July 28, 2023
The Rain gods are really pissed now.
I’m posting this update for Friday July 28 a day late as there were so many folks at RAGBRAI I could not get a cell signal. Of course when I wait this long to tell about my day on the road, I can’t remember what happened.
I rode the official RAGBRAI route as I could not get a cell signal to plot another route and I do not know Iowa well enough to wing it. It was a really tough day though. The elevation gain was about 2500 ft over 83 miles so not terrible, but the temp went up to about 98 by noon. And the humidity was high so you don’t get dry from sweating and you feel even hotter. There were tons of folks handing out free water, watermelon, and even Gatorade. One stop had free meals, a band, and a water slide. By that time I just wanted to get in and get the day over with so I did not stop. Lots of garden hose drenching went on along the route.
Our group had an over night stay at a law office in Iowa City. The AC was not functioning so one of our group organizers somehow talked the buildings land lord into moving us. We went just a few blocks to a second floor apartment that had a garage for our bikes, carpeted floors, a kitchen, full bathroom, and ……..AC! And just a few blocks from the Applebees where I had a nice pasta meal.
While in Applebees the restaurant TVs kept flashing warnings of severe storms headed our way. Apparently the rain gods had found me once again. I think they must use cell towers to triangulate my location but with this RAGBRAI crowd it took them nearly a week to hone in on me! When we left the restaurant there was a nasty looking line of clouds moving in fast. Approaching storms in the Midwest do not look like the ones at home. The clouds are usually a dark green and roll in like waves rolling onto a beach. It can be pretty scary sometimes. This time was one of those. We hadn’t walked a block when the tornado sirens started going off all over the city. Eric admonished Glen and I to get a move on and get to the apartment. Clunk was not doing well at this point so my git up and go was lagging a bit. Glen has a clunk all his own and I think he was in the same boat but we made it before the storm hit. I’m fact I think the storm missed us as we got just a bit of rain. I heard riders the next day talking about a tornado near us but I’m not sure where.
I had a visitor today also. Ray H came to see me and spent hours hanging around in the heat waiting for my slow butt to arrive. Ray lives in Sigourney Iowa. I met him through my neighbor Jim S. Both used to work for Monsanto. Jim hooked me up with Ray a few years back when RAGBRAI stayed in Sigourney. My team, Team Borderline was hosted by Ray that year and the two of us have stayed in touch since. It was good to see him again!!
Today's ride: 83 miles (134 km)
Total: 2,444 miles (3,933 km)
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