Ray and LeAnn rode in the RAGBRAI bike tour this year, going from Rock Valley to Mason City. We rode for 3 days (about 155 miles) and then drove the support vehicle one day. We rode with Mariah's friend Meghan's dad (Ken), sister Emily and her boyfriend Greg, and a friend of Ken's, Dan. They rode the entire ride this year (418 miles). We were Team 13 Rhinos, named after the 13 kids in Ken's dad's family. We all wore colorful rhinos on our helmets, which made it much easier to spot each other in the crowds. this was Ray's 5th time doing some portion of RAGBRAI, and LeAnn's 2nd. We drove down to Mason City on Saturday to drop the van off for picking up later. We parked the van at a Wal-Mart that was just off the main route. Ken then picked us up and we all headed for Rock Valley.
We got
to Rock Valley and set up camp at a driving range, which had been
flooded earlier this year, as Rock Valley suffered great damage due to
heavy rains. We went downtown and got a bite to eat and listed to the
music at the beer garden. We had to meet a fellow biker to pick up our
wrist and bike bands, since we had decided to go late and didn't get our
credentials ordered. there were lots of rider credentials available
through the RAGBRAI website for those who's plans had changed. 
Rock Valley had created a bunch of statues and artwork that was on display Saturday night. On Sunday morning we got up and headed out of town. We had a least a quarter mile of walking through the street lined with flags before we could actually get on the bikes and start pedaling. Sunday was a warm day in the upper 80's to low 90's but a high heat index over 100 at some time. The wind was form the south, so mainly a cross wind for us.
We stopped for lunch at Mr. Pork Chop. He grills hundreds if not thousands of pork chops a day to feed the hungry bikers. The pork chops are at least an inch thick and so tender and juicy. Iowa pork at its best. He sets up every day for lunch and parks a large pink school bus at the farm he sets up at. He uses corn cobs for fuel for his grill , and usually has 2 grills going simultaneously with at least 100 pork chops on each grill. The lines are long and the wait time was close to 30 minutes
After a 75 mile ride, we camped in Okoboji/Milford, and stayed at Boji Bay, a new pool and camping area in Milford. We used the pool showers for cleaning up, but they only had cold water and were outdoors, usually used for cleaning off before and after getting into the pool for swimming. The one advantage was that your biking clothes got washed at the same time you did.On Monday we got up to head to Emmitsburg, via LeAnn's hometown of Graettinger. We stopped for breakfast outside of Terrill, and as we were leaving, we saw LeAnn's cousin Darwin and his son Brian along with his fiance Natasha in line for the Farm Boys breakfast. What are the odds of running into someone when there are at least 20,000 people riding every day. We chatted with them for about 15 minutes before heading off with plans to see them in Graettinger.
Since there are food an beverage stands set up all along the route, not just in the town, we stopped at the Iowa Craft Brewers beer garden for a beer. They had about 15 different craft brews on tap, just waiting for the thirsty riders.
We came in to Graettinger from the west, ans topped just outside of town where Bethel Lutheran church had set up a stand with food and beverages. We had a monkey tail (frozen bananas covers with chocolate and nuts), signed their welcome board, and talked with a bunch of LeAnn's friends and relatives. 
We pedaled the rest of the way into Graettinger and had a great view of the town from the top of the hill. The town was packed as many people were coming through town at lunch time, so stopped to get a bite to eat. We got a chicken sandwich from the fire department and had a beer in the beer garden. All the local vendors and establishments appeared to be doing very well. 
We stayed downtown for a couple of hours and then headed to LeAnn's mom's house visit. She was amazed at the number of people in town, even when she went up town earlier in the morning. Darwin and Marilyn came over for a visit while we were there and we chatted about how good of job Graettinger did with their RAGBRAI prep. We headed out of town after a couple hours at Lois', and headed south into Emmitsburg and a 20+ mph headwind for about 8 miles to complete a 45 mile day. We were tuckered out when we got to Emmitsburg, but a quick shower at the shower truck (with warm water) helped everyone feel better. 
A few clouds were building as a cool front was expected to come in on Tuesday, making for a nice sunset at the campground.
Tuesday was our day to drive, so we broke camp and headed to Forest City. We got camp set up and headed for town about 11:00. We at a boy scout stand, and I had a skinless bratwurst. It was very tasty and the first time I had a skinless version. LeAnn got a loaded baked potato, and then found a deep fried, chipotle stuffed, pickle on a stick. It was very tasty. We also had sweet corn that was steamed by a wood fired steam engine. In the afternoon, we toured the giant Winnebago plant that is headquartered in Forest City, and then met up with our neighbor Mike, who was going to ride with us on Wednesday
Wednesday was a very short 35 mile day to Mason City. Emily and Greg rode their tandem bike in kilts, and were enjoying the slow paced, multiple stop aspect of the day. We caught up to them at the beer garden outside of Aurora. The beer garden was next to a demonstration plot, and as you can see, the corn was doing very well in this part of Iowa. We then took a nice leisurely ride through the neighborhood on the north side of Clear Lake, most of this leg was under the tree canopy. 
As we arrived in Clear Lake, a large group of riders dressed as Waldo rode in. We later found out they were part of wedding party that was getting married on the beach. LeAnn had a buca-wich for lunch, which was a 6" hoagie bun that was drilled out from the cut end and filled with meats or stuffing. It worked well in that the stuffing stayed in the bun and didn't drip out the sides.We finished the ride to Mason City, where Ray picked up the van and met LeAnn and the others at the campsite at the high school. We packed up and headed back to Eagan with lots of new memories of our trip halfway across Iowa on our bikes, and thoughts of doing this again in the years to come.
