Ray went on RAGBRAI with his brother-in-law John, neighbor Mike and Mike's brother Gary. RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) is a 7 day bike ride across the state of Iowa which starts on the Western border and ends on the eastern border. This year the ride started in Sioux City and ended in Dubuque.
Mike had rented a trailer so that we could haul our bikes and equipment with us as we rode. We drove down to Sioux City and set up our camp between the river and the interstate before heading downtown for the nightly entertainment. The host cities have bands, food, beer gardens and lots of entertainment. In Sioux City, the vendor area was very tight with only a few feet of walking space between the vendor tents. I was disappointed that the food vendors were all within the beer garden area and they were charging a $10 admission to everyone who didn't have a RAGBRAI wristband. Most places have the food vendors outside the beer garden area. The headline band was Smash-Mouth, who have a few songs you hear on the radio, but they didn't sound that good in person.
We got up early on Sunday and headed for the Missouri River to dip our back tire in the river. This is a tradition of RAGBRAI riders at the start of the ride and then they dip their front tire into the Mississippi River at the end of the ride. The morning was beautiful with clear skies and hardly any wind (even the many wind turbines were not moving). We climbed the hill up form the river and headed for our first overnight town of Algona, about 70 miles to the east. The crowds on Sunday were huge as many bikers ride this day since it doesn't require taking time off from work for most people. For the first few hours of the ride, we filled up most of the 2 lane roads we were on. Almost all the roads we travel on are closed to traffic in both directions during the ride, and the state patrol or sheriff's control the intersection crossings for added safety. Sunday was a hilly day with about 3700 feet of total climb. Fortunately the weather was comfortable for riding, but I could feel my lack of any real training (I only had about 75 miles on my bike before the ride and none in the 3 weeks before the ride) as I would come to the crest of hills, but then I enjoyed coasting down the hills.
The first overnight town was Storm Lake and we were camping at the high school on the lawn. We got in about 3:30 and met up with John who had come down Sunday afternoon. The city had opened the showers in the high school for us to use, but it felt more like a sauna in there. We set up our tents and a screen tent that Mike had brought and enjoyed the cool breeze before heading downtown for some dinner. There were lots of choices for dinner and dessert. We wandered around for a little bit before heading back to camp and turning in for the night. A full moon was rising as the sun was setting.
Day 2 took us from Storm Lake to Algona. We had a south wind which aided us on the northbound segments which accounted for about half the ride. The terrain was also a lot flatter with only about 1100 feet of total climb. We made it Pocahontas around 10:45 and had lunch. I had a huge pulled pork sandwich that had enough meet for 2 buns. Just outside of town, I saw a farmer who was sitting and riding a stationary bike along the side of the road. it turns out he is a 90 year man who has done this on numerous rides, cheering the moving riders on from his exercise bike. A little further down the road, we stopped at a large water slide that one of the farmers had built for the ride. Although it always looks like fun and great way to cool off, I never wanted to ride after getting all my clothes wet, so didn't take the plunge. One of the long time food vendors was also set up at this stop. Mr. Pork Chop grills pork chops on two large grills that use dried corn cobs for fuel. The corn cobs are kept inside a compartment on the bus. The chops are about 1-1/2 thick and served in a napkin so you can eat them as finger food
Our next stop was West Bend, home of the Grotto of the Redemption. It is built out of stone, concrete and gemstones by a local priest and took over 42 years to build in honor of his survival from pneumonia. We rolled into Algona around 5:00 and set up camp in the riverside park. This time the city had set up portable shower trailers, but Gary had found out from one of the city park staff that they had set up a shower at the power plant up the hill. We walked up and found that no one was using that shower and we were able to have a nice high pressure shower along with a tour of the city power generation station from Kevin in the power plant. We walked to the nearby shopping center to get a bite to eat, but both the local pizza places were overwhelmed by the number of people and everyone coming out said they didn't recommend eating there at that time. We tried the Hy-Vee, but they had already closed their cafe, so we ended up at Subway. They were running low on bread and some of the fixings, but we were able to have dinner. We didn't make it downtown in Algona.
There were a lot of interesting bikes, including a large wheel direct pedaling old style bike long with multiple recumbents and decorated bikes. There was even a family of 6 on a bicycle built for 4 plus two in a burley being pulled along.
We stayed at the house of a friend of Gary's on Tuesday night which was great because we had about an inch of rain overnight, and we were cool and dry in the basement. We went to the Other Place (OP) for dinner and enjoyed a nice sit down meal in an outdoor covered area. The portions were huge and I had some great baked lasagna in about a 6" diameter bowl. We then went downtown and checked out the town. They have done a lot of refurbishing in the downtown area and have a nice waterfront park area that housed the stage for the band. We went up on the paddle wheel boat that was docked along the water, but it was already full upstairs so we couldn't get a seat.
After the storm went through it cooled down for Wednesday. The wind was light from the north, so it was mostly a cross wind. The route was about 52 miles and the total climb was again about 1100 feet, but the net drop was about 200 feet. We ate pancakes at Chris Cakes in Swaledale. They have long griddles that have a large tank that rolls across the griddle and spits out 4 sets of batter at a time from end to end. By the time they have put down the batter, it is time to go back and flip them, then go back to the start and beginning serving, sometimes even flipping them into the air for the next person in line to catch on their plate. They can feed a lot of people in a short period of time. The person living across the street from the park had a lot of goofy contraptions that he had made and had on display.
The little town of Cartersville had a very large crowd gathering along the road. When we rolled up we found out why. One of the residents had a large swimming pond that they had rigged up a rope swing with trapeze type bar. There was a $5 charge to enter the pond area, and then a long line to use the rope swing. We watched quite a few people take the plunge and everyone was having a good time.
The overnight town was Charles City, and we ended up camping in a front yard thanks to Gary's friend Mike who we had stayed with the night before. We walked downtown and grabbed some food and walked along the river. Due to the large amount of rain that Iowa has had over the last couple weeks, all the rivers were very high, with some even overflowing their banks. Earlier in the week, a dam in Manchester was overrun with water and gave way, emptying the local lake. When we got back to the house we were camping at, we could still hear the band downtown even though we were 10 blocks out, but it was not enough to keep me awake (not much will though).
Our final day was Thursday as we rode the longest let of 82 miles from Charles City to Waterloo. The wind was again light and from the north, but the hills were getting larger and closer together. We climbed about 2600 feet on day 5. The first 10 miles were paved with brand new asphalt and made for some easy riding. Towards the end of that stretch we cam upon a serious accident that had just occurred recently in which the rider eventually died. Even though you are cruising along, something like that makes you think about how things can change so quickly.
We rolled into Parkersburg, which had been hit by a couple of tragedies in the last few years. About half the town was wiped out by a giant EF5 tornado that hit in 2008. We rode through the new and rebuilt area on top of the hill on our way out of town. Basically, everything has been rebuilt since then, down to the streets and roads. The other tragedy was the murder of a beloved football coach by a former player. The Parkersburg football program has produced 5 NFL players over the years, out of town of about 2000 residents.
Our last stop was Waterloo. The campground was set up in a field outside the casino, but the field was very muddy with a lot of low spots, so we were glad we didn't have to camp there Thursday night. The water provided was in a large 4' diameter by 10' tall tank with a couple of spigots on it. The casino area was also very far from the downtown area, so there were a lot of people very disappointed in the Waterloo facilities.
We packed up our gear and bikes and headed back to Minnesota while dropping off Gary along the way. We had an enjoyable time with great weather overall and a lot of good memories. Thanks to Mike for all the coordination and thanks to Gary and John for their time behind the wheel.
