RAGBRAI 2023 Day 4 – Now that is more like it!

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 … which is an indication of how much fun we had!

All of our riders today completed the entire route. The route was 54.7 miles with 1234 feet of elevation. A relatively easy day especially in the morning when it was cooler.

Our first pass-through town was Slater. They had me at this sign we saw as we approached the town. Dr. Seuss is definitely one of my favorite authors!

Then in the town square, they had a photo op with Horton.

Even the local animal hospital decorated its building with the theme.

But the most impressive was the Truffula forest the town created on the site of the future library they want to build. They even gave us some Truffula seeds for planting! Of course, we helped by donating for their future library.

Our next pass-through town was MADrid. That’s how they spelled it on a sign we saw to emphasize their Alice in Wonderland theme. The town’s name is pronounced “mad-rid” with the accent on the first syllable (as opposed to the pronunciation of the city in Spain).

Leah was deemed royalty in the town and sat in the Queen of Hearts throne. The Queen doesn’t look very happy.

I loved this long table in the middle of town with its painted chairs. What a great place to gather!

And guess who made it to MADrid?!

Marc didn’t ride with us today, but I did want to include one of his photos in MADrid. It would not have been near as funny if Leah or I had posed for the picture. Yes, Tiger Bowl is the bowling alley in MADrid.

As Leah and I were about to get back on our trikes, a woman told me, “Stop! I need you to hold my bike so I take her picture!” I complied and she took a picture of Leah’s back. She saw Mickey Mouse in the sweat pattern on the back of Leah’s shirt. Too funny!

I loved the signs in MADrid. Marc captured the first one. I took the second one as we were leaving the town.

Our next pass-through town was Polk City. We came up on this beautiful, peaceful creek either before or after the town (I can’t remember which).

We ordered some tank tops from a printer in Polk City because I just loved the design. It said, “Any idiot can ride a bike, but it takes a special kind of idiot to ride across an entire state.” Of course, it includes a drawing of the state of Iowa with this year’s RAGBRAI path. And yes, we are special kinds of idiots! As a thank you, they gave us some amazing wet towels drenched in ice water. They really cooled us down in the heat!

This boy was at the printer’s booth where we ordered the tank tops. He was just too cute and I love the bow tie! I had to include his picture.

Our last pass-through town was Ankeny which is a suburb of Des Moines, our overnight town. Our hosts live near Ankeny (relatively speaking) so we didn’t spend any time there other than riding through on the route and being welcomed by hundreds of people. The best part was several people were spraying water onto us as we passed. It was awesome!!

Marc and Alex spent a little more time in Ankeny … at the Splash Park. As we passed by the park, Leah and I agreed that Marc would definitely be stopping there when he came through. We were so correct! I bet it felt incredible!

In the middle of I’m not sure where, we came across Girl Scouts selling cookies. What a score!! Yes, I bought a few boxes for Tim including a box of Thin Mints. This adorable girl posed for Leah in front of their van.

We are continually amazed at the hospitality of our hosts. Tonight, our hosts in Des Moines are Peggy and Randy Pierce. Not only did they allow us to park on their property (which is all we really ask for), but they also gave us full reign of the house next door to them that they bought and have just renovated. It is incredible! The house has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a wonderful kitchen, dining room, and several sitting rooms. And of course, it has air conditioning! What a treat!

Todd has been busy all day smoking a pork butt for us for dinner. What a treat! Everyone loves Todd’s butt! I know I do!!

No one on our team is looking forward to tomorrow. The route is awful … 88.8 miles, 4214 feet of climb with the estimated high being in the mid to high 90s. I know Leah and I are planning to ride at most to the meetup town which is 44ish miles from Des Moines. I know John is planning on riding the entire route. Not sure about Marc and Alex.

Just to give you an idea, the following picture is from the app RAGBRAI is using to convey the route.