RAGBRAI 2012 (July 29, 2012)

RAGBRAI 2012 comes to an end.  Seven days of riding.  Seven days of sometimes great, sometimes not so great.  Seven days of overpriced (for the most part) not so great food. Seven days of joy.

Once again, Carey and Mike Jensen, and Beth and Ben Johnsen, were very generous in including me in their traveling circus ... 20 to 25 friends riding and busing across Iowa during the 470 mile, 7 day RAGBRAI adventure.  To say that the event is crazy is an understatement, but the activities in and around the bus are much more sedate ... kinda.  Carey, Mike, Beth and Ben have been doing RAGBRAI for many, many years (Carey 16 years, I think), and offer we newcomers a level of friendship, advice, laughs, conversation, snacks, drinks, etc., etc., etc. that makes for a great experience.

This is the third RAGBRAI I have experienced with this group, and I think it was the hardest.  The mileage of three of the middle days were in excess of 90 miles ... each day with the temperatures in the 104 range ... humidity in the 200% range, and headwinds.  Arizona heat doesn't even come close to what Iowa heat feels like when it is this hot and humid.  Very, very energy draining.  Fortunately, the last two days the temps dropped, and the enjoyment increased.

Kim had made the decision back in South Dakota to experience RAGBRAI ... and experience it she did.  She too traveled with Carey's troupe ... a real test to be inserted into a large group of high-energy people after having biked over 2500 miles in relatively low-energy surroundings.  Add that to riding with 15,000 other riders and, as she said, "It feels very claustrophobic!"  Her opinion of RAGBRAI went from "never again" to "maybe it's not so bad" to "I'm kinda glad I have experienced RAGBRAI ... but probably not again (except for the root beer floats!)".  A big part of the improvement in attitude towards RAGBRAI (I think) was that Kim and several of the bus-ites became friends.  I had no idea how many fans of the TV program "The Amazing Race" there are ... guess I have missed something not having seen the show.  Not only are these people fans, but many of them want to be on the show.  Amazing ...

A big part of RAGBRAI is the daily search for food and liquids.  The basic approach is you get in line and hand $5.00 to $7.00 to the money taker, then eat the massively-produced average food handed back to you.  Water is usually $1.00 for a 12 ounce bottle, and Gatorade $2.00.  You get the opportunity to purchase some pretty bizarre food items ... the oddest I saw was "bacon-on-a-stick" ... one slice of bacon on a skewer.  Fortunately there were some very tasty smoothies offered, and the root beer float delight became a daily treat for Kim and I.

A very strong positive of the trip was the overnights that had been arranged.  Five or six of the overnights were at homes of friends of the bus core group.  Part of the RAGBRAI tradition is that residents of the overnight towns play hosts to large groups (such as our group).  At three of the homes a magnificent spread of food was included.  Also often included was the offer of sleeping in the air conditioned houses.  Sweetness, indeed.  The generosity of the hosts was over the top ... the question a number of we non-Iowans asked of ourselves was if we would agree to allow a busload of strangers into our house for a night.  Something to think about ...

Upon watching the above video, I realized that it captured two Tucsonians ... Carol and Peter.  I happened to talk with them on the last day's ride into Clinton.  For those of you who regularly ride in organized Tucson rides, Carol and Peter are the couple with the "chaise lounge" bike.  They are the couple on a tandem at the very start of the video in long-sleeved white shirts ... odd coincidence that they are on the video.  In addition to Carol and Peter, I bumped into a number of Phoenix and Tucson area friends, and spoke with a number of other riders wearing Arizona or GABA jerseys.  Great fun.

So RAGBRAI 2012 is over ... now we are heading into Illinois and Wisconsin, then taking a ferry across Lake Michigan to the Grand Haven area.  At this stage we have logged just under 3,000 miles over the past two months ... approximately 1,000 miles lay between Clinton, IA and Washington D.C. 

And now it is off to the Atlantic Ocean!

RAGBRAI Awaits (July 20, 2012)

How very nice of all of the people of Iowa to welcome me back the the State of my birth.  After a week of trudging eastward through Nebraska, I am looking forward to the coming week ... starting Sunday is the week-long RAGBRAI (Register Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa ... The Register is the Des Moines news paper) bike ride.  15,000 or so cyclist huffing and puffing up and down the rural roads of Iowa, passing through so many small towns that names become immaterial.

The joy of RAGBRAI  is interacting with the local residents and the many co-riders.  This event is a huge fund-raiser for the small towns ... imagine 15,000 people passing through a town of 1,000, or even 100.  Great joy.  And the conversations you have with other riders is always interesting.

The last two days of riding in Nebrasksa (O'Neill to Osmond ... 58 miles, and Osmond to Sioux City ... 75 miles) were fairly forgettable, other than we went from flat-straight-smooth to rolling-straight-rough roads).  Yesterday's ride was one of those rides where there is great joy in finishing and getting off the bike.

The real stories, such as they are, for the two days have to do with food.  Dinner in Osmond was consumed at the one restaurant available.  While the food was okay, it was the small dinner salad that caught our attention.  When ordering a salad, one envisions lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and maybe some other varied vegetables.  Not so ... shredded lettuce ... that was it!  I felt guilty sprinkling on some black pepper in-as-much-as the salad was so pure and unblemished with any foreign elements other than the shredded lettuce.  Kim ordered her salad without tomatoes and onions, so maybe she is the one responsible for the barren  dish.  One good thing did come of the meal ... one of the waitresses recommended a breakfast place 9 miles east of Osmond.

The Hill Top restaurant is the yen to the previous night's dinner's yang.  The food was outstanding ... but what was extra special was the conversation with Joe Hansen, son of the owner of the Hill Top, and local farmer.  He talked about the irrigation systems (sprinklers) we had observed, and the affect the drought was having on the Ogallala aquifer.  But the most enjoyable elements of the conversation was the interest he has in bike riding.  Both of his brothers are avid cyclist, and he had read a book by a touring cyclist that had really caught is attention.  Joe was most animated in the discussion.  It really seemed as though he wants to ride, but somehow feels that his farming responsibilities precludes such a frivolous activity.  Most enjoyable breakfast.

An observation:  When touring cyclist stop in small towns, it is very common for local residents to initiate conversations about other cyclists who have come through town.  In O'Neill, one gentleman provided us with information about a cyclist he had talked with the previous day who had started his ride in Portland, Oregon and was riding all the way to Portland, Maine.  What was interesting was that this gentleman had taken possession of the story as if the travels were his own ... and seemed to be proud of the accomplishment.  This attitude is not unique to this gentleman ... and my comment should not be construed to be a negative accusation, but rather an observation.  For the most part, I think we touring cyclist bring a sense of joy and freedom to those we meet.  I, for one, enjoy spreading the joy.  Oh, and the touring cyclist this gentleman was describing is our own Frank Preston.


Back to the riding ... hot and humid ... and lots of long rolling hills.  We are now in Sioux City, IA for a rest day, then on to Sioux Center tomorrow.  Lots of errands to ride to today.  Frank and Roger took an alternative route yesterday ... Laurel, NE, to Vermillion, SD, to Akron, IA ... to await the start of RAGBRAI.  I think Mohammed and Mundasir are here in Sioux City.

It seems unreal that the end of July is approaching ... this summer is going very quickly.  

Putting in the Miles (July 17, 2012)

As glamorous as this bike touring is, sometimes it is only about putting in the miles.  Sometimes, even though the scenery has changed from vast vistas of seemingly endless empty spaces to vast vistas of corn, soy beans and cattle, it is still mind-numbing.

Such is the case as we trudge across northern Nebraska.  It is hot ... it is tedious ... it is strangely beautiful.  But it is mind-numbing none-the-less.

Fortunately, there is a lot of road construction on this highway, which has provided us with a very smooth bike lane.  Fortunately, of late, the winds have been kind to us.  Fortunately the heat of the day does not occur until hours after we are off of the road.  Fortunately, Kim has the fortitude and persistence to find low cost, comfortable motels; ergo, I sit in a spacious air conditioned room, typing into the strong WiFi signal of a $40 a night motel ... very comfortable.

  
There is a whole lot of "nowhere" out here ... and seemingly the locals are proud of this fact.  Today's ride of 68 miles from Ainsworth to O'Neill, NE was long, but compared with rides in Wyoming, easy.  In this area, there are small towns every 10 miles or so, so there is always a short-distance goal to ride to.  Not so back in Wyoming.  We stopped in one small town, Stuart, for a short snack break.  It seemed as though the whole town was empty.  We sat in the shade of a beautiful church, but not much other than a barking dog seemed to be happening.  Don't know what people who live in these towns do, but whatever it is, they seem to do it elsewhere.

Two more days of riding to get us to Sioux City, IA.  We plan on taking a rest day in Sioux City on Friday, then head on to Sioux Center on Saturday to meet-up with the group on the "Pearl Snaps" bus (or what every they are calling themselves these days).  Pearl Snaps refers to the buttons on western shirts, which a number of the group wore several years ago.  First time I did RAGBRAI with this group, they called themselves "Slow Spokes".  Great group of friends ... I am smilingly looking forward to seeing them once again.

Heard from Mohammed and Muntasir ... they are a day ahead of us and plan on taking a rest day in Sioux City on Friday as well.  Don't know Frank and Roger's plans prior to RAGBRAI ... hope to see then in either Sioux City or Sioux Center.

Currently, life is a trudge ... but a good trudge.

Rested (July 16, 2012)

Two complete days of rest in Valentine, NE ... two days of non-bike ... two days of reading, cross-wording, local site-seeing, napping, eating.  Two days of extreme relaxation.

When we left Gordon, NE several days ago, our goal was to ride the 54 miles to Cody, and overnight there ... one look at Cody prompted Kim and I to undertake the additional 38 miles to Valentine ... total for the day was 92 miles.  Frank and Roger were deep into a conversation with a local and intended to camp in the City Park there in Cody ... Mohammed and Muntasir were unsure of their plans for the evening (they expressed discomfort with the fact that you can not smoke in most city parks).  After Kim and I had lunch at the Husker's Hub diner in Cody, we took off for Valentine ... 38 more miles which proved to be easier than either of us anticipated.  Smooth roads and forgiving winds allowed us to ride at a comfortable pace.  Upon arriving in Valentine, we settled into the local McDonald's, and proclaimed ourselves to be super-human to have arrived in such good time and (seemingly) such good physical shape..  Actually, we just said we were proud of ourselves, but the super-human fact remains.

Valentine, the "Heart City of Nebraska" (get it??  Valentine ... Heart City) is a town of around 2700 people.  Nice place, but not a lot of activities for the non-car crowd.  We settled into a locally owned motel by the name Motel Raine ("Sleep in the Raine" is their motto).  The owners, Dana and Tim, were most accommodating.  Tim even loaned us his car so we could go out to one of the local "must see" tourist spots.

As a group, the six of us have all been aiming for the start of RAGBRAI (cross Iowa bike ride), which starts in Sioux Center, IA, on Sunday, July 22.  Realizing we had eight days in which to complete five days of riding, Kim and I decided to take a rest day in Valentine.  Because the accommodations were so relaxing, we decided to make it a two-day rest stop.

Frank and Roger are now one day in front of us (a day closer to Iowa), and I do not know where Mohammed and Muntasir are ... hopefully we will all be able to reconnect in Sioux Center prior to the week of bicycling madness known as  RAGBRAI.  I had long planned on taking a different route than Frank and Roger once RAGBRAI was complete, but it seems we have already "split the sheets", so to speak.  Frank and Roger rejoice in camping ... not so with Kim and I.  As far as Mohammed and Muntasir are concerned ... no smoking; no camping.  Sad to lose the traveling companions, but then that is the beauty of self-contained bike touring ... adults making adult-like decisions.

So, after two days of rest, Kim and I are now back on the road, which feels good.  For some time prior to reaching this segment of the trip, we had planned on riding the Cowboy Trail, a 135 mile rail-to-trail bike path starting in Valentine.  We rode out of Valentine on the path, and crossed the bridge (adjacent picture).  Very impressive bridge, but pales in comparison to the bridge in Whitehorse, ID.  Anyway, we rode the path for about 5 miles, but found the crushed-rock path to be uncomfortable to ride (rock was not compacted).  Wider tires would have made the ride comfortable; installing wider tires is not an option.  So we jumped onto Highway 20, which runs parallel with the path, and rode the remaining 46 miles to Ainsworth, NE.  The wind and the road surfaces were agreeable, so this day's ride was also very agreeable.

With the temperature projected to get up to 105 today (is this really Arizona, and I just don't know it??), keeping a supply of water becomes very important.  One oddity that we have discovered is that in these small towns (double-digit population), if there is no store there is certainly a bar.  On the ride from Cody to Valentine, we stopped in a bar ... lady barkeep and four customers.  Great conversation regarding our trek, and great ice-cold water.  The stop could not have been more satisfying.  Today we stopped in another bar ... I noticed a few wall-hanging award plaques indicating that Ruth Something-or-other was a champion bowler.  I asked the young lady tending bar if she was Ruth.  No, she was Ruth's niece.  She then told us of her family's many successful bowlers (her second-cousin had even been on TV for a State High School Tournament).  Again, ice cold water ... and the realization that if you just talk with people as equals (I am a Leo after all, and better than the rest of you), even the most seemingly struggling people have something of which they are proud.  (Old salesman's trick ... look at the client's pictures/plaques and get the client to talk/boast about their accomplishments.)

So we are presently in Ainsworth, NE ... three days out of Sioux City.  I have been out here riding for a little over 50 days now, with another 38 days of riding left to get to Washington, D.C.  Summer is going fast, but enjoyingly so ... dare I say it ... life is (once again) good.

Into the Midwest (July 12, 2012)

Having logged a little over 2,000 miles, our little traveling troupe has finally reached the Midwest ... corn fields aplenty and many, many windmills.  The wheat fields seem to have been harvested, but the corn is only about 3' high.

The one element to remind us of recent rides was yesterday's ride into a wind.  The 58 mile ride was difficult ... very hot and windy.  Once again we rode along the most unpleasurable SD 79 highway.  Constant rollers made each climb feel like groundhog day.  Again, not much in the way of services.  Fortunately, gambling casinos are not legal in Nebraska.  Due to this, there was a casino/restaurant at the South Dakota side of the state line ... thankfully ... air conditioning and a cold drink does wonders when riding in upper 90 degree weather.  Upon reaching Chadron, NE, we all gathered at the local McDonald's ... again air conditioning and cold drinks.

Once again Kim worked her magic and found a locally owned motel with very inexpensive rooms ... I am a sucker for air conditioning and cold drinks (liquor store across the street, don'cha know).

Today's 48 mile ride to Gordon, NE was much improved ... and this is where the visuals of the Midwest became evident.  Corn fields, wind mills, harvested wheat fields, water towers sending out the message that a small town is near, and cattle.  I particularly like the water towers because the sight of the tower (or sometimes grain elevators) means you will soon be near cold water.  Wyoming did not offer such relief.

One thing that Wyoming did offer was the repeated occurrences of  antelope running (or rather "bounding") along beside us as we moved down the road.  One thing Wyoming did not offer, which Kim, Frank and I saw today, was a cow galloping along in an adjacent field ... and I mean to say this cow was "hoofing it".  All out sprint!  Four years of touring, and the most I have ever seen a cow do is turn it's head to stare as I passed by.  Very, very odd.

So now we are heading east along Hwy 20, heading across the northern part of Nebraska.  It is hot, but not unbearably so ... and we still have the hope of one day having an honest-to-goodness tailwind.

Hope springs eternal.

Good Sign (July 10, 2012)

Sometimes, while out riding, one detects a good sign.  The adjacent sign is definitely goooooood.

When preparing to leave Keystone for our ride to Hot Springs, we had planned on taking the scenic route, however we met a local bike rider who advised us that the scenic route is very hilly and very dangerous ... she had been hit on this road.  She was very convincing, so we took the route she suggested ... 62 miles along SD 79, which is a divided highway.  Very tough ride due to lack of services and, as usual, a consistent headwind. 'Tis a shame, Frank and Roger both rode the scenic route and said is was wonderful.

But the one thing they missed was the goooood sign ... 15% downhill.  I am not sure I have ever descended such a steep road.  Scenic route be damned, that short section was incredible.  Unfortunately, the remainder of the ride made that forgetable by the end of the day.

Long ride, painful ... but woo-boy 15%.

Looking Presidential (July 9, 2012)

Being the butt-head that I am ... while we were at Mount Rushmore, a group of 50 (or so) bicyclist arrived.  They were on a supported tour, and were putting in some serious miles ... while there, one of them, Bob Hauck, was taking pictures of his co-riders.  Again, being the butt-head that I am, as a joke, I posed  in the spot that others had posed.  Bob was gracious enough to take a few pictures and e-mailed them to me ... thank you Bob.

Sometimes being a butt-head pays off in a positive way.  Not always ... but sometimes.