Please enjoy my daily recaps which were originally posted on my Facebook Fan Page, at: http://www.facebook.com/crachfal83.
A successful day to jump start RAGBRAI: rear tire dipped in the Missouri (check); pork rib eye on a stick! (check); a free hat for doing pull-ups with the Marines (check); and a Lance Armstrong sighting at the Mellow Johnny’s expo tent. My RAGBRAI bingo card is filling up in a hurry!
RAGBRAI Day 1 – Council Bluffs to Harlan, 53 miles – COMPLETED
More squares filled on the RAGBRAI bingo card: rhubarb pie (only Lion’s, not Presbyterian); met NFL pro bowler Casey Weigman; and was recognized by tandem riders from four years ago. A good day but we left points on the board (no photos with a prom queen or Sasquatch). Six days ahead to get it right, including a century tomorrow.
RAGBRAI Day 2 – Harlan to Perry, Century Day
Jon and I got a little late start due to his family obligations. Once on the road at 5 pm, in 90+F heat and riding into a block headwind, we decided discretion was the better part of valor and skipped the extra century loop.
The hard chargers in the photo with us (taken at the MO/MI River divide), Jessica and Jody, represent the other side of RAGBRAI – hard partiers who crash wherever they make it each day.
The sky opened 3.5 hours in & with 20 miles to ride. We flipped a hard u-turn just passed Bagly, IA, & sought shelter from the driving sheet rain, hail and lightning way to close for comfort behind a house. The neighbors flagged us into their garage. The likelihood this turned into the Pulp Fiction scene in Zed’s shop seemed less threatening than the storm. We enjoyed Dan’s and Linda’s hospitality for 2.5 hours before getting a ride to camp. Big thanks to Joanna and Ed for storm prepping our tent and Bike World for helping us out all day.
RAGBRAI Day 3: Perry to Des Moines, 60 miles-ish
Tuesday’s ride was not about the bike. We still rode hard, but my culinary stores were dangerously low. I remedied this with apple-pear Methodist pie and ham balls in Minburn, cherry Presbyterian pie in Dallas Center, fresh Amish peach ice cream, birthday cake for my volunteer pilot Jon, and pizza.
The day closed with a 90’s throwback concert on the bridges downtown Des Moines. Sponge, Filter & Live put on a great show followed by Everclear & fireworks.
RAGBRAI Day 4 – Des Moines to Knoxville, 50-something miles
The day was over before we knew what happened (hence no photo). We rode 25 miles before breakfast and listening to the South Polk High marching band – I flashed back to ’09 and Carolyn Quarles Burdette singing Journey in Milo when the band played Don’t Stop Believing.
On and off the bike, the Tiemeyer received numerous compliments. It’s a shame Dave T. retired, otherwise he’d receive several tandem build inquiries following this week.
RAGBRAI Day 5 – Knoxville to Oskaloosa
Another short day on RAGBRAI. Instead of arriving in camp at 10 am, we took it easy and enjoyed ourselves in a small Dutch town, Pella (partial team photo over the canal at Central College).
Highlights in Pella included: Methodist peach pie; almond bars; homemade bologna; touring a traditional Dutch windmill; dressing up like Dutch school girls with Ed Senn; and dominating the cheese-cart race with Joanna McIntosh.
This was also the day a couple of other tandems believed they could challenge our supremacy as fastest bike on RAGBRAI. Needless to say, it did not end well…for them.
And, at least on RAGBRAI, the chicken comes before the egg as proven by the two guys racing their bikes to Oskaloosa in full body costumes. For dinner, we joined the 30 athletes and volunteers of Adaptive Sports Iowa – a fun loving group of people excited to conquer new challenges and give RAGBRAI a go. Check them out at:
RAGBRAI Day 6 – Oskaloosa to Fairfield, 50-some miles
Great riding made up for disappointing Amish cinnamon rolls, and worse still, horrible Methodist pie! Not only was the pie filling store bought but they made me wait for bad pie. This shook my RAGBRAI belief structure (which is fairly shallow to begin with) to the core. We must remain ever vigilant and on guard against substandard pie. After all, life’s to short for cheap beer and bad pie.
Highlights for Day 6, included: tandem motor pacing the other half of Team America, Joanna McIntosh, at over 24 mph before she pulled off and shouted: “Put my bags in the tent if it starts raining!;” and witnessing Fairfield break the world record for people wearing fake mustaches – Ed Senn and Sheryl Walter participated but Jon and I arrived minutes too late.
RAGBRAI Day 7 – Fairfield to Fort Madison, the race to the river
Jon and I closed out RAGBRAI with a real-world experiment to determine how far one can ride on a cinnamon roll, fresh homemade peach pie and ice cream. Answer? 50 miles. Shame the today’s route was 60+.
With our front tire dipped in the Mississippi, my fourth RAGBRAI is in the books.
Thank you:
Iowa for your hospitality, esp. Eric Mistry and the Flannerys; Jon Thompson for being crazy enough to pilot a tandem; and, Joanna McIntosh for making my RAGBRAI participation possible. And what better way to leave Iowa in style than by having the best baker in the state, Colleen Flannery Adams, send us out with a pie smorgasbord!
Cream Puff Cycles 