RAGBRAI 2023 Day 6 – Another scorcher!

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 high today hit around 100. When we went to dinner with our hosts at 6:00 this evening, the temperature was 97 and the “feels like” temperature was 111. Ugh! Some pretty violent storms are coming through as I’m writing this and the current temperature is around 68. I have high hopes that tomorrow is going to be pleasant.

We started this morning around 5:30, again to beat the heat. For the record, neither John nor I beat the heat. I only rode to Marengo, about 38.6 miles. The planned route was 80.6 miles with 2893 feet of elevation. John completed the entire route … even in the brutal heat. What a trooper! (Or maybe he’s a special kind of special idiot!)

Along the way, I saw one rider who had what looked like a double-decker bike. I’m not sure what to call it but he rode almost a body length above everyone else in a regular-wheeled bike. I’ve tried to point him out in the picture. This guy was essentially riding next to the guy to his left. See how much higher he sits?! I wish I had gotten a better picture of his bike. It’s a little difficult to snap a picture when you are pedaling, need both hands to steer/brake, and the sun is in your eyes.

The first through town for the day was Chelsea about 16.7 miles from Tama-Toledo. When I arrived at Chelsea, I stopped for a bite to eat. But when I pulled over, I realized that I didn’t have my wallet. I know that I took it to the starting point and that all my bags were fully zippered. However, I don’t specifically remember putting it in one of my bags. I panicked a bit but couldn’t even call Tim … the stress on the cell phone system was just too great. I had to wait until I rode far enough away in order to get a signal. Luckily, I had my hidden stash of money and knew I’d be ok. We’ve contacted RAGBRAI Lost and Found. I’m hoping that I can get reunited with my wallet soon!

The second through town was Belle Plaine which is a quaint, historic town. The drive through the town was nice. I didn’t stop .. until I had to wait for the train to pass, that is.

I saw a few of these interesting power poles along the way. They were square as opposed to round. I’m not sure that the correct is way to describe them but hopefully the picture will show you what I mean.

Tim picked me up in Marengo. Frankly, I was more than done with the heat and ready to stop. He snapped this picture of me making my way through the town.

Surprisingly, we ran into Duane and Deb in Marengo. We told them about losing my wallet. They enlisted the help of friends and family members to help find it but no luck. I’m grateful we ran into them. Otherwise, we would have driven to Tama to look for ourselves.

We drove to Coralville where we met our hosts Dave and Judy Tokuhisa. They have a lovely yard with lots of trees which I love. We enjoyed talking to them and even discovered that they are Unitarian Universalists. What an unexpected coincidence! Most of our team (except for Todd and Leah) are UUs. They’ve been very kind allowing us to shower and are even letting John sleep in their house tonight. I know he is grateful to not be camping in the rain.

Jessica, John’s wife, flew from San Diego to Sioux City last night. She picked up John’s car there and drove it to Coralville. It was a treat to have her join us and our hosts for a sushi dinner. I enjoyed seeing her again; it’s been too long. (John and Jessica moved from Huntsville to San Diego a couple of years ago.)

That’s all the pictures that I have but Marc pulled through with a few of his own. Marc and his group decided once again to get a hotel room for the night. It’s nice that they have been able to get a room when they wanted one and I think they probably made the right decision given all the conditions. I’m not sure I would have wanted to be in a pop-up tent in this storm!

As much as I talk about the advantages of leaving early in the morning (to beat the heat), Marc wanted to make the case for leaving late. He said he got a free pie when none of the employees wanted it as they were closing shop for the day. Plus, the following picture shows the non-existent line for the port-o-potties at that time of the day. I’ve never seen any that were this deserted!

The next picture shows how one team chose to cool off in the heat. They are cooling off with beer. Not drinking the beer … just being with the beer. They are in the beer cooler at the Kum & Go (the local convenience store). Too funny! But I bet it felt good!

That’s it for today. Here’s hoping that the weather is comfortable tomorrow!