Sydney Pie and Kylie K

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Rabrai 39 Part B

Day 1: Glenwood to Atlantic. We started off in the morning after All of us helped to strike the tents. We got a hint from the pastor at the church that we could take a short cut and avoid a bunch of big hills. We should have learned by now that people that don't ride bikes regularly don't understand that hills are everywhere. So we took this short cut and it turned out to have quite a few huge hills, and it was also longer to the first town. We got to the route and discovered that we missed the first town. Thankfully we hadn't missed FarmBoys and were able to enjoy the best burritos in Iowa. I did a half day due to my lack of training. So I headed back to Carrol to assist with the preparations at camp. Cherilyn was having troubles and it was our Anniversary so I decided to help on support the next day rather than ride. That night we stayed at the house of some very nice people that grilled out for the 50 or so people that were camping on their lawn.

Even when she's laying down on the job she's working harder than all of us

Don't hog the fuzzy G-Pops

Buffaloes ready to go

Day 2: Atlantic to Carrol. I made a good decision to not ride. I hope I was helpful to the support team and I don't think my body would have been able to handle the heat and hills. When the riders got in they were very fatigued and overheated. I think it may have hit 200 that day. We got to stay indoors that night which helped us to recuperate from the heat.

The best kind of Ragbrai Shower

Day 3: Carrol to Boone. In Boone we stayed at the Dahle's which is always a good time. I rode the whole day with Pops. In the morning we were zooming along. We were more than halfway done with the ride when we stopped for lunch at Mr. Porkchop. This is when the clouds parted and let the sun hover 20 ft from the Earth's surface. We thought we would get in by 1:30 at the pace we were going in the morning. In the afternoon we were going significantly slower due to the heat. We finally got in at 3:30. The last part of the ride included a very long steep hill named "Twister Hill". It is called that because part of the movie Twister was filmed there. At the top I was congratulated on being the biggest rider to make it to the top without walking. At that point of exhaustion I didn't know how to take that as a compliment. That night Sydney got to meet the Dahle clan, including the Hills and Manglers. Also that night Kasha and Dave arrived with Julien. As you can see in the pictures Dave has decided not to give Julien clothing. He said something about there being no free rides and having to earn your conveniences.

Sleepy time

Dave's interesting choice of biking footwear

No you can't have a shirt!

He knows where the Daddy Juice is kept

Ragbrai 39 Part 1

This year for Ragbrai we tried to make things simpler. Last year was one of the best rides ever, but because of an abundance of vehicles and their associated problems it was one of the worst years for the support crew. We were trying to make it easier for support this year. I think we did, at least a little bit. Next year I think we have learned enough to make some major improvements. But enough of that.
This years route was a greatest hits version of the last 5 years. We started in Glenwood very close to Council Bluffs where we started in 2008. So the first day was pretty close to being the same as that year. Our first Ragbrai in 2007 had a mythically awful 2nd day. I got dehydrated and didn't yet know how to eat enough calories for ragbrai riding. In addition to that we had a strong headwind that caused us to actually slow down while going down large hills. It was awful. This year going from Atlantic to Carrol was basically a repeat of that day in reverse, going south to north rather than north to south. The rest of the ride was very similar to 2006 and 2008. Going through Boone again, near Newton, through Colfax, Coralville, and Davenport. All of which we had visited previously. So because of these similarities we were looking forward to a good year. What we didn't count on was the heat. The week before Ragbrai was ridiculous, bordering on ludicrously hot and humid. Looking at the weather we were hoping it would be cooler, and it was. But only by about 2 degrees.
Sydney was with us this year to the delight of Nana and Nanette. I'm not sure if they would have been there without Sydney's enticement. We camped out at a church in Glenwood the first night and as we were setting up the tents I was greeted by a Stealth Bomber flying just over the treetops. It was amazing. I'm not sure how close it was, all I can say is very. Unfortunately my camera wasn't handy at the time, but it looped around for another pass and I got some pics then. It wasn't as close but it was still really cool. I had no idea how thin it was but when it flies away if just looks like a line in the sky with a slight bulge in the center.

After the flyby we continued to set up tents and were greeted by a tornado warning. It wouldn't be Ragbrai without a little inclement weather. Thankfully the tornados decided to wait and try to catch us later when we were on our bikes. As we were unpacking Aunt Carol came by and got to meet Sydney. We had some fun and then went downtown to eat and show Sydney the festivities. It turns out that she gets upset when she's not allowed to eat the corn dogs. We went back and fed her and then hit the tents.