RAGBRAI XXXVII - Hills, Hills, Rain, and Hills

Today was another very hilly day on RAGBRAI. The feet of climbing per mile travelled was about the same as it was yesterday, but today was about twenty miles longer. The hills kept coming and coming, with very little respite. On the plus side, the temperature was pretty nice. It was a bit cool, but that was better than if it had been really hot.

I rode again today with my sister Rebecca and her friend Jen. Our first stop of the day was in Stanton. We had a bite to eat there. The place where I got food did not have listed prices, but instead asked for a free-will donation. I would guess that people tend to give more than they would otherwise have paid if the prices were listed. In Stanton where was some Sweedish dancing. Some of the RAGBRAI riders joined the dancers.

Our next stop of the day was in Villisca, where we ate a bit more. I had a Tyson chicken sandwich. Tyson is giving all of their proceeds from this week on RAGBRAI to help eliminate childhood hunger in Iowa Before leaving Villisca, we stopped by the famous Vilisca Ax Murder House. We didn't take the tour of the house, but did check out the barn.

Our next stop was for lunch in Corning, the birthplace of Johny Carson. We didn't stop by his home there, but we did spend a lot of time in Corning. By the time we left, it had begun to drizzle.

The precipitation was mostly limited to some sprinkling, but it did get heavier at times. We stopped again in Prescott so Jen could have some repairs done to her bike. While Jen was waiting to have her bike fixed, Rebecca and I checked out a 3,050-pound bull that they had there.

The rain continued for most of the remainder of our ride to Greenfield. We did make one last stop in Williamson before completing our ride for the day.

Fortunately the rain slowed a bit as I set up my tent. I ate dinner tonight in Greenfield's town square where I found the Iowa Telecom trailer from which I wrote this blog entry. Stay tuned for further reports on my journey across Iowa. And be sure to come back after the ride when I may add more details to each day's entry.