Final Day Coralville to Davenport

The last night we have heavy dew and everything was sopping wet...good thing it was on the last night. I did a quick run, left town at 6:00 and stopped briefly a couple places along the way. Just a quick breakfast burrito, watermelon and a smoothie...and the required bananas! Day was mostly flat, with some hills here and there. I felt very strong and made good time. As usual the heat at the end was tough. I think I've been drinking more than three gallons of water a day. The ride was a little longer than planned. There was a detour because of flooding near the river. There is a dip site at the end where you can dip your front tire into the Mississippi. I passed on the dip...there were 25,000 expected and I wanted to do a quick turn out of town. I made it to the parking lot by 11:15...it was just over 70 miles for the day. After packing the car and getting a shower (which was not the usual  RAGBRAI experience...there was no line and plenty of hot water!) it was noon and I headed home. 13 hours later at midnight I rolled into Louisville. Made it to 7:30 Mass this morning. Dried out tent and stuff. Kris even washed the toxic bag of dirty clothes already (bless her). Imagine seven sweaty days of damp bike gear...yuck. I cut the neglected grass, and I sweat less doing that than sitting still in Iowa!

I'm off to Chicago tomorrow for a two day trip...I'll try to write a recap of RAGBRAI this week.

Glad to be home, but had a super time in Iowa. I feel great; no pains...butt is a little tender, but not bad. All is good.

Day six, Grinnell to Coralville

75 miles today, the longest distance   I've biked in a day in decades. It was a very good day, nice rolling hills not too hot early, but warmed up in the afternoon. I started at six to beat some of the heat. My goal for the day was to stop at Mr. Pork Chop. He is a RAGBRAI legond. He is known for yelling POOOORK  CHOOOOPS. This year his pink pig bus is in operation, but I haven't seen or heard the big Mr. PC himself. Every other day his location was too early in the day for.me to stop, but today he was about 50 miles into the ride. Unfortunately, Beekman's was at 45 miles, so I had to forego my sixth root beer float.
The chops are $7.00 and are a good inch thick. They are cooked over smoldering corn cobs. Nothing else on the menu (actually there is no menu), and I heard he only works  this one week a year. The chop was a good as I had heard.
A couple of miles past the pork chop, I came to Amana where they make Amana appliances. We got free ice for our water bottles, way cool! The area has German roots, I had a very big potato pancake, and was talked into a root beer made by the local brewery. They said it would be the best I ever had, which was.true, but again, fifty hot miles prime the taste buds. I also had the pale ale from the brewery and listened to a good oldies band for quite a while.
The last 17 miles into Coralville were hot and long...the pork chop and the potatoes may have weighed me down a bit! Everything feels good, but I'm a bit tired...the heat and miles sap me some. Haven't taken any pain relievers, except one when my back was a little stiff from sleeping on the ground.
I met a dog named Zuzu. Weird hairless thing, got a picture for Karen. The mechanical ice cream makers are powered by old one cylinder gas engines. A picture of the decorated road kill, and random RGBRAI pics.
I found a chinese restaurant for dinner...didn't want anything smoked, deep fried or on a stick!
Last day tomorrow...I may not get a post out for a bit, I do a quick turn in Davenport to head home. Still having fun but home sounds good.

Zuzu

Road Kill

Entry into Coralville

Entry Gate into Coralville

Beekman's Ice Cream Maker

Big Pork Chop

Health food

Day five Altoona to Grinnell

Overcast today...a bit cooler, but we5 had headwinds for a long stretch. I got in at 1230, and hung out st the pool for a couple of hours.

One more root beer float... I'm five for five days.

Things I've seen on the road: one unicycle, two penny farthing bicycles, one skateboarder doing the whole 456 miles, one tandem bike decked out as a cow, a dual recumbant made into a giant banana, multiple cyclists dressed as chickens pigs mules rabbits skunks chickens and ballerinas (of both sexes), two tiaras (one representing pork farmers, the other was 89 and put a tattoo on my arm at Weirick Drugs in Colfax).

Grinnell is a nice town. Had chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and cream gravy for dinner (I'm so off my diet). Had the first good beer at the official beverage garden, a local IPA, met the brewmaster. A local pipe band played, way cool.

It is cooling down tonight, I may stick around in town for a bit, but we have 70 miles tomorrow. I need an early start. Feeling good, butt not too sore yet. Still making friends...

PS this post is out of order, it did not go though last night....

Day four Boone to Altoona

Twelve bananas so far (plus the ones in the smoothies). A little tired of them but still eating them. Lots of water, and then even more. Right now I'm in the Altoona library...free wifi and AC. Had a nice dinner at the Catholic church, rib eye steak, corn on the cob and pasta salad. Altoona is pretty big, things are spread out. Our camp is near the entertainment, it will be loud, so I may go over, it will be hard to sleep.

Very good ride today, cooler and overcast this morning, hotter and sunnier this afternoon. Forecast was for rain, but it looks clear. About sixty miles today, same tomorrow, these are the short days. Had hard boiled eggs on a stick for breakfast. Stopped for another root beer float and later for a Guinness at the first Irish pub I've seen. Phone is still acting up, I may not be able to post pics...I'll try later.

People wear mardi gras beads and when we pass road kill someone has adorned the critter with beads...gotta picture of one if it will go out.

Still having a swell time.

Day three Carroll to Boone

Hot, hot, hot. But not until this afternoon. We did 70 miles, pretty flat ending with Twister Hill, where they filmed the movie. 300 foot climb, most riders walked. Good thing I've done the Mesa Road, not bad, but after 62 hot miles it was work. Today was flat mostly, I made good time, averaged 14.7 mph. No weird food today, but I had my first "beer" on the ride, Coors Lite. All they had.

Took a short detour down a dirt road to an old church, St. Peter. The folks were very nice.

Stopped for a root beer float from Beekmans home made ice cream. Wonderful! May have been the 50 mile ride that made it taste so good.

Peed in a corn field for the first time, no lines!

I stopped for a guinness at the Giggling Goat in Boone, a fellow had to get help for heat exhaustion, EMTs came. I had them call 911. I heard in Atlantic the hospital was full from heat cases, I've been drinking more water than you can believe and stopping for shade when it gets too hot. I'm doing fine, even my butt is ok!

Phone seems fine, I think it was the sweat from being in my pocket. Just two pics. One is a fountain some one put up in their yard for cyclists.

Day two Atlantic to Carroll

Another great day...a bit hotter, longer and hilliier, but still fun. We went through two Danish towns and a german one. Here are some pcs of the windmill and the mermaids. Food was good today including pork chop on a stick and bologna on a stick and my second slice of rhubarb pie...I was gonna pass on the pie but was told it was baked by the best cook on the area. It was very good but Elissas was better. Our camp tonight is a bit further out of the center of the action, so there is so dinner here. I'll just stay in camp tonight unless others go out.

My phone is acting up, so if I don't post much more it is just a technical issue. I'm hoping I can get it to keep working.

Day one. Glenwood to Atlantic

Great day! Got underway at 6:15. Dry overnight, didn't need to wipe down tent. Reasonably cool early, hot by the end. Went about sixty miles, rolling time of about four and a half hours. Lots of rolling hills, I passed most going up hill, they got me on the way down.

I stopped in most towns to get water and say hey to folks. The locals sit out front and watch the bikes go by. Not much happens on some of these small towns. Everyone is very nice. Among the way I had: strawberry smoothie, BLT and avocado wrap, ear of sweet corn, since of rhubarb pie and a root beer float with home made ice cream. Arriving in Atlantic we all got a free bottle of Coke. Dinner was at the Catholic church, all you can eat spaghetti. It was good. The carbs were just what I needed.

I actually made Mass in Griswald for the 10:30. Two guys I met last night from Chicago hooked up with me for the final leg of the day. We are camped near the swimming pool so I spent a couple hours there after setting up camp.

Looking for another beer before going back to camp. There is free wifi at the bike expo  cell coverage is weak here. So I'm sitting on the curb writing.

Some random photos attached, the sign was a jokr, it says ladys room and points to the cornfield. Saw the worlds largest bike...tomorrows run looks a lot like today.

Glenwood

Our first town...some rain and thunder. Sirens went off for severe weather alert. A little wind was all. Helped some folks stake down tents. Very humid while setting up camp. But the weather broke after the storm. Nice evening. Camp sites are spread around town, a lot of people. I think it will really hit me when we start biking this morning, the number of people. I've met a lot of nice people...I've had to look for townies, we just out number them. I've gotten a lot of hints for the trip from veteran riders. Was invited to hop on a team bus, literally had to hop on through the back door. What a hoot. Got a short ride and a free beer! Met the owners of a brand new brewery...opened this week, had a nice IPA from Knoxville Iowa. Looking forward to riding.

Davenport

I made it to the end town for the RAGBRAI. Funny to start at the end and and take a bus to the start. Decent drive, made good time. I loaded my bike and bags yesterday, the bus leaves for Glenwood this morning. Hot and humid yesterday, a bit cooler this morning...I'm sure it will get hotter. Lots of people around, but there will be way more once things really get started. Found two brew pubs last night one had a decent IPA...

Survival kit

My dear friend Meg is a heavy duty cyclist...she left me a survival kit for the RAGBRAI.
I'm hoping all I'll need is the candy and energy food. I'm afraid I may need the rest before the ride is over! If not, I'll be trading the butt butter for beer...I'll report on that later.




Contents: Band-aids, Ibuprofen, TP, Chamois Butt'r aka Butt Butter, Snickers, Cliff Bar, Shot Blocks.

Heading to Iowa

I'm off to Iowa early Friday morning. I need to be in Davenport by early evening to put my bike on a truck to be shipped to Glenwood. The RAGBRAI goes from West to East...so I'm driving to the finish town and taking a bus back to the starting town, the bus leaves Davenport on Saturday morning expected to get into Glenwood early afternoon. I'll be camping in Glenwood Saturday night and our ride starts Sunday morning.

My neighbors Gerry and Bill helped me make some final tuning on the bike on Tuesday night. It was running super smooth yesterday, but I did have a flat tire somewhere on the way into work. That was a good thing...I found out I had the wrong spare tube on my bike, so I've fixed that. Fortunately my buddy Chance had given me a patch kit and I fixed the tube for the ride home.

I found a posting from some folks who did a pre-ride of this year's RAGBRAI route with comments on the towns we'll be going through. Below is the report, it will give you a flavor of what the ride is supposed to be like...I'll find out for real next week. I'll try to get out a posting late tomorrow when I get to Davenport.

Day 1 – Glenwood to Atlantic The day’s ride is about 59 miles and just under 5,000 feet of climb. 

Silver City The Silver City Fire Department and the American Legion will be the main stopping points for breakfast treats, including breakfast burritos and biscuits & gravy.  Live bands will entertain riders in the outdoor beverage garden to kick off RAGBRAI.  9 Miles

Carson (Meeting Town) The town will be selling a wide variety of foods and pie. Some other activities include live bands, the Windstream internet trailer and a bicycle ferris wheel, and a slew of vendors up and down the street. 20 Miles

Canoyer Country Greenhouse (not a town, but worth a stop)  Tender Tom’s Turkey is planning to set up there and sweet corn, funnel cakes and shaved ice will also be available.

Griswold The town will turn into “Griswold Acres” for the day displaying their proud farming heritage.  Dusty’s Bar and Grill in downtown.  The house specialty is the club sandwich and onion rings, but all of the food is really good.  The town will also have live entertainment in the shady park and the American Legion will host an outdoor beverage garden. 15

Lewis Duane Weirich is busy welding the world’s largest bike to display for RAGBRAI.  Duane says the current big bike is in Germany, a mere 12 foot by 26 foot large.  He envisions his bike will tower at 14 feet by 30 feet.  The bike will be constructed of pipe and scraps and can actually be ridden.  This will be a must see. This Cass County town of 438 people will have the Jam Time DJs playing great tunes at their beverage garden.  Riders will have their choice of a variety of meats as they enter town including beef brisket.  7.7 Miles

Atlantic The first day’s ride will conclude in Atlantic, the Coca-Cola Capital of Iowa.  5 p.m.  Beer Garden Opens 8 Miles

Day 2 – Atlantic to Carroll The day’s ride is about 66 miles and just under 5,000 feet of climb.

Elkhorn One of the big attractions of Elkhorn is the Authentic 1848 Danish Windmill that was imported from Denmark 35 years ago and rebuilt by the community volunteers.  Food booths will run the length of the street with Danish treats including Abelskivers and Danish Crepes.  14.7 Miles

Kimballton The Little Mermaid Fountain and the Hans Christian Andersen Park is home of the newly recast bronze statue of the Little Mermaid of Copenhagen Harbor.  3 Miles

Manning (Meeting Town)   Live entertainment will include local bands and the Nuns on the Run.  The Legion is located in the park and they will host a beer garden. The German Hausbarn was original constructed in 1660 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and  will be serving homemade brats, German potato salad, beer-sauerkraut-fudge cupcakes and a variety of German beers.  19.7 Miles

Templeton The Templeton Rye distillery is a must hit stop along this year’s route for their 4th Annual Rock & Rye Celebration.  They will be offering tours of distillery, free group photos in front of the distillery, as well as small samples of Iowa most sought-after product, Templeton Rye Whiskey.  There will be music and entertainment outside of the distillery as well as a beer garden benefiting the Town of Templeton. 7.7 Miles

Dedham This Carroll County town of 266 people is known as a farming community with a rich sports tradition. Two of Dedham’s historical sites are the Southside Lounge & Bar, operating since 1914, and Donna’s Café, feeding the town since 1958. 7.5 Miles

Willey You see the towering St. Mary’s Church that was built piece by piece that was carried by horses up those steep hills from the railway in Dedham.  The town will also have a beer garden for riders. 5 Miles

Carroll Monday’s ride will end in Carroll. One of the top restaurants and places to see is the Santa Maria Vineyard & Winery in downtown.  7.7 Miles

Day 3 – Carroll to Boone The day’s ride is roughly 71 miles and about 1,800 feet of climb. 

Lidderdale This town of 186 will be the first breakfast stop just 10 miles outside of Carroll.  Lidderdale will be serve breakfast treats from their Fire Station and the Community Hall.  The town will be serving a variety of croissant breakfast sandwiches and fruits.  Local farmers will proudly display their tractors. 10 Miles

Lanesboro   This town of 152 will be serving a variety of food in the park and in the downtown and the church will have breakfast burritos.  The bar will be serving Sausage-on-a-Stick, a sausage dipped in pancake batter then deep fried. 8.9 Miles

Churdan (Meeting Town) They will be serving pie, cinnamon rolls, cookies and bars, and beverages.  For a special attraction Churdan will have BIG BUD 450/50, Case 80hps stream engine, 9th scale miniature Rumley stream engine. The Churdan Bar and Grill has a large outside beer garden-large tented area within the garden. They will have 5 full service bars serving mixed drinks, wine, beer and apple pie shots, chicken wings and French fries. 13.5 Miles

Paton The fire department and the Greene County Cattlemen will be serving the thin ribeye steak sandwiches throughout the day.  12 Miles

Pilot Mound Pilot Mound was the location that some of the most exciting scenes of the 1996 movie “Twister” were filmed.   12.5 Miles

Boone Tuesday’s riders will end the day by “Chuggin’ into Boone” The town’s train heritage will be on full display.  The Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad & Museum will be offering a RAGBRAI special train into the Des Moines river valley leaving from both the Story Street downtown depot and the Museum Depot.   14 Miles

Day 4 – Boone to Altoona The day’s ride is about 56 miles and a mere 1,250 feet of climb. 

Luther This town of 158 will be the first breakfast stop just 10 miles outside of Boone.  Luther has a few churches in town and a shady city park that will allow riders to relax.  9 Miles

Slater (Meeting Town)  The town will also have vendors and a beverage garden in  downtown.  The fire department and the bike friendly Take Down Bar will be ready for the influx of cyclists. 13.5 Miles 

Sheldahl The High Trestle Trail cuts through the heart of the town that is located just a few miles south of Slater.  2.1 Miles

Alleman The Salem United Church of Christ will be preparing lots of homemade goodness for the riders.  There will be plenty of free water and kybos as well. 7.6 Miles Arrive 10:00

White Oak Vineyards Many food vendors will be at the Vineyard to offer RAGBRAIers some great choices.  Wine, wine-a-ritas, beer, pop, sports drinks and water will be available for purchase.  The Iowa Air National Guard will be on-hand to fill up your water bottles for free. 5 Miles

Elkhart   There will  two beer gardens in Elkhart that day.  Music will be provided near the beer garden at the Elkhart Pub.   .  Photo opportunities with “Team Elkhart” will allow riders to transform to spandex clad elk cyclists. 4 Miles

Bondurant The town will have a great variety of food and beverage the day RAGBRAI rolls into town.  Riders will notice some new buildings in town including a new high school and Irish Pub.  9.3 Miles

Altoona Wednesday’s riders will end by cruising into Altoona. Beverage Garden opens at 4:30 pm  Grand Funk Railroad  8:00 to 9:30 pm 5.5 Miles

Day 5 – Altoona to Grinnell The day’s ride is about 57 miles and about 3,300 feet of climb. 

Mitchellville The Legion will be serving pancakes and sausage.  The Park will have entertainment and games for RAGBRAIers. 7 Miles

Colfax (Meeting Town) Live chainsaw carving of the RAGBRAI logo.  Over 600 pounds of ice will be carved before it melts starting at 9am.  Sheltered Reality’s young drummers from 9am-10:30am and local DJ’s will entertain riders.  The mineral spring water will be available to “heal” sore riders! 7 Miles

Baxter Not only will they have gobs of pie, but even the O’ Kelly’s Steak & Pub will have “Apple Pie Shots” in sticking with the theme.  The Bethany United Church will have a chicken luncheon. The town’s two bars will each have a beverage garden where live bands and DJs will entertain riders. 15 Miles

Rock Creek State Park  This 602 acre lake is mostly known as a camping hot spot and is one of central Iowa’s most popular boating lakes. The Rock Creek Marina store will also be serving food and drinks.  21 Miles

Grinnell Thursday’s ride will conclude in Grinnell, which is home to Grinnell College.  Entertainment will start at 2pm at the Gazebo in Central Park and will include popular area groups: Too Many Strings Band: Folk music Calle Sur: Latin Music,  Turlach Ur Bagpipes and Drums. 7.4 Miles

Day 6 – Grinnell to Coralville The day’s ride is about 75 miles and about 2,800 feet of climb. 

Brooklyn This town of over 1,300 people will be the first breakfast stop just under 15 miles outside of Grinnell.  The town proudly displays a year-round, gigantic outdoor flag display unfurling the pride of 50 states, the armed services and more.   14.5 Miles

Victor Riders will be invited to play the Belgian game of Rolle Bolle on an official Rolle Bolle court in downtown Victor.  The court in town was developed by the late Spyder DeBrower. Victor’s specialty food will be the Breakfast Sundae, which consists of scrambled eggs, sausage links, tater tots and a squirt of cheese and a variety of food vendors.  The American Legion will be serving pancakes and Bloody Marys.  8.2 Miles

Ladora This tiny town of 287 will have plenty of food vendors, live bathrooms and a beer garden.  6.7 Miles

Marengo (Meeting Town) This town of over 2,000 plans to have live bands on their shady town square and plenty of food for the vendors. 6.7 Miles

Amana Colonies (West Amana, South Amana & HomesteadWest Amana will have the Village Association and Artist Guild serving food, pies and drinks.  Copper Garden will host a large tented beer garden serving locally brewed Millstream Beer, Amana produced Ackerman Vines and Budweiser products.   W Amana 7.7 Miles, S Amana 2.3 Miles, Homestead 5.3 Miles

Oxford The community will have plenty of food incluidng Hall Ball Sundaes, ice cream cups , root beer floats, tenderloins, walking tacos, baked kolaches, assorted pies and plenty of drinks. For entertainment, the Polks Dots will kick things off followed by the Dixie Swing Band.  5.8 Miles

Coralville Friday’s ride will conclude in Coralville.  The pool will be available for riders to cool off after the 75 mile day. 38 Special in Concert Presented by Two Rivers Bank & Trust Southern Rock band 38 Special, presented by Two Rivers Bank & Trust, will bring their signature blast of Southern Rock. 12 Miles Arrive 4:00

Day 7 – Coralville to Davenport The day’s ride is about 64 miles and roughly 2,400 feet of climb. 

Iowa City As we leave Coralville, we will ride through Iowa City 3.9 Miles

West Branch West Branch is the birthplace of Herbert C. Hoover, the 31st President of the United States. The town will have a variety of food and drink vendors. 9.8 Miles 

Springdale The church area is typically where you will find some yummy food and drinks. 4.5

Moscow There are a few churches in the area and a rumor that Tender Tom’s Turkey will be set up there as well. 13.8 Miles

Wilton (Meeting Town) Riders will enjoy a mini petting zoo, the Wilton FFA’s milking cow and farm equipment display.  You can also have your picture taken with Beaver Biker! The Boys Ranch will have a “grill your own” booth.   Fro’s Pub in downtown will have a live band, beer garden and great grilled foods. 5.6 Miles

Durant For years, Durant hosted the Polka Fest and the Polka Bear was part of the festivities.  Durant will have a live Polka Band playing as well as the rock band Deliverance.  The school boosters will be serving homemade brats and rib eye sandwiches from Jeff’s Meat Market.  6 Miles arrive 10:30

Walcott Riders will be detoured off of Main Street to “Walctoberfest” at Victory Park- a German Octoberfest in July.  The local non-profit groups will be doing a hog roast and serving pulled pork sandwiches, brats, sweet corn, and plenty of pie.   A huge shaded Beer Garden. 7 Miles

Davenport  Saturday’s ride will finish in Davenport.  The BIX 7, one of the biggest and best road races in the country will also be held in Davenport. The final mile of the ride will start at historic Credit Island and ride the Mississippi River Trail along the river to the dip site. Rider’s can cool off at the new Sprayground located a block from the dipping site.  14 Miles

A thousand miles

On the way home I turned 1,000 miles on the odometer on my "new" bike. I bought it in February, missed some riding time in March and April. Been doing pretty good since. Mostly commuting miles, I try to get 80-100 miles a week when I'm in town. Some weekends I'll get in a longer ride...I got 40 miles on the Fourth on a hot day. Trying to acclimate to the heat in Iowa, can't duplicate the humidity, that may be the hardest of the 4 H's for me. Heat, Humidity, Hills and Headwind.
We are off to Crested Butte on Friday, I'll miss some biking...may get in some easy miles on a loaner.
Last night Chance and Gerry helped me (well, they did most of the work) replace my bottom bracket. The stock bracket was a cheapo, and I found a complete replacement with a two piece crank, outboard bearings and a new triple chain ring. Lighter stronger and much better than what was on it. Seemed faster, but that may just be in my head!