Day 7- Saturday, July 26, 1997 - Fairfield to Fort Madison- 57miles and 1,082 ft. of climbing.

Conditions- Clear- headwind alternating with crosswind- VERY HOT- Flat to gentle rollers- Milage Index- 57 Miles

This is departure day, our last day of riding and I think we all have some mixed emotions. We're going to miss our Ragbrai friends and our adventures, our nightly parties and nonstop fun. We're not going to miss standing in long lines for a sink to put contacts in, or to take a shower. We won't miss being wringing wet with sweat all night in the tent. Finally, and most important, we get to see our families again.. I'm anxious!

On our departure from Fairfield, we saw a huge bike which saluted us. This is one point in the ride which goes up and back for about 15 miles of the same route, so we got to re ride yesterday's route. Yesterday at the end, it was a tailwind. Today, the opposite was true. I was able to find a nice outhouse on the way out. Not to be outdone, about a half mile on, there was another creative resting place.

Our first passthrough town was our last town yesterday of Stockport. In this picture of Stockport is Scott Frey and Skip Blackford of the Air Force team.

Sometimes on the last day of the ride, everyone is in a hurry and many of those last day towns go ignored. This year, it was impossible to ignore some last day happenings. In Houghton (pronounced Huff-ton), I think one of those would definately have to be the Hymes family singers. Stephanie is the star of the show and is an ace string player. She also definately has the gift of working the crowd. Click here to hear a sound clip of the Hymes'. Four year old brother got in the act with "Little Brown Jug." Here's a sign on the flats. Look at the sign welcoming us to St. Paul.

Another fine pass through town was West Point. It looks like people had pretty much had it with their bikes! Look at this pile on the West Point main street. Here's Norm's shot. Later in the town, Norm spotted some dinosaurs of the two legged and two wheel varieties.

On the road, I revisited with an old friend that you have met in previous years of "Dave's Ragbrai Page". Remember "gears are for wimps?" Just as we first saw the Mississippi River through the trees, I passes John Gelles, from San Diego. John must be at least 80, and he rode the entire ride on his 1938 Westfield. This one speed bike had the old balloon tires and must have weighed a ton! John told me that everyone else on the ride has and uses gears. He wanted to do something a little challenging.

Finally, we reached the river and joined in the Ragbrai tradition of dipping our wheels. Here's me happily dipping mine. Here's a shot of the chaos around the dipping area. Shortly after, Norm was happily dipping as well.

What a treat it was to see the Hawgbus coming down the road. Talk about Welcome!! The Fort Madison people painted the curb yellow so that we could see the place to put the bus! Now wasn't that nice.

Friday, July 18th-- I noticed that Fort Madison is ALREADY preparing for our arrival. Streets were being resurfaced and every light post seems to have a real bike connected to it! The tire dipping arch is already in place.

The waterfront is well kept with parks and museums at the river.

For those who are ready to gamble with what little money you have left, there's a floating casino. Perhaps you'll win airfare home! If you do win, just remember-- some of that money was mine!

The river and it's commerce fascinates me. Notice the bridge at Fort Madison. It appears to be a double decker with cars on top and train on bottom. It rotates to let the boats through.

Here's a shot of the town from the river.

One thing that may be a hassle at Ft. Madison is the tremendous volume of train traffic. I had to wait for two trains to pass before I could leave the waterfront. Here's the old railroad station.

Oh yes, of course there's a Fort Madison!

Some conclusions-WHY DO WE DO THIS? This is the most frequently asked question of mine from friends- I can answer it real easily. First, it's not about cornfields and Iowa hills (which are significant). It's about people in these little towns who take the day off of work to give us water, talk to us, let us into their houses, or even just sit on the porch and wave. Next, it's about our own Ragbrai family that lives together and rides together for a week. When we start, it's like we had never stopped the year before.

It's been a blast- I can't quit talking about it as we prepare for this year's marching show with the Conroe High School Band.   I'll bet you can't either. They just nod their heads and think we're nuts.... Maybe we are- seeya next year!!!!

Dave Plummer