RAGBRAI Day 5 – Slow and Steady
Today’s ride from Mason City to Charles City was supposed to be relatively easy, at least that was what we naively thought. It was only 48ish miles with an average amount of climb; how hard could it be?! For most of the ride, it was ok. We were definitely sore from yesterday, but after a few miles we felt ok.
And then we hit the last 10 miles. Oh my goodness, it was BRUTAL! There were hills. There were VERY strong headwinds. There were hills with very strong headwinds. No matter what we did, we were pedaling hard and getting nowhere quickly. It felt like at least half of our time on the road was spent on those last 10 miles. I’m guessing that the winds are typically strong in this area because we started seeing windmills again. The winds may be powering the windmills, but they didn’t do anything to help power us. Ugh!
Earlier, we decided to take it easy for the day and stopped several times so that we could take pictures and talk with the locals along the way. One of our first stops was to feed some goats. They were adorable. Leah fell in love with the one named Johnny Cash. He was a cutie.
One of the girls with the goats said her vet chemically treated her goat’s horn area so that it wouldn’t grow horns. I asked why. She said they can cause a lot of damage with their horns. I told her that my son, Raine, used to have goats. He finally got rid of them because they pooped on his porch. She laughed and said they have a goat that does the same thing and her mom gets really mad about it, too.
In one of the towns, we ate Steak on a Stick from Marks Family Purebreds. It was heavenly! Russell Marks (I think that’s his name), the owner, helped deliver the calves, raised them, and was now cooking and serving them to us. It may sound a bit harsh for those of us who get our meat from plastic packages, but it’s awesome to know the farmer who supplies the food. He was such a sweetheart and took time out of his busy day to give us both hugs.
As we rode into one town, we were given sunscreen sticks. After we stopped and ate, Leah quickly put it on her lips before we realized that it was zinc oxide and her lips were completely covered in white. Being the friend that I am, I just had to laugh and take a picture.
We stopped at the Fossil and Prairie Park in Floyd county which is an old quarry where you can find several kinds of fossils. While searching, I found one that I thought was really pretty. Leah took it to the woman who could identify what I had found. She said that it was “a pretty rock” (i.e. not a fossil). LOL We did manage to find a couple of little fossils. They gave us bags so that we could take them with us which was really nice.
And now for some of the fun stuff that we’ve seen, heard, or done (in no particular order):
The average age of RAGBRAI participants is 46.9. So Leah and I are above average in at least this one area.
On our journey, several riders have speakers playing fun and sometimes interesting music. We decided that today we would sing loudly to every song we knew. It was lots of fun and I think most of the riders enjoyed hearing us sing … or maybe they found it motivational enough to pedal harder to get away from us.
We saw a bike made completely out of wood. It was gorgeous, but unfortunately I didn’t get a picture (maybe tomorrow). I’m hoping that I can encourage Tim to make one for us.
Some of the biking jerseys that we see are quite humorous. The funniest one I saw today was the butt crack jersey. Check out the picture.
There was also a woman who passed us in what I thought were bike shorts with a thong imprinted on it which I thought was cute. A little later, though, I saw several women with different thongs imprinted. I finally realized that they were actually wearing thongs over their bike shorts. The one that truly cracked me up was the woman whose thong was carrying an actual banana on her left butt cheek like a holstered gun. I’m not sure what to think about that one.
Several times, we’ve been passed by a guy who we have dubbed “elliptical man”. I cannot imagine trying to the conquer the miles that we’ve covered in such a contraption. I don’t even like being on an elliptical when I’m in an air conditioned gym. Going up hills in the hot sun? No way!
At each stop, there are locals offering snacks and drinks for “free will donations”. When you have cute kids offering homemade lemonade, how could you not partake and leave a nice donation?! Their lemonade was awesome!
We saw this trike in one of the towns. I believe that it is a paper-mache likeness of Ganesha on the front. Ganesha is the Hindu god of removing obstacles to success. I hope that Ganesha helped his bike owner to travel more easily through the winds today!
All along the way, the state troopers and deputy sheriffs control the traffic to keep us safe. These guys rock … sometimes literally. They blast some awesome tunes that we can sing to as we ride through the intersection. We truly appreciate the work they do while standing out in the hot sun all day.
We don’t have a picture of this sign, but going into Mason City we saw ”Welcome Random Stranger.” We laughed out loud when we saw it.
Tim showed his willingness to reach across the aisle (state?) this morning by sitting in Todd’s Alabama seat. Doesn’t he look comfortable?
Our Charles City hosts are Bruce and Chris Eldridge. They are both retired middle school teachers which we found incredible. They have a beautiful home with a gorgeous backyard. (Yes, I’ve seen several backyards that I would love to have. Maybe I need to move to Iowa to get a better looking yard.) They welcomed us with cantaloupe and organic blueberries which, oh my, were so tasty. We were able to take another shower which felt terrific after the grueling day.
Bruce and Chris recommended the local Tellurian (of the Earth) Brewery which was our first stop in town. Todd sampled the IPA and thought it was quite tasty. But the really cool thing was that they served their beer in aluminum solo cups which they recycle. We were so excited about them that we took a few with us to make them our “house cups” for the camper.
We are happy to report that Tim and Todd performed the waste management duties for the day without mishap. They were able to acquire the missing adapter for the hose which made the job much easier. It worked flawlessly. Unfortunately, the adapter is clear plastic but they both quickly said that they didn’t look at it as the tank was being dumped, LOL.
What a great day minus the head wind and hills!! I love your recaps and can’t wait to read them every morning. Keep rocking it, Susan and Leah!!
Most interesting, being from Texas Iowa must be 300 miles across. Did you stay at motels each night? where do I go to get details on a ride like this. Roland Gilliam Jr. poolgeektx@gmail.com You both did great.
The ride was 461miles total. You can google RAGBRAI and get info on this ride. It is mainly camping, but some people had RV’s or truck campers – and some people stayed in peoples houses. If you have more questions, please let us know! Everybody should do this ride!