RAGBRAI XXXIX Day 7 -- Coralville to Davenport

[caption id="attachment_155" align="alignright" width="225" caption="The frozen wine margaritas at the Brick Arch Winery in West Branch were very good."][/caption]

After a week of not feeling well, Saturday was the first day of this RAGBRAI that I actually felt like eating. And eat I did. Before leaving from my coworker's house in Coralville though, I was joined by one of Mel's uncles, Ted. Saturday was his first ever day of RAGBRAI. Mel had worn herself out on Friday, so she opted to ride the Superior Hawgs bus to Davenport instead. Ted and I set out around 6:30 and after finding the route in Coralville, we would through the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City. Before we even got out of Iowa City, we were passed by two ambulances with their sirens on. We encountered them where the route crossed Interstate 80 for the first time of the day. I am not sure what had happened, but there were two bike turned up for the sag wagon to pick up since their riders were being transported away by ambulance.

We made out first stop in West Branch where we had some breakfast at the Brick Arch Winery. I had a free sample of their frozen wine margarita. It was very yummy! If I hadn't had fifty-two miles yet to ride, I likely would have ordered a full drink. Next we passed through Springdale without stopping. It was less than five miles from our previous stop afterall.

[caption id="attachment_156" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="On Saturday I finally had a chance to stop for a sandwich from the PB Jam."][/caption]

We made another food stop at the Peanut Butter Jam truck on the outskirts of Moscow. This was the first time I had ever stopped for one of their sandwiches. I had a peanut butter sandwich with strawberry jelly, coconut, and chocolate chips. I washed the whole thing down with a chocolate milk. Since we had just stopped, we did not stop in Moscow itself, but instead continued on to Wilton.

In Wilton we stopped at the bar where I had a Made-Rite sandwich. We stayed there for a little bit before getting back on our bikes for the remaining twenty-eight miles of RAGBRAI XXXIX. We took a brief break in Durant where I got a Powerade from the Casey's General Store. We eventually made it to Walcott, although much of this distance to the east was into a fairly good headwind.

We took another break in Walcott where Ted had a smoothie. We were glad to be heading south out of Walcott so that we would be out of the headwind. At least that is what we thought before getting out of town. By the time we left, the wind had shifted to be coming out of the south. Fortunately when we turned east again we were finally rid of the headwinds.

Entering Davenport there were a few big hills that we had to go up. We also got to go down them. That would have been more fun if the road had been a bit smoother and if there weren't ninety-degree turns at the bottom of two of them. Also, the road surface as we entered the city limits of Davenport was a bit sticky. It was almost as if they had just laid down some fresh tar for us. It could have been a result of the heat though.

We ended up riding at least five miles once we got into Davenport. I eventually found the Superior Hawgs bus around 3:30. I was the last one of us to arrive, so we were soon on our way back to Evansdale.

RAGBRAI XXXIX Day 2 Part 1 -- Atlantic to Manning

[caption id="attachment_100" align="alignright" width="225" caption="The street into Manning was VERY full of bicyclists."][/caption]

I have made it a little over half way through today's ride, and have stopped in Manning. So while I let my phone charge at the Windstream Internet trailer, I am going to begin blogging about today's ride.

This morning when I woke up, I felt much better than I did yesterday, so I decided to go ahead and ride. However, Mel was not feeling too hot, so she is riding the team bus instead. One thing that made this morning much nicer than yesterday morning was the fact that it was not sunny, and it was a little cooler. As I write this now at 11:30 am though, the sun has come out. That will definitely make the rest of the day much warmer.

Today's first stop was in Elk Horn where I stopped to check out the sights, including the windmill they have in town. Even though it was almost fifteen miles into the ride, I was not ready for breakfast. I ended up spending about half an hour there before I continued.

[caption id="attachment_101" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Petey P. Cup and I got our photo taken as vikings.There were mermaids in Elk Horn!"][/caption]

My next stop was just three miles down the road in Kimballton. By this time I was getting hungry so I stopped for a Farm Boys breakfast burrito. The line was long but moved very quickly. In addition to the rather tasty breakfast burrito, I had a Danish. I needed to be sure I had enough to eat because the next town, Manning, was almost twenty miles away.

[caption id="attachment_104" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="The Farm Boys made some really good breakfast burritos in Kimballton."][/caption]

About halfway between Kimballton and Manning I made another stop. This time it was for Beakman's Specialty Homemade Ice Cream. I had a cup of half chocolate and half raspberry ice cream. With the temperatures rising, the ice cream was very refreshing.

[caption id="attachment_105" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="The Beakman's ice cream was a refreshing treat."][/caption]

I have about twenty-eight miles to go before I make it to Carroll, and from what I have heard, it is much less hilly than the first half of today's ride. That is a very good thing. While I have managed the hills fairly well so far today, I could really use a break from them.

I will try to blog about the second part of today's ride either this evening or sometime tomorrow. However my first priority is getting my butt across the state on my bike, so the blog entry will come when I get to it.

RAGBRAI XXXIX -- Getting to Glenwood

[caption id="attachment_91" align="alignright" width="300" caption="This is GeekAaron with the Superior Hawgs team bus."][/caption]

Mel and I arrived early to meet our team in Evansdale, Iowa, yesterday morning to be sure we would not be late. We were actually quite early as we were only the second ones there. This year we only had twelve people riding the bus from Evansdale to the start of RAGBRAI in Glenwood. We ended up leaving at 9:00, and after our traditional stop at the Casey's General Store down the street we were on our way.

This year the bus ride to the start of RAGBRAI was very uneventful. We made really good time, stopping in Stuart for lunch at the Burger King, and arriving in Glenwood by 3:00. Our campsite was located pretty close to the town square where food vendors were set up. It also was not too far away from the bike expo. Mel and I were able to find some RAGBRAI XXXIX T-shirts for ourselves.

There was a rainstorm in the evening, but it was not very severe. The town's sirens had actually gone off earlier because of the severe weather. It had been really hot before the storm came through, but the storm helped to cool things off a bit.

While our campground's proximity to the downtown area was nice there was one negative aspect about its location. We were less than half a block away from a bar's beer garden, and the music continued until around midnight! I do not think I got much sleep at all. The longest amout of uninterrupted sleep I had was from 3:00 until 4:30 this morning. Hopefully this trend does not continue all week.