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Algona to Clear Lake- The shortest day with 62 miles and also the flattest day with only 857 vertical feet of total cumulative climbing! Now, if we can get a good tailwind, a sail and some CD's--
Towns Visited-
Titanka, Woden, Crystal Lake, Hayfield, Miller, and Ventura
our thanks to Rich Ketcham from GeoBike for doing this great work and research and allowing us to put it here.
Tuesday!
Nightlife in Algona was pretty
good. There was lots of action in the downtown area. A great band,
the Rumbles, performed oldies but goodies, for those of us who
were brought up on the real rock and roll.
Later there was a laser light show that was from all reports
quite spectacular.
Leaving Algona was a bit exciting. Bruce almost "bought the
farm" as we were crossing a local intersection, with
streetlights and police. A truck driver took it upon himself to
just come through the intersection, having been waved through by
the police because he had his right turn blinker on. He decided
to just drive straight through the intersection...Luckily I
yelled and the police reacted quickly and made the truck and the
driver get off the road. We were only expecting a short 4-mile
ride to the first stop, but the map was mislabeled and thus we
added about 10 miles to our route today. Mentally we were
prepared to only ride 61 miles. Bummer. Weather was cloudy and
cool and very nice riding early. We have experienced a lot of
wind on this trip. Could someone please turn it off?
One of the fun things about RAGBRAI is talking to the people
along the way. I am taking my own unscientific survey about how
people from out state found out about RAGBRAI. Do they have an
Iowa connection or are they just foolish bikers or biker fools?
So far the percentages run about 80% with an Iowa Connection and
20% without. Two stories I would like to share. We met a couple
who is riding their first RAGBRAI. They are from Cincinnati. She
recently turned 50. For her birthday her husband offered her a
trip to Hawaii. She said no; she wanted to ride RAGBRAI. I hope
it meets all of her expectations. Best wishes to them both.
Another rider, Tom, from St. Louis reports that he is here
because of the ride. He said we have to live life LARGE. I forgot
to ask if he was married.
On the way to Titonka we spotted another long line for food. Many
RAGBRAIers stood in this line waiting for the pancakes offered by
the Pancake man. We passed this opportunity and had our pancakes at Chris Cakes, which was located just outside of Titonka.
On the road we met
Team Covenant. They are riding two days
of the ride. Four former patients and seven employees of Covenant
Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa comprise this team. Four members of
the team are riding hand driven cycles. We would to send a
personal message from MaryAnn Bloomer to her son Mike in St.
Louis. "Hi and good luck on the chemistry test!"
We discovered that
Woden is celebrating its centennial next week-end. Ruie is thinking of coming back on Sunday.
At Crystal Lake we
stopped for lemonade. The proceeds from
these sales will go toward saving the lake. We contributed a
small portion of the $1 million needed for the project.
The clouds disappeared, the heat rose and the wind blew. We
pushed on and did not stop at Hayfield.
In Miller we stopped and talked to the Corn Woman, Heidi Scott and her
daughter Bailey. She follows RAGBRAI
every year selling her wares and in the "off season"
she and her family farms, gives massages and does dance
performance, (the visual and healing arts.)
We stopped at the farm of Gary and Henry Rayhons. They were
giving out free bananas from the Hancock County Farm Bureau.
There were young farm animals to pet. Ruie petted one of the baby pigs "future
HAWG" while Gary and John Karras, the official host for the
Des Moines Register, look on.
Ventura, the last stop before Clear Lake, was just beginning to
heat up. Ventura is
located on the edge of the lake A beautiful beginning to our ride
into Clear Lake. After Ventura we
continued on a beautiful ride around the lake. We stopped once to look at the
waves and the flags blowing in the wind.
We continued on the scenic ride, well marked and well planned. We
stopped of course to get a shot of the Surf Ballroom,
famous because this is where Buddy Holly gave his last concert.
We rode a long ways through Clear Lake, but as we reached the
information booth, the campsites were quite close by. However,
most of the activities are down town and we will have to rely on
the shuttle to get us to and fro.
