, long enough to shower and repack. Now I am officially home!
Day 7 means the trip is coming to it's end. It was a great deal of fun, but even fun things must come to a close. I ride with the same group I've spent the last couple of days with. We will be eating breakfast in West Liberty. Long lines at the fire station for the pancake feast. It was worth the wait. When you finally get the front of the line you get to watch this massive griddle loaded with pancakes do it's work. I'd guess they can make a couple of hundred pancakes at a time. They have it down. The tricky part is that you have to actually catch your breakfast. Pancakes are flying everywhere as the "chefs" flip them up in the air. A few hit the ground, but I think our group did a great job of snagging their food with no errors! After you catch your plateful of pancakes you move on to grab a drink and some sausage. No, these weren't thrown at you. We sit together to enjoy this breakfast (and yes BREAK) is an important part of any time we stop for refueling. I know I need to be home by noon to make it to an out of town wedding, so I bid my farewell to my new friends. Kind of sad to say goodbye to a great group of ladies. Hope to see you on the trail soon.
It is now time to see how fast I can peddle my bike. I only make a couple of stops for water, no time for waiting in lines for food or other treats at this point. I'm making excellant time but the winds are pretty much in my face the rest of the way. I leave the official route at Walcott, and head east on Kimberly Rd. As I'm watching my clock, I decide that I will not arrive at the appointed noon time so as I approach the 280 overpass I call my wife (Joyce) for a ride home. We meet up in a bit and I have never been so happy to get a ride! I still managed a little over 50 miles on this final day, so I am pleased at how it has ended.
One of the goals I had this week was to see a different RAGBRAI. I was very happy with how the week went. I owe a lot of thanks to the wonderful ladies that were willing to share their RAGBRAI experience with me. I tried several new food stops (all delicious), and enjoyed all the stops for entertainment. I know some of you expressed concern about riding with me and slowing me down. I have to tell you that I was impressed with all of you and how well you ride. I'd be happy to join any of you on a training ride!
What was the best part? I think this always has to be the people. Both people you just met and the people in our group. There was Team Bricky from Iowa City. We actually were behind them on Saturday while stuck in a traffic jam on I80. Later while with Missey and Kathy we met up with some members of the team and had a great time chatting with them. Next was Team "Oh Brother, not another bike ride". We met them downtown on Monday night. The founding brother was quite entertaining and we visited with him and some of the other members for quite some time. Another group was actually a couple of buddies from out east that did this trip as a vacation from their wifes (or maybe it's the wifes vacation). They were a stitch. Kind of an odd couple. I remember the one telling us that his buddy refused to change his shirt and he finally called the buddies wife asking if she had any advice to get him to change clothes. She assured him that his buddy didn't listen to her about such matters either. Many more stories like this if you take the time to chat with those sitting near you at the various stops. So many, many interesting people.
Some thanks are in order. Mike McCoy! Wow what a great job! Can't imagine doing this thing with out your help. There are lots of things the riders worry about. Bike issues, injuries, consuming enough food and fluids, but never once did any of us worry about our stuff being where it was supposed to be. Not only that but Mike went the extra mile and had things organized and easily accessed by the time we arrived. A thank you is way to insignificant a way to show appreciation, I just hope you were able to enjoy the trip as well.
Barb! I know you were disappointed in leaving the trip early. You were clearly missed! Thanks for the time you gave us. It is always good to have a mom along to make sure the little things are taken care of, come to think of it - you took care of some big things as well! Thanks!
Bob! Bob takes more than his fare share of teasing, and he is a great sport about it. Quite frankly this trip doesn't happen without his effort and skills in making things happen. I have no idea how much time and effort you put into this thing, but even to me it had to be a lot. Thanks Bob for making sure this trip happened.
The campers! Thank you for putting up with me and making this trip as fun as it was. I have a great appreciation for what everyone went thru and I'm sure some groups end up having wars over small things. This group was more about laughing and joking our way across Iowa.
I also need to thank my wife for encouraging me to do these types of events. She has always encouraged me and that means she is flexible in allowing me to do the training which many times means I'm off with friends on long training rides. Thanks Joyce!
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