RAGBRAI XXXVI

This year’s RAGBRAI is now over, and has been for a few days. I had a good time riding this year, even though I was a bit worried at first since I had ridden my bike a grand total of 23 miles prior to the beginning of RAGBRAI last Sunday. And, for the second year, Mel joined me on RAGBRAI. She did a really good job as well.

Last Friday, Mel, Emma, and I headed back to Iowa where we first dropped Emma off with her Aunt at a truck stop on Interstate 35. We then proceeded to Waterloo where we stayed with my mom for the night before joining the Superior Hawgs, our team, in Evansdale on Saturday.

The ride to Missouri Valley was uneventful until we were partway across the western half of Iowa. All of a sudden, the bus came to a sudden, but controlled, stop as the traffic in front of us had screeched to a standstill due to an accident ahead of us in a construction zone. Since traffic wasn’t moving well, and several people needed a potty break, we stopped at a rest area for half an hour or so.

Once we arrived in Missouri Valley, Mel and I set up our tent then headed to the expo to check out the bike shops and to find some food. Unfortunately we were about as far from the expo as we could possibly have been. It was quite hot, and by the time we got there we needed some water. We did a little shopping for RAGBRAI T-shirts and for water bottles, since I had forgotten them at home. After eating we returned to our campsite.

Day 1

It was fairly hot and humid on the first day of the ride, but we made it through just fine. We stopped at Mama Rafael’s for breakfast. I had never stopped for Mama Rafael’s before, but it was very good. There was a buffet where customers created their own breakfast burritos, and there were a few other options as well. After eating we continued down the road.

When we arrived in Pottawattamie County we were greeted by signs alerting us to the fact that the roads in Pottawattamie County were designed and maintained for motor vehicular traffic and that we should proceed at our own risk. The roads were actually in very good condition. I suppose they were trying to shield themselves from possible lawsuits such as the one that prompted nearby Crawford County to ban future RAGBRAIs from the county. Pottawattamie County also put up some bike crossing signs, including one on the bike route itself, despite the fact that we were not crossing the road, but rather traveling along it.

Our night in Harlan was nice, until around 2:00 in the morning when a fire truck started driving around our campground warning us via its loudspeaker that there was a severe thunderstorm approaching at that we should take immediate shelter. We were camping in a city park, where there was no shelter, but a woman from across the street came out and let us into her house. We stayed there for about an hour before the all-clear was sounded. No thunderstorm ever made it to Harlan that night, but I suppose it was better to be safe than sorry.

Day 2

As we did not get a good night’s sleep, and the fact that we had each ridden significantly further on Sunday that we had previously ridden so far this year, Mel and I both decided to sit out on riding on Monday, resorting to traveling to Jefferson, Iowa, by motor vehicle rather than bicycle.

In Jefferson we camped in someone’s yard. Unfortunately, the yard was a block and a half away from some railroad tracks on which 75 trains pass each day. They had to be going by at least every half hour all night, sounding their loud horns each time they passed. I do not know how I managed to get any sleep at all.

Day 3

Despite the poor sleeping conditions due to the trains, we both set out on our bikes on Tuesday. We both had a really good ride riding to Ames. There were not too many hills. The biggest hill had to be the one right before Boone where we had to climb out of the Des Moines River valley. It was a long hill, but not too steep. It didn’t bother me too much.

Tuesday night in Ames was an adventure though. Our bus driver had stopped at the grounds of an abandoned middle school at which there was some remodeling going on. After we all got our tents set up, and when the bus driver was away, an official came to us and told us that we would have to move as no camping was allowed there. This was a major inconvenience as several people were gone. We called those we could and they returned so we could pack everything up. We then moved to an official campground about a quarter of a mile down the road. This entire situation really upset a new group of riders who were traveling with us for the week so much so that they left. We did not see them again.

We did have a good dinner Tuesday night as Mel has a friend who is currently living in Ames. She and her husband picked us up and we went to the Olde Main Brewing Company for dinner. It had really good food, and there wasn’t much of a wait.

Day 4

Wednesday’s ride started out alright, but the headwinds really began to pick up. Mel wasn’t feeling really well, so she called the day short partway through the morning. After riding a short while, I kind of regretted not doing so as well, but I made it the 75 miles to Tama/Toledo.

We went to downtown Toledo for dinner, taking the shuttle bus. However the bus ended up taking almost an hour to get to our destination as it seemed to take us on a tour of the entire area before going to downtown Toledo.

Day 5

As we woke up Thursday morning, it was chilly and raining. Mel still wasn’t feeling all that well, and I didn’t feel that I really needed to ride in the rain, so we both rode the team bus to North Liberty. We had a good time once we got to North Liberty. We met a former coworker of mine who tool us to the Coral Ridge Mall where we bought sweatshirts since it was cold. We then had lunch at Iguana’s Grill in North Liberty. It was good food, although Mel’s portion was kind of small.

Later in the evening, Mel’s friend Penny from Cedar Rapids came down to see us. We went to Carlos O’Kelly’s in Iowa City for dinner. As it was Thursday, they were having their weekly half-price margarita special.

Day 6

On Friday, both Mel and I woke up around 5:00 as we had been all week and prepared to set out on our ride to Tipton. On the ride today, we stopped in Martelle where we got our picture taken with a pig.

We also stopped in Morley which seemed a little messed up as they were welcoming RAGBRAI XXXVIII. I guess they are being optimistic about RAGBRAI passing through in 2010.

As we were arriving in Mechanicsville, the final pass-through town of the day, I broke a spoke on my rear wheel. The bike mechanic who was set up there did not have the type of spoke I needed, so I had to ride the remaining 15 miles with a missing spoke. I was able to get it repaired Friday night in Tipton though, so everything worked out alright.

Day 7

Our final day of RAGBRAI for 2008 was a very good day. We were arrived in Le Claire around 11:30 and were not the last to arrive at the Superior Hawgs bus.

When we got to Le Claire though, we did have to ride a few miles to find the bus. It was parked next to an entrance ramp to Interstate 80, so when we were ready to head home, we didn’t have to drive through the throngs of bike riders.

As with my past several RAGBRAIs, when I began the week, I was thinking that I may need to make this year’s ride my last, but I once again had such a good time that I hope I will be back for RAGBRAI XXXVII in 2009!