Bacoon Recap

Well, my third Bacoon Ride (the ride for the cured) was the nicest. No rain, lower temps, cool  nights (for Iowa in the summer). 

The ride is along the Racoon River Valley Trail in West Des Moines  and has a Bacon theme.

Four other members of my Ragbrai team made it, including my buddy Eric from St Louis. The nut mounted his bike on his 500cc scooter and drive 400 miles to make the ride. A picture of his rig is included below.  Another teammate from Arkansas showed up as did two from Minnesota. We all wore our LiveRstrong jerseys.

We also had Bacoon friends who we've met the last couple of years.  Yvonne is an amputee who is a dedicated rider; she and her husband Tom are a hoot. Mark and Angie were there for the third you, too.  Seemed like there were less campers than years past.

Lots of bacon, some good beers. Eric found wild mulberries and blackberries among the trail! Yum. 76 miles.

A few pics of the ride are included below.  

Now for something completely different

I've done RAGBRAI for five years, but my July schedule will be different this year so will miss the ride for 2016. I found a ride in June that runs along the Katy Trail in Missouri and will try that this year. It is only 240 miles over 5 days, so it is sort of a half RAGBRAI with only 350 riders instead of the 10,000-30,000 riders in Iowa. While I'll miss the craziness of RAGBRAI, I'm looking forward to the Katy.

The Katy Trail is the longest Rails to Trails project in the U.S. is runs from near St. Louis toward Kansas City along the old Missouri Kansas Texas railroad bed. It is part of the Missouri State Parks and I think the longest state park.

I'll be tying the Katy Ride to the Bacoon Ride in Iowa to stretch the total ride to 6 days and 310 miles. This is the third year for the Bacoon and I've ridden the previous two Bacoons. It is a 70 mile loop along the Raccoon River Valley Trail which is another Rails to Trails project. The ride is Bacon themed, hence the name Bacoon  (the ride for the cured). There are eight bacon stops along the ride, starting with Bacon Chorizo Burritos for breakfast to Bacon Sundaes for "dessert" in the afternoon.

Info on the Katy Trail Ride at: https://mostateparks.com/2016KTRide and daily updates at: https://www.facebook.com/KatyTrailStatePark

Info on the Bacoon at: http://bacoonride.com/