Month: July 2016

IM11 – Rest Day in Muscatine Iowa

Posted on July 31, 2016September 26, 2016 by Rich

Muscatine, Iowa Distance: 3.6 miles Cyclemeter app not used Cumulative Distance this tour: 446.1 miles Good bye and good luck to Roger, who left fairly early this morning. We also said goodbye to Chris, who left us a “charge” to talk to every bicycle tourist we came across as a gesture of goodwill. Noted. We’d decided last spring to add a rest day today. Jack had examined the Muscatine motel rates and found them fantastically high on Saturday night (like over $250), and then back to normal on Sunday night. Hence Saturday night in the tent and Sunday night in

IM10 – RAGBRAI 2016 Day 7

Posted on July 30, 2016September 26, 2016 by Rich

Washington, Iowa to Muscatine, Iowa Distance: 54.6 miles Ascent: 1,314 feet Cyclemeter app not used Cumulative Distance this tour: 442.5 miles Sure was nice to have hot coffee right beside our campsite this morning, courtesy of the Washington Kiwanis Club. Jack and I hit up Farm Boys one last time this morning for breakfast. They’re real friendly, provide tasty hearty food at a market price, and run an efficient operation that typically churns through long lines. I tend to shun away from the mainstream RAGBRAI vendors, but not these guys. Two thumbs up for Farm Boys. This morning they were

IM09 – RAGBRAI 2016 Day 6

Posted on July 29, 2016September 26, 2016 by Rich

Ottumwa, Iowa to Washington, Iowa Distance: 70.2 miles Ascent: 2,541 feet Cyclemeter app not used Cumulative Distance this tour: 387.9 miles I’d set my tent beneath a huge tree yesterday. The advantage is minimal dew in the morning. The disadvantage this time was poop, little white blotches all over my nice turquoise rain fly. I even woke up with a sore throat that I knew was from snoring, and felt that I might be allergic to something in this park, possibly even the trees themselves. I noticed Jack was sawing logs this morning too. Seventeen miles to Hedrick, our first stop.

IM08 – RAGBRAI 2016 Day 5

Posted on July 28, 2016September 26, 2016 by Rich

Centerville, Iowa to Ottumwa, Iowa Distance: 52.1 miles Ascent: 1,999 feet Cyclemeter app not used Cumulative Distance this tour: 317.7 miles RAGBRAI is great fun, but one of the annoyances is the plethora of novice cyclists and campers. To wit. We tented last night next to a pickup truck parked on the grass, license plate from Illinois. Behind it was a big trailer. Yesterday afternoon its owners had erected a tremendous tent, reading the instructions all the while. Obviously novice, but ya gotta start somewhere. To the distraction of adjacent campers, this party stayed up until the wee morning hours

IM07 – RAGBRAI 2016 Day 4

Posted on July 27, 2016September 26, 2016 by Rich

Leon, Iowa to Centerville, Iowa Distance: 67.1 miles Ascent: 2,708 feet Cyclemeter app not used Cumulative Distance this tour: 265.6 miles A lovely 24-hour vapor light illuminated my tent all night – land of the midnight sun. The 3 of us departed together this morning from Leon, but Jack and I separated from Phil leaving town. Breakfast at Garden Grove – Farm Boys again. You go through a line and tell the servers each item you want in your bowl, like eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, onion, salsa, etc. When I got mine, I grabbed the edge and went to tote

IM06 – RAGBRAI 2016 Day 3

Posted on July 26, 2016September 26, 2016 by Rich

Creston, Iowa to Leon, Iowa Distance: 62.9 miles Ascent: 3,318 feet Cyclemeter app not used Cumulative Distance this tour: 198.5 miles RAGBRAI days blend into one another. Imagine spending 7 straight days at a huge carnival. An abbreviated writing method for today. Phil out 30 minutes before Jack and me this morning. Coffee and zucchini muffins at a farmhouse outside Creston. The muffins were full of chocolate chips – mmm! Farm Boys breakfast in Diagonal after 20 miles of riding. Hearty burrito in a bowl. 14 more miles to Mount Ayr, who did a great job with the town. Jack

IM05 – RAGBRAI 2016 Day 2

Posted on July 25, 2016September 26, 2016 by Rich

Shenandoah, Iowa to Creston, Iowa Distance: 78.7 miles Ascent: 3,994 feet Cyclemeter app not used Cumulative Distance this tour: 135.6 miles Last night in Shenandoah was cooler than Day 1 and I think everyone got a better night’s sleep. A good thing because we’d need it today. This morning the three of us departed together but soon got separated, the norm for RAGBRAI. I grabbed a sticky bun and coffee in Bethesda, and then a bratwurst in Villisca. Compliments to Villisca – they really did a great job setting up the town for such a small place (population 1,252). At

IM04 – RAGBRAI 2016 Day 1

Posted on July 24, 2016September 26, 2016 by Rich

Glenwood, Iowa to Shenandoah, Iowa Distance: 54.1 miles Ascent: 2,029 feet http://cyclemeter.com/51ced2364be66c17/Cycle-20160724-0706 Cumulative Distance this tour: 56.9 miles A very muggy night last night – no discernible breezes. I actually did not sleep badly but Phil got almost no sleep, stating that his sleeping bag was useless and way too warm to use. I do understand that. Accordingly, Phil got up early and packed up. He waited for Jack and me for a while, but I think when he saw how leisurely we were moving decided to take off down the route. Jack and I arose around 6:30AM – somehow we

IM03 – Let the RAGBRAI Spectacle Begin

Posted on July 23, 2016August 30, 2016 by Rich

Here in Junction City KS, Phil and I hiked across the street this morning to Stacy’s Restaurant. We found it to be a Republican hotbed of conversation. Seems like every other table was discussing the convention or something else wrong with America. Mostly pro-Trump, from what I could tell. We took I-80 and mostly backroads to what we thought was Glenwood Iowa. Unfortunately, our GPS took us to the center of tiny Minneola Iowa instead – not sure why that occurred. More backroads took us to Glenwood, where well outside the town the roads were closed off. We decided

IM02 – Day Two on the Road

Posted on July 22, 2016August 23, 2016 by Rich

Early morning drive northeast up US54 through Guymon, OK and Liberal, KS. This is meatpacking land. We snaked our way through Kansas backroads, through Dodge City, and had lunch at a Subway in Larned, KS. Temperatures were sweltering outside – the car indicated 108F. That’s normal for Arizona but ridiculous for these parts. Alas, the Subway’s ice machine was broken, of all days, and the proprietors apologized. An old codger sat as the only other customer in a far booth, reading a book. There is no real point in these facts, other than to paint a picture of tiny-town America.