Saturday, July 31st, 1999

Manchester to Bellevue- 76 miles with 2738 vertical cumulative climbing feet. This is to the foot the same amount of climbing as the last day on last year's ride! The only difference is that we have 9 extra miles to do it!

Towns visited- (probably somewhat briefly)

Delaware, Earlville, Dyersville, Worthington, Cascade, Bernard, Zwingle, and LaMotte

our thanks to Rich Ketcham from GeoBike for doing this great work and research and allowing us to put it here.

Day 7 Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa.

Manchester was the end of a very long arduous day and many of the riders, we included opted for rest and early bed. The heat also kept many of us from participating in any of the nighttime activities. Joe and Bev Vaske graciously opened their home to us for use of their Internet Connection. Jenne Voelker, their daughter was invaluable with her assistance. There was a welcome rainstorm late Friday night, which brought relief from the heat. We packed up everything wet and got on the road a little after six. This picture of the breakfast stop at Earlville is unspectacular, but please notice the welcome cloudy skies and the temperature was only 71.

We stopped to see St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville. This is the only Basilica in the state of Iowa.
When we turned south out of Dyersville, the pavement was wet. We assume that the earlier riders got wet. Reluctantly, we did not stop at the Field of Dreams, which was not on the route. The last day is a day of riding hard and stopping only if necessary, sort of like the horse going back to the barn.

Bruce discovered a slow leak in his rear tire. We stopped at the next bike repair stand to get it fixed. Norm and Ruie left Bruce on his own, while he waited to get a new tube. Norm and Ruie stopped for a quick bit of sustenance in Bernard; Bruce never showed but he had the camera so the rest of the trip is completely from Bruce's perspective.

We had to have a picture of Zwingle because there is a book entitled From Ackley to Zwingle, which tells about all of the place names in Iowa.

We have to show one of Bruce's favorite beverage stands, the Smoothie stand. A Smoothie is wonderful cold beverage made with pineapple juice, bananas, fresh strawberries and ice.

Today was the best ride for everyone. The temperatures were reasonable, the sun was under the clouds, and there was a slight tail wind. We had our share of hills to climb but they were manageable and there were two spectacular downhill runs. Bruce hit 47 mph, and Ruie hit 40.4 her all time high.

Here is Bruce dipping his tires in the Mississippi. Since Norm and Ruie weren't there Bruce took a picture of the Goldbergs from Salt Lake City. While most of the riders were dipping their tires, a large barge was waiting to go North through the locks.

Here is a picture of your hosts, Norm, Ruie, Bruce showered and ready for the bus ride home.

This was the hottest RAGBRAI bar none. Everyone we talked to agrees. People who have ridden many RAGBRAIs in the past all agreed with this. The heat from the pavement baked bodies and sucked energy out of us all. There was one spot in the asphalt where it was so hot, there were tire marks in the tar. Being wet and sticky was the order of the week. Changing clothes became difficult because your body never ever dried off. Air-conditioned businesses and schools were filled with people just sitting or sleeping on the floors to get out of the heat. But today made it all worth it, and like we said in the beginning: Is this heaven? No it's Iowa.