I’m starting today’s post from the end of the day rather than the beginning. Alex, Marc, John, and I have completed today’s ride and 2023 RAGBRAI. Yea!! Before I give the details of the day’s events, here are our victory pictures: As we approached Davenport, we were directed to the Mississippi River to dip our…

Oh my! It was hot today. I’m sure you are tired of hearing me say that but today was even hotter than any of our previous days. The ride itself was nice … at least the first half that I rode. I was going to ride longer but I just couldn’t in the heat. The…

Last night, our host Duane drove Tim, John, Alex, and me to the vendor/entertainment area so that we could get some adult beverages and listen to some great music. We were there a little earlier than most but were able to catch a great Earth, Wind, and Fire tribute band. We could have stayed longer…

Leah and Todd left Iowa for home yesterday (Thursday) soon after we arrived at our hosts’ house. I received the following text from her today to share with you all: “Kathleen (our friend who was keeping our dogs while we are out of town) called yesterday after we finished our ride to let us know…

Before detailing our travels for the day, I urge you to read through to the end. We had a significant event happen today but I’d rather tell the story in order rather than jump to what happened so you can understand how quickly a perfectly nice day can change to something different. We left Des…

We started out early this morning to (1) beat the heat and (2) beat the crowds. We accomplished both goals. And we had a blast! The route was amazingly fun. The pass-through towns had great themes. And there were fewer riders on the road which was nice. There are MANY pictures in this post ……

This is just a short update from yesterday. I forgot to mention in the day’s posting that Leah and I had seen a drone flying high above us during our ride. Later John found the following picture on the RAGBRAI Facebook page. I absolutely love this picture! The picture is taken from a drone flying…

I feel whole again. Leah downed her Gatorade this morning and kept it down (which was very important). Todd finally released her to ride with me today. It was awesome having her back in the saddle. Today’s official route was 85.5 miles with 1554 feet of elevation. John completed the entire day’s route. Alex almost…

Hey everybody!  This is Leah. Todd thinks the carbon monoxide from all the generators around us the night before last made me sick. Thanks, carbon monoxide! Anyway, I am up this morning and ready to go. Todd said if I “pound” two Gatorades before I leave, I can ride with Susan today!  We are only…

We knew this year’s RAGBRAI would be hell. We just weren’t sure what form that hell would take. We knew this because last year’s RAGBRAI was just too perfect. The weather was comfortable, the crowds weren’t too bad, and we were all healthy and happy. This year has definitely been different. Every day, the temperatures are…