HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!!
RAGBRAI 2010 has come and gone and we have definitely had an adventure. On Tuesday Justin and I traveled to Manchester. Justin was going to help people clean up from the Lake Delhi dam break. No one needed help any more so, instead of helping clean up, we toured the area...It was amazing. What once was a lake, was more of a narrow river. Boat docks were twisted and discarded everywhere. Boats were on dry land and all the cabins/houses were gutted down to the studs.
On Wednesday we helped around Deb and Randy's house. Justin and Randy tilled the flower beds and picked up rocks and I went with Deb to shop for plants. We went to several different towns and I learned about different varieties of perennials. When we got back, we planted the new plants in the flowerbeds. Following that, we packed up and headed to Charles City, IA.
We camped in the yard of a very friendly couple who fed us burgers, brats, and a variety of different salads. It was Fletcher's 3oth birthday so we had delicious chocolate cake to go with it. About 10 we went to sleep in our tents and woke at about 3 am to sounds of CRAZY partying next door. I thought it was time to start breaking down camp, but was happy when I found out it was only 3 and I had 3 more hours to sleep.
At about 6 we woke up, broke down our camp, ate breakfast, and hit the road at 7:45. The day's mileage was about 75ish miles to Cedar Falls. We rode past so many farms with tents....all you can eat pancakes, bloody mary bars..etc Yes, we stopped. We continued on and continued to stop along the way. Team Wild Turkey made it to Dike, IA to continue our good times. It is hard to explain what this experience is to someone who has never ridden but, let's just say....thousands of cyclists of all different experience levels. Some families, some older people, some crazies, some huber serious about making time and training. All in SPANDEX!
The next day, it was thundering and lightning so this girl said...smell you later boys. They took off and Randy picked me up along with Krit and we set out to just before Rowley, IA. Krit and I rode 6 miles in the cold rainy weather to make it to Rowley and waited on our boys.....about three hours later, they came to our tent. They had some drama. Justin had two flat tires, and they saw a boy wreck right in front of them. Justin had to stabilize his head as they waited for the EMTs.
So, after that stop I decided that I was going to ride the remaining 15 miles to Manchester because after all, that is what we were there for...right?!? So, I hopped on my bike and squish, squish, squish...guess who had a flat tire? That would be me. So Justin had to fix his third flat of the day. After that was controlled we rode the hills all the way to Manchester...I almost complained one time. BUT held it in.
It was FUN FUN FUN...and the party continued at Deb and Randy's with some Eucher and Flippy Cup!
GO RAGBRAI
SILLY PICTURE!
After the rain and the sun came out!
Krit and me on our three hour wait.
