RAGBRAI Day 2 — Children of the Corn

After a great night’s rest, we were ready for the second day of this adventure. This morning, after leaving our trikes under the big tree overnight, I realized that my helmet had bird poop on it. Ugh! I decided that it was better on top of my helmet than on my trike seat.

The ride today was wonderful. The terrain was a little hilly for the first half of the day, but was much less challenging than yesterday. For the latter part of the day, we rode through the typical Iowa terrain that I know and love — flat with the occasional gentle hill. The weather was generally overcast with a tiny bit of rain resulting in much cooler temperatures. We rode 73.68 miles from Ida Grove to Pocahontas.

We finally had our first piece of pie today … before lunch. Leah had cherry and I had apple. We were ”promised” that we would be eating pie across the state, but it took us over 70 miles of riding before we had our first slices. But they were definitely worth the wait.

The highlight of the day was Leah responding to the call of nature by peeing in a corn field, not once, but twice. Both times we were between towns with no facilities in sight and, well, when nature calls you have to respond.

For lunch, Leah had a Beef Sundae and I had a Brisket Sundae. Yes, I agree that they sound disgusting, but they were incredibly tasty. Both started as a bowl of mashed potatoes covered with the meat and sauce, topped with a cherry tomato. It was delicious and oh so filling.

Leah wore her Bama tank top and I wore my Auburn tank top because today was Jersey Day. We did manage to meet several people from Alabama who knew that it was unusual for a Bama fan and an Auburn fan to be together. With very quizzical looks, they would ask us if we were together. Yes, we replied … we are a friendship divided.

Some people took the Jersey Day theme to a different level. Below is the picture of a man wrapped in the American flag and wearing a flag Speedo. I’m guessing that this was his “jersey”.

Leah bought sugar cookies that were in the shape of Iowa. Below is her picture (she had to ask me which side was the top).

This part of Iowa is apparently the land of windmills. There were dozens if not hundreds of them throughout today’s ride. Tim thinks he saw thousands of them while driving. They were an interesting break in the monotony of corn and soybean fields.

Our crew has been terrific! Tim and Todd have woken early with us every morning and broken- camp after we left. They then make their way to the next town hunting and gathering along the way for us. We are so lucky to have our loyal guys with us.

As a special treat, Todd was able to acquire a $50 shower for only $8. Actually, the shower was always $8, but it felt like it was worth $50. Leah and I have been “showering” from the hose off the side of the camper. Sometimes it’s cold. Sometimes it randomly sprays. We are definitely not getting all of our parts clean. But for now, it is good enough.