Storm Lake to Denison
July 23rd- 66.8 miles and 2268 vertical feet of climbing
Conditions- Morning Rain, Rain, and more Rain followed by sunshine and real hot. Hills were long and steep with more up than down. Temps ranged from cool in the AM to upper 80's in the PM. Tailwinds in the AM and crosswinds in the PM
DRP Milage index*= 93
*(a new feature of Dave's Ragbrai Page, the DRP index calculates the hills, the winds, the parcipitation, and the heat and gives the milage that it seemed like)
Towns Visited-
Storm Lake (overnight town)
Schaller, Galva, Ida Grove, Arthur, Kiron, Deloit
Denison (overnight town)
Denison is the home of Donna Reed, the TV star of the '50's and a large scholarship competition held every June in Fine Arts.
We woke up with the sound of more thunder and the soothing roar of big fat rain pelting our tents. Many of us did not get the tents put away on time.2 A major Hawg meeting1 took place with many of the Hawgs under the patio1 who discussed the virtues of riding in the Hawg bus rather than doing the ride through these miserable conditions. For some odd reason, we thought the rain might stop. It did, and then started again for quite a while, just enough to drench socks, shoes, seats, and spirits. But there was no turning back.
Just a few miles into the ride many of us heard the intermittent sound of air rapidly escaping from our tires. At least 20 of us suffered from a bottle thrown on the pavement during the night. Norm and members of team Rawhide, blocked traffic and swept up glass while Dave changed his tire. When the rain stopped, it was the first time in the ride that the cyclists initiated much conversation besides utterances of single syllables. People cheered up.
In Schaller, the rain started pelting us again. With those helmets we wear, there's always the question "Is that rain, hail, or someone pounding us we a jack hammer?" We sought shelter2 in a real estate agent's porch.
The rain ceaceth and it sufficeth us!- in Galva.2 Maybe it was snow2 after all! Also in Galva was this machine2. I wonder if he had windsheild wipers?
We're not sure if we were between storms, or if it was merely the eye of the first storm. We didn't have a newspaper and couldn't tell if the storm had a name or not. Generally, one should refrain from cycling in a named storm- we know that in Houston. But it did clear up nicely1 around Ida Grove1. And a fire engine from Deloit 2had loudspeakers on it enticing us to go to one of their friendly bars! I hope the paramedics weren't there!
At the community center in Arthur, we ate lunch in a room with a concrete floor and carpeted walls with rest rooms posted as handicapped only! We were entertained by two young pianists.
Today, we are going to focus on the activities in town at an overnight stop. Our overnight town is Denison2. Denison is the home of the late Donna Reed. There is now a wonderful foundation that has a festival every June where fine art students from around the world compete to enter workshops in Denison with some of the most talented in the field. On the last day of the workshops, they compete for generous scholarships. There is a museum in town2 dedicated to this famous actress.
Perhaps Denison wants to be DRP's outstanding overnight town of the year. To whit- On the way into town at the outskirts of town, the forsighted planners put the information center right there, before the steep hills to the sky. Way to go, guys!
The first thing we did when we arrived in Denison was went for a swim in their new pool and waterpark. Wow! we acted like kids, racing down the body slides. It was a great time! And downtown, there was a major square dancing event with quite a twist, "combining" work with pleasure! The Farmall Prominade1 was performing to music and a caller on their tractors. Note the noses of the next couple on the extreme left1. What precision. Hope the pictures aren't "grainy"! (sorry 'bout that). Sometimes in town, if you wish to eat in air conditioning, one finds very long lines in restaurants ill equipped to handle such masses. Great victories are scored when one finds a place to eat that is quick, good, and cool. One never shares that information with other lest mass hysteria erupt! But we're telling you now- the quick and cool restaurant of the ride was- believe it or not- the Hi Vee Grocery store!2 A bit later, while discovering the town, there was a food concession that threw a bit too much something in the fire. This took place seconds after this photo was taken. The blast singed eyebrows and caused quite a scare.
With all of these great happenings, the Denison planners made a very major faux paux. (no, that's not a long hole on a Georgia golf course). They sent the sheriff into the countryside and closed down all of the roadside stands in the county and made them go into town to buy $300 permits. This is why we noticed nothing in the in the entire county when we needed it most. The only folks that did pay the fee and open up were the 1912 Root Beer stand and Tom's Tender Turkey. The lady that made cookies that she was planning on selling the riders for .25 cents each was put out of business. I wonder how many water vendors we could have used during these sweltering times!
Normally we give you many pics and clips of the day. Today, you will get some features of the evening entertainment and activities in Denison.
Remember the bagpipe player from yesterday? He's on tour! He performed for us again and you can see and hear "The Wearing of the Green" And we were also treated to a performance from a Irish/Early American band called The Barn Owls. We also ran into an old friend. Gary McCurdy is well known as the Iowa Tubadour.
Back on the square, there were some trick cyclists. A water fight was held for the youngsters. On our way back to our campsite, we spotted some vandals climbing up on the roof of one of the team buses and launching water balloons at the crowd a block away. The local police have been looking for them with virtually no clues. With Dave's Virtual Ragbrai Page, we offer a clue to the Denison police so they can solve this case as soon as they have run off tomorrow's concessionaires.
credits- 1. Norm Running 2. Aaron Eilers
Email me at plummer_dave@prodigy.net
Links to towns
Ida Grove, Iowa Chamber of Commerce
The Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts
The Denison Community Home Page
