RAGBRAI

Finally got all of my RAGBRAI photos sorted through and uploaded. Close to 400 photos. Most of them haven't been reduced to make them web friendly. You've been warned.

I had planned on a long write up, but so much time has passed that I've forgotten a lot of the names and things I was going to write about. So, here's the Cliff's Notes version.

10 days, 650 miles, Self contained. Good workout but hard on the legs and body Riding out with baggers was great. Riding with 10,000 people on the road, not so much fun. Beer gardens are good. Bloody marys and vodka lemonades are better. Best beer garden was in Albion (2 for $5 Fat Tire on RAGBRAI? Too bad I still had to ride to Tama). Great campground in Panora (free camping on Thursday nights). GREAT hostpitality in Marne (everyone at the bar and the surrounding houses was great. Too bad these people got screwed on RAGBRAI a while back). Great hosts in Harlan (fresh deer sausage and crackers) and North Liberty (great family that welcomed three strangers on short notice). Campground under a large tree in Tama was great. Food was great as always. Mexican breakfast in Panora. Burgers in Marne. Chicken and noodle supper in Tama. Pie, ice cream and more pie and ice cream. Kolaches as we started getting closer to the Amanas and beyond. Crawfish boil north of Toledo. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches at the Peanut Butter Jam bus. Excellent real meal at a restaurant in LeClaire. As always, Little Farm fair trade coffee and the "muffin girls" to start the day off right. A HUGE thank you to Steve the massage therapist for getting my hamstrings feeling better and stretching out my achilles for me in Tipton.

Will I do it again next year? Maybe. The ride out and meeting the rest of the people riding out was a great time. I might off route it a bit more next year. Maybe hang with John from CR if I can hook up with him again. Stay in the next day's pass through town instead of the overnight towns. Maybe things will change and we'll take that first gravel road on the left going out of the overnight town and gravel grind our way across the state instead.