RAGBRAI Day 2 Update
I fell asleep last night several times to the pitter patter of rain, and each time the initial drops on my tent awoke me. The final awakening came aroumd 4:45am when the neighboring porto potty doors begain to slam shut, one after another. At 5:00am I got out of the tent and hopped in line for those large plastics sauna's, the line already 35 people deep.
We were on the road at a quarter to six, crammed into a small, 8-foot wide "protected" bike lane, while the other three lanes of traffice were "filled" with the earliest of the town's 4 thousand residents heading to work. After a few miles alligned like sardines, we broke free from our boundaries and took off down a farm road lined with leafy soy plants to the south and corn stalks to the north. Eventually we found a windfarm, the circulating windmills inferred a tailwind, but we found no ease added. What did help on the wind was the top-of-the-line Specialized race bike I demo-ed....man was it efficient!
Today's ride was an up tempo trip, with only a 2-minute stop for water and a second stop for frozen grapes, accompanied by some informative and courteous conversation with a local corn and soy farmer. During our 70 mile day we spent at least 40 minutes in pace-lines, pulling 24-28 mph. We arrived in our overnight town of Lake View and found our campsite directly under huge shade trees that border a huge lake.....that locals advised us to stay out of. I nearly cried at the news, as it's currently 109 degrees.
I'm now sitting lakeside, in front of an industrial fan that's covered by something like a circus tent. I keep trying to read Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck, but my eye lids quickly become too heavy to focus. We haven't yet met the state's mesquito population, but if there's a common ground, I'm sure I'm sitting in it.
Tomorrow is the century day, so my post may be shorter than usual.
Chris, from the road
I fell asleep last night several times to the pitter patter of rain, and each time the initial drops on my tent awoke me. The final awakening came aroumd 4:45am when the neighboring porto potty doors begain to slam shut, one after another. At 5:00am I got out of the tent and hopped in line for those large plastics sauna's, the line already 35 people deep.
We were on the road at a quarter to six, crammed into a small, 8-foot wide "protected" bike lane, while the other three lanes of traffice were "filled" with the earliest of the town's 4 thousand residents heading to work. After a few miles alligned like sardines, we broke free from our boundaries and took off down a farm road lined with leafy soy plants to the south and corn stalks to the north. Eventually we found a windfarm, the circulating windmills inferred a tailwind, but we found no ease added. What did help on the wind was the top-of-the-line Specialized race bike I demo-ed....man was it efficient!
Today's ride was an up tempo trip, with only a 2-minute stop for water and a second stop for frozen grapes, accompanied by some informative and courteous conversation with a local corn and soy farmer. During our 70 mile day we spent at least 40 minutes in pace-lines, pulling 24-28 mph. We arrived in our overnight town of Lake View and found our campsite directly under huge shade trees that border a huge lake.....that locals advised us to stay out of. I nearly cried at the news, as it's currently 109 degrees.
I'm now sitting lakeside, in front of an industrial fan that's covered by something like a circus tent. I keep trying to read Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck, but my eye lids quickly become too heavy to focus. We haven't yet met the state's mesquito population, but if there's a common ground, I'm sure I'm sitting in it.
Tomorrow is the century day, so my post may be shorter than usual.
Chris, from the road
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