RAGBRAI Day 7

The. Last. Day.

 

Sorry, not a lot of pictures on the way to Ft Madison.

 

The Mason House Inn B&B in Bonaparte.  This little community has maybe a half0dozen buildings.  Everyone was in period costume (1880s) and they were very welcoming.  They even let us use the indoor bathroom (and not porta potties)! 

Norm and Libby chatting at the meet up point a mile from the end of the ride.  We gathered here for a group ride to our final destination.

Last pic with John, Mary Lee and Tim.

Riding in a two-by-two formation the last mile.  Survivors in the front.  A moving spectacle.  I always think of Julie during this part of the ride.

And those in formation behind me.  That's Barb on the left and Meg on the right.

The final yards.  (Photo from Tim's daughter.)

It's official!  Another RAGBRAI completed.  Front tire in the Mississippi.

FINISHED!
In Memory of Julie.

RAGBRAI Day 6

Rolling into Fremont

Bike parking in rural  Iowa - attach a cable to tractor and wrap your handlebars over it.

Source of two blow-outs in 3 miles.  This year, the Iowa roads chewed up my rear tire.

Mike (left) and Bill (right) escorted me to the next town where I got a new tire. Great teammates!

Congressman Braley (D-IA, 1st) took time from his ride to speak with Team LIVESTRONG in Hedrick about his experiences with cancer.

Last Day for Mr. Pork Chop.  Still delicious!

RAGBRAI - a family affair.  (Love the jersey!)

A lot of numbers for a small town!

Main St Packwood.  (All the action was out on the highway.)

Our destination for the day, Fairfield.  Home of the Maharishi University.

Camp Fairfield HS

The RV was plastered with these "I appreciate" cards from the LIVESTRONG Foundation staff in Austin for the team riders.

Team LIVESTRONG 2013!

The concert that night was an 80s cover band called The Spazmatics. Clearly, they aren't too concerned about preserving the stage as their space.  VERY fun evening!

RAGBRAI Day 5

Today I was riding for my Dad and brother Chuck, both of whom have survived prostate cancer.  And thinking of my brother Jim, who has a history of high PSA counts, but hasn't had any issues.  Keep getting checked, bro!  (Also, this Loving the Bike jersey (and shorts) were designed by yours truly.)

 

No, Iowa is not flat.

 

Memorial to the fallen in Pella, IA.

Pella is a Dutch community with, of course, a tulip festival each year.  This windmill is new (circa 2002), but based on a 1850 design and built using traditional methods.  A beautiful building, inside and out.

"HELLO!"

Lunch in the Bussey fire house.  Proceeds will go to help the FD purchase a jaws of life, a common tool for urban departments, but an expensive "luxury" for rural departments.  They were doing a steady business.

A drink at Wilson's after lunch with Tim, John and Mary Lee. Great time.  We headed over to the picnic tables and met up with Jim & Linda and Chris.  We rode together, for the most part, the rest of the day.  We arrived in Beacon and connected with even more teammates at the beer garden, where we enjoyed a couple more beers before heading to camp.

RAGBRAI Day 4

Most of the main campground in Des Moines was already down by the time I rolled out Wednesday morning.

 

Traffic jam getting out of the Water Works Park

 

Crossing the Des Moines River

The Iowa state capital building.

Monument to fallen soldiers/heroes.  I'm not sure, but from the road it looks like the woman in the center of the base is fondling her breasts.

Another MUST EAT RAGBRAI regular.  Farm Boys breakfast burritos!  Look at that line.

Team Flamingo is ... IN. DA. HOUSE!

SE Polk HS band played for us.  They were good.  Only band I saw that week.  Well, HS band, anyway.

Half-way thru the week, the miles (and beers?) were taking their toll.  Time to rest and rejuvenate. 

For $5, a pair of riders could don a fireman's coat and helmet and challenge another pair to an old fashioned fireman's water fight.  Linda and Gina from our team did this and won. Looked like fun.  But, no, I didn't do it.

We crossed the Des Moines River four times this day, including crossing on this mile long bridge.

Back at camp, ready to set up the tent in Knoxville.  We were next to the community center ... with an indoor pool!  That was relaxing.

LIVESTRONG staffers, Kim & Brian hamming it up at the team meeting.  Kim is the person who takes care of all the logistics and Brian is the team leader.  Two of the best people ever!



Tour at the Peace Tree Brewery in Knoxville.  Great beer.  Loved the Blonde Fatale!  Went with John & Mary Lee and Jim & Linda.  Great people!

RAGBRAI Day 3

Today was a short day, and I rode pretty much straight thru to Des Moines. Several members of our team went to visit Camp Kesem, an organization that provides overnight camps for children whose parents have or had cancer. LIVESTRONG supports Camp Kesem. 

This was actually the night before - probably about 9pm.  Big storm came through - high winds, rain, and marble sized hail.  A few things got wet, and there were a few puddles in the tent.  Nothing that couldn't get cleaned up though.

Dawn is breaking, looks like a beautiful day ahead.

Welcome to Minburn!

Not the first into town, I see.

The line for breakfast hosted by the locals.  It was a great meal.

Riders capturing their memories of another small town in Iowa.

These guys drove from San Diego to sell pizzas on RAGBRAI.  Yes, it's an actual fire truck.  Yes, the back end has been converted into a woodburning oven. Yes, the pizzas are delicious!  And fast.  It only takes a couple minutes to cook a full size pizza.

After a wet spring, the summer has been dry in southern Iowa.

A lemonade stand on the side of the road as we entered the Des Moines metro area.  It was good.

Camp Kesem counselors give Team members a tour of the facility and talk about the program.  Counselors are all college student volunteers who also must fundraise to finance the camp so that the weeklong camp is free to campers.  Campers are children whose parents have or had cancer.  It's a place where they can talk about their experiences with others who have been there too.  This particular camp had 56 campers and 32 counselors from Augustana College.

We didn't just observe the camp in action, some team members were drawn into the activities.  Here a LIVESTRONGer and a camper are paired up trying to get a penny out of a nylon stocking, racing another pair doing the same.

Camp Kesem campers with members of
Team LIVESTRONG.

Follow this link to my Strava ride report.