RAGBRAI 2009

Team Tablegater is off and running (peddling) into another historical RAGBRAI experience. We've had some technical difficulty in terms of attending to this blog (as you have noticed by the lack of blogging)--but we are now in business and ready to share!

GROUND ZERO (Friday Evening)-- Had a great hook-up in the parking lot of the local Casino in Council Bluffs. It was completely a concrete paradise, but it served our needs well and we were fortunate enough to have a warm shower at our disposal. Had a nice dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube on Friday evening and hob-knobed with the locals to learn of their history and town secrets.

Saturday--before the ride took us to breakfast at Famous Dave's in town and it was a group concensus that Dave should stick to ribs rather than dabbling in the breakfast business. Cold coffee (in a "pitcher") and eggs is NOT a way to start a day! Following breakfast we sojourned over to Bass Pro Shop and roamed about the very large facility--doing a lot of window shopping but not much buying. We then went to the RAGBRAI Expo and roamed around looking for the temporary tattoo vendor to no avail. We were bored after the Expo...so we patronized the local Ruby Tuesday's and sat at the bar conversing with the bar tender and fellow RAGBRAI riders. Met one gentleman from Kalamazoo, who biked to Council Bluffs with a few other (CRAZY) people to ride a portion or RAGBRAI (WHY??) only to return home. We questioned his sanity, but he was a very nice man with bigger balls than the four of us put together!!

The Bare Naked Ladies were playing Sauturday night, however, when we found out that they were actually all MEN-- we decided to forgo the concert and head back to Quaker Steak and Lube for more fun and fravolity. Listened to a "one-man-show", who coined the phrase, "HOLD EM UP! (Encouraging patrons to proudly hold their beverages of choice in the air)-- then after a pep-talk-- demanding the waiting crowd to "SLAM EM!!!!" He seemed to be having just as much fun (if not more!) than the paying customers.

DAY ONE-- RAGBRAI: The three amigos mounted their bikes and headed toward Red Oak--bikes, gloves, and helmets in tow. It was a short day mileage wise (52), but the climbs (totaling 3684 feet) made it to be a challenging day. The first nine miles were flat, but the rest of the day's hills kept us on our toes and woke up our quads--demanding attention. The day started off in a very positive manner, as a gentleman rode past us, informing Kevin that he was passing on the left-- calling him "Babe." Obviously the guy either still had his beer goggles from the night before, or Kevin's shorts were inticingly tight in ALL the right places.

Pass through towns were very low key and probably low-budget--as there was no fanfare or specticality (its a word!!!! see wikapodia.com) -- but they were a welcome resting place for our riders, who were needing some respite from the hilly highways of Iowa. Having said that, we DID find inbetween towns, an Obama Lemonade stand, selling "Hope and Change Lemonade"--which had a sign that indicated that the rich were to pay more than the poor--

We had great hosts for the night and stayed behind an quaint insurance company in Red Oak (owned by some delightful hosts)--and Kevin talked shop with the propriator while the rest of Team Tablegater nodded politely and placated Kevin appropriately.

DAY TWO: RAGBRAI -- Team Tablegater left Red Oak traveling through quaint neighborhoods--including those with fellow RAGBRAIers sleeping on the quiet sidewalks in sleeping bags.
A side note: There was some dissention among the city fathers of Red Oak about even hosting an overnight event. They were concerned about the riders of RAGBRAI getting tanked up & causing problems in their fair community.
Our overnight host informed us that he talked to the police chief & there were nine counts of drunk & disorderly issued. The funny thing is that those arrested were all local talent.

Day two presented a gruling bike experience for the riders--as it presented 73 miles of unforgiving hills with 5100 feet of climb. No flat roads for the weary riders. Adding insult to injury, Mother Nature had a sick sense of humor, throwing lingering drizzles of rain throughout the day. A tired Team Tablegater spent the night under the awning of the moterhome, in the fair grounds with the rest of the campers, watching nothing but rain transpire outside the windows.

The boys are slowly getting used to the presence of Karen's undergarmets drying everywhere. That's ok...she's been a good sport about less than desirable aim in the bathroom. No worries, Chris, the mat is currenly hanging out to dry!

DAY THREE: RAGBRAI; There were some concerns in the back bedroom overnight, as Kevin thought that Jeff had "The Big One." There were some mumbling and a big body shudder-- then, no movement. Here, Kevin was concerned about Husker dying on his watch, now this! No worries though, we figured we had enough ice in the cooler to get him down the road a piece before we had to worry about anything.

As for the ride, the day presented yet another challenging ride for our Team-- full of rain, hills, and now WIND! 55 of the 77 miles were clad with wet roads of Iowa, due to the constant fall of rain that fell upon us. Who would think that a bike rider --riding the hills of Iowa-- would be COLD in JULY because of the temperature!!! Hope was not lost for a fun-filled day, however, "skillet tosses" in Macksburg and bloody marys in St Charles aided in fun and frovolity for our riders!

Steve did a marvelous job in setting up accomodations for the team in Indianola, our overnight spot, as we found hot showers, food, beer, bike storage, and next-day breakfast waiting for us--all in the back parking lot of a funeral home. Who'd of thought!??!

Our hosts were a little disappointed, however, because our application had indicated that we would have two 25 year old young lady-drivers (Kellie O and Meghan W.) --this was not the case. Kel and Meg could not join us. There are young men roaming the streets of Indianola-- as we speak-- heart broken and looking for some comfort.