Day 5- Thursday, July 24, 1997 - Chariton to Bloomfield- 72 miles or with the century loop, 100 mi. and 1,541 ft. of climbing (some of which we will climb twice).
You'll notice above a new feature on the page. This is the MI or milage index. Well why not? When there is high humidity and bright sun, we have a heat index. So your roving Ragbrai Reporters contemplated and scientifically calculated wind, heat, and time and found an MI of 110. This allowed us not to have to take the optional century today!
Our departure from Chariton was delayed a bit since everything was drenched following a whopping 4 inch rain last night. Some tents were filled with water, nobody was spared. We were riding at 7 AM and proceded through the beginning of our first experience with the Amish Communities. It was an experience that gave me very much respect for these dedicated, hard working folks who believe strongly in their principles. They are largely farmers but some have entered into commercial businesses. Their commercial ventures range from roadside baked goods stands, retail stores, Amish specialty shops, buggy and harness factories, and greenhouses to sawmills. Farming is done with horses for the most part with some modern farm machinery modified and adapted to equine power. Local travel is by horse and buggy while longer trips are accomplished by hired motor vehicle or commercial transit. Indeed, there were not many differences between the folks there now than 100 years ago. They used no electricity and had no conveniences.
We stopped at some Amish roadside stands set up just for us and chatted with the folks a bit. They were intelligent, witty, and committed. Here is me (Dave) in an Amish buggy. I asked him what to to if the horse took off. He claimed, "It doesn't matter, I have your bike!" Here is a picture from far away (they do not wish to be closely photographed) of some Amish children at a roadside stand.
I again got separated from your other Ragbrai hosts for awhile and Norm took some shots. Here's the sign just out of Bethlehem. Norm likes to photograph old barns and here's a real tired old barn with some rather interesting foliage in front.
We then traveled on some stretches of the old Mormon trail which took settlers to Salt Lake City. It is still a very heavy Mormon area with towns such as Moravia, Confidence, and Iconium. It seems that one resident of Iconium is not a strong supporter of our President!
Well finally, I got to play in a band on this year's Ragbrai. This was the High School pep band of Moulton High, where half the kids in the school are in the band!
It is a somewhat unofficial Ragbrai tradition that in the last pass through community (the one before the overnight town), a large party develops. This was definately "brewing" in Drakesville. The town had some varied modes of transportation on this day! (A Norm Running photo)
You've heard the old expression, "The moment you've been waiting for-- the end!", and this frequently happens when we get to our final destination just because we are done, but we were not ready for the reception that we received a few hours ago in Bloomfield! They have a Wizard of Oz theme. Instead of getting street directions to campsites, be were just told to "Follow the Yellow Brick Road!" They also had live scenes from the Wizard of Oz. After all, how else would you get to the Emerald City?The courthouse was framed with the famous rainbow.
Our upload host for the night is the Howd family, Especially Walt and Aimee. They guys are awesome!- Dave
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