Ragbrai- Day 3
Greenfield to Ankeny, Iowa
Click on the towns shown below in blue for links to the towns.
Towns Visited- Arbor Hill, Stuart, Redfield, Adel, Dallas Center, Granger, and Polk City
83.1 Miles
2533 vertical feet
used by permission from Rich Ketcham and GeoBike
Tuesday- Conditions- Temperature- in the low to mid '80's. Rainy to Sunny. HEADWINDS.
We apologize that we didn't get yesterday's page up in a timely manner. We fell asleep at the computer at midnight. Shortly after that, the storms hit. Camping is so much fun! I just listened to the sound of the rain on the tent and felt the gentle rocking of the air mattress...ROCKING? OOOH NO. The tent had one inch of water. A great night's sleep. Soon After-
We started this day with some fear that cycling would never be the same. After all, during my thoughts from the saddle today, I thought about the things that cyclists don't want to encounter and which of them are the worst. For instance, hot cauldrons of oil, rain, hills, heat, lightning, headwinds, thunder, bagpipes. Of those, we can live with rain, the oil is unlikely, the lightning is quick and it doesn't matter, bagpipes are probably bearable, hills are ok. In my opinion, this leaves headwinds. It just doesn't let up!
In Stuart, I was able to revisit some old Ragbrai memories with some true regulars, Team Bad Boy. Notice that these folks have some new additions to the many many things that they have on their bikes. You'll see the bar, the generator on the front with the huge stereo on back of another, a BBQ pit, and an Olympic size cooler, to name a few. Aaron caught up with the guy pulling the canoe behind his bike. More about that later. And in the interesting cyclist department, we certainly cannot leave out the guy that rides the tandem with his inflatable friend. Now there must be some advantages to that, but I’m not going there.
I visited with Paul Bernhard, the Pork Chop man who as always was serving huge pork chops for breakfast. In Adel, they had quite a party happening. They have an awesome courthouse. I also sneaked up to the top and took a pic of the square. The terrain finally left the steeper hills of the previous day and flattened out. Here's the one lane suspension bridge exiting Adel. In Dallas Center, they had internet access for us to check our email in an 18 wheeler with computer lab inside. As a band director, I love to see what the band folks are doing for us. I really enjoyed the uniquity of the drum line combined with the choir in Dallas Center. A sound clip may follow in awhile. Kids will do anything to make money. Here's a sign from kids raising money to get out of slavery in Dallas Center. Hmmmmmm.
Team Bud is the party center of the Ragbrai (at least that's what we've been told). They are at all of the "last stop" towns with their bus, a large supply of beads. (we've noticed that riders do not ride as well when wearing beads), and a huge sound system and professional lighting. Here they are in Granger. Also in Granger, they had a Luau and gave everybody a lei. The view was marvelous on the home stretch today as we crossed Saylorville Lake.Our overnight town is the town of Ankeny, Iowa where the theme is Christmas in July. As we entered town, there was a blizzard aimed right at us! Meanwhile, in town, they brought in large amounts of snow.
We Haugs are very unaccustomed to the hospitality that is here for us tonight. We are staying at the home of Haug relatives June and Craig Schmidt. And as an added bonus, Tara has set up our tents! Tara gets the-HERO OF THE DAY AWARD! We have showers without lines and with hot water and AIR CONDITIONING. We're also updating these pages without having to do this on air mattresses. Hats off to June and Craig! You're awesome!
Links for Tuesday-
The Iowa Aviation Museum (There's Gotta Be a Better Way Across the State)