Day three: 57 Miles: 1400 feet of climb
Day four: 78 Miles: 2900 feet of climb
Needless to say we were all relieved to get day two, with all of the elevation, behind us. Day three was a fairly easier day until the surprise "death hill" going into Boone came upon us. From there, it was 19 miles to Cy Country. It was an almost uneventful day in terms of biking incidents, but Jeff had his chain replaced, Karen had her handlebars re-wrapped (how about that, Ben??!!), and Steve A. got a haircut in Boon!
The highlight of the day occurred when Kevin and Karen came upon a farm offering cold water and piglets viewing. Kevin (and all other members of Team Tablegater) was/were therefore barred from eating any pork products for the rest of the RAGBRAI tour because of the pigs' sweet personality and livelihood. (do Rocky Mountain Oysters count??)
The evening seemed to provide more entertainment than the bike ride....Because
- LANCE ARMSTRONG spoke at the Hilton parking lot--opening the entertainment segment of the evening.
- Stacy and Karen befriended a strange man -- you know, your typical Cyclone fan in Ames, and he gave them beads (NO flashing required)....In return, they had to wear stickers depicting them as "Bead Whores." (Sorry, Mom...what happens at RAGBRAI, stays on RAGBRAI!!)
- Finally, to illustrate how crazy some of these people can get (especially in a college town, where students are staying)--Dan (60 + retired teacher....member of Tablegater) overheard a girl outside his tent bellow, "I don't care if it’s a girl or a guy, I'm going hump someone tonight." Dan was a tad bit nervous and immediately zipped up his tent!!
Our fourth day of RAGBRAI began with an incident in our own camp. Unbeknownst to the riders, 0ur esteemed driver, Tony and his co-pilot, Danny got into a wrestling match before breaking camp. (Note…Tony should have known better-- Danny is an experienced wrestler—but the testosterone was running rampant.) A trip to the hospital, revealed a diagnosis of a dislocated elbow—Tony was put to sleep for a while so that the doctors could work their magic by putting his elbow back into place. (Horrible thought, isn’t it?) A few hours later, the support-crew was back on the road with Tony maneuvering the RV in a sling.
Day Four provided an enjoyable--yet challenging day of riding. However, because of the hospitality of our
We concluded the evening with a heart-stopping excursion around the northern portion of Tama in our golf-cart-- with Jeff at the wheel, challenging the other cars and trucks on the highway. We were on a mission to find a place to have a good meal to end the day. The good news was that the headlights and taillights worked well and other than annoying a few of the other drivers—and scaring those riding on the back side of the cart, we arrived at our destination without incident. The bad news was that “Granny’s Grill” did not anticipate being inundated by RAGBRAI riders. Granny was a little short handed. They ran out of various food items, and were driven to accept the good-will of a fellow RAGBRAI rider, who offered to clear tables for them.
Don't know what to say here--it is Wednesday night and pouring rain here in Tama and the weather is projected to be stormy and raining tomorrow too. Not a good sign for RAGBRAI riders.....
Keep us in your thoughts.
Other than that....You all stay safe and keep focused on the road ahead! Tablegater Out!!!
1 comment:
It seems one particular team member is grabbing a lot of camera time. Must be a payoff in there somewhere! Do piglets really squeal when you grab their tail? (Just got hungry for bacon and eggs for some reason!!) And what was the Gentleman and President from the GREAT State of Illinois doing in Iowa? I guess, in this case, he was an Illinoisan Out Wandering Around (IOWA). Good Luck with the rain...keep the jersey's zipped up, for a wet jersey, and an open zipper, makes one into the Michelin Man. LiveStrong and ride hard! Impressive ALL of you!
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