There is a group with us which is celebrating Iowa's 150th anniversary by cycling across the United States. They have linked with us for the week. Two of them told me that yesterday's headwinds made the worst and most difficult cycling day they had had on their entire journey.
After a breakfast of ham sandwiches, we found these hay bales greeting us. Here's how we refill our water supply in some of the towns.
After the last two days, the 60 miles ticked off quickly. We arrived in Coralville and had a pleasant surprise on the way in. HOT SHOWERS! A family offered their home and bathrooms to cyclists to shower and clean up. After not having a shower with heated water for a week, I had forgotton what a treat such a routine can be!
I thought you might like to see some typical accomodations on the Ragbrai. Understand that when a town increases in population by 15,000 or so, it gets a little tight. Arrangements must be made for feeding, transportation, bathing, and facilities for all of these people. Our leader of the Superior Hawgs, Larry, does a great job! Larry finds a shaded area while the others are on athletic fields in schools. A few of the travelers are able to stay in private homes, but the rest of us fend for ourselves. The less fortunate groups were in the very hot sun. Here's team Me Off. They have individual names such as TAKE (me off), KICK (me off), LET (me off) etc. Then there's team Road Kill. Someone told me that their motto is "You Kill 'em, we grill 'em."
There are many activities in camp. The best band of the Ragbrai in my opinion was a jazz band called "Moe Band." Each evening, there were dances and food and booths in both the camping areas and in the streets of town. Here's another band in the camp. Later in the evening, we were visited by some hot air balloons.
Tomorrow we have our shortest journey- 47 miles to the Mississippi River to dip our tires and complete our 500 mile journey from the Missouri on the other border of the great state of Iowa. I am more anxious than words can express to see my family again when they will pick me up at the finish. I will be able to update pictures when we arrive back in Houston hopefully on Sunday evening.
