8.02.2011

Final Thoughts About RABGRAI XXXIX

[caption id="attachment_164" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Not everyone on RAGBRAI rides a bike. I saw this skateboarder, a registered participant, multiple days along the route."][/caption]

About ten miles into riding on Sunday, I was wondering to myself why the hell I was riding my bike across Iowa. Don't get me wrong, as this was my eleventh RAGBRAI in twelve years, I knew what I was getting myself into, but it was already really hot and humid out, the day's route was fairly hilly, and to top it off, I was not feeling well. To answer my question, the reason I do RAGBRAI is because, in spite of some of its downsides, it is a lot of fun and I get a great sense of accomplishment out of it. Although that sense of accomplishment is admittedly lessened when deciding to sag in after the first eighteen miles of the first day of riding.

And I still managed to have a lot of fun this particular year on RAGBRAI despite not feeling well for the majority of the week. I am really looking forward to riding RAGBRAI again. I do not know if I will be back for next year's ride, RAGBRAI XL, but I think I will ride again if possible. I may start using each year's route to help me decide if I will ride. Of the eleven RAGBRAIs I have been on, I much prefer the ones across northern part of the state. I do not know if I would choose to ride if the route was a southern one. I think I have had enough of the hills of southern Iowa to last a while. Time will tell as to whether I ride again. Perhaps in ten years or so Emma or Maximus will want to come along for the ride as well. That would be a lot of fun.

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