Tuesday, July 27th

My apologies for the two-day delay in updating this blog, as it is actually Thursday afternoon when I'm able to log on to post our adventures. Unfortunately, there are areas of the route through northern Iowa were phone service is sketchy at best. Add tens of thousands of extra folks trying to access the bandwidith and the result is chaos.

Our riders knew as they headed out that even though the day was only 60 miles, the weather conditions would be miserable. It was in the 90's, with stifling humidity. Fortunately, the terrain was flat and the ride was expected to be easy. Turned out that the weather was a greater adversary than the miles the day before. The group arrived in Clear Lake absolutely exhausted and glad to be there.

But they still managed to capture the moments for you! This photo gives a good sense of the endless miles of cyclists on the road. And, as someone pointed out, it looks like Santa is a fan of RAGBRAI, too! Others insisted this was a member of ZZTop, as Santa's jersey would represent the North Pole "Colder Than Hell 100." (A reference to the famous mid-summer rider in Witchita Falls, TX.) Either way, I give this fellow credit for attempting the feat.

Mark loved the contrast of the old barn and soybean fields and the wind turbines. We all agreed that it was an interesting juxtaposition. We were all surprised at how many large wind farms we've seen in northern Iowa - on both the bike and support routes. Denise learned that they've built the turbines ahead of the capture and delivery lines and that there is moratorium on building more until that issue is addressed. They sure dominate the landscape.

At one point near the town of Hutchins, the bike route and the support route were separated by a train track and a few yards of grass. I snapped this shot of the riders going by beside me as we all waited for our turn to pass through the 4-way stop sign that was the principal intersection of this tiny town.

Meanwhile, Bill realized that the support caravan was bogged down for some reason and captured the same convergence of routes from the opposite side of the tracks. It is a rare occurrence for the routes to come this close to each other.

In Wesley, one of the pass-through towns on the route, the community turned out lots of entertainment in the form of local impersonators. Here, young and old Elvis welcome Mark to town. We all loved the idea of a pre-teen Elvis.

Over at the jail, Barney and Otis tried to arrest Jerry, who quickly made bail.

Aunt Bee and Opie offered a friendlier welcome to the riders. Guess they couldn't find a true redhead to play the role Ron Howard made famous, so they just got a little spray paint...

Britt was the next pass-through town on the route. This community hosts the National Hobo Convention every year and they were excited to have 3 "real" hobos on hand to greet riders, tell stories, sing songs about hobo life, and pose for photos. Here's one of the hobos holding Dan's bike while he snaps the shot.In every pass-through town, this is always the #1 attraction. The logistics involved for this ride are always a marvel, including transporting these beauties from town to town. One thing I did learn this year is that the pass-through towns must close down their services and attractions by a specified time in order to urge the riders on down the road. Supposedly several years ago, there was a town that threw a great party and no one wanted to leave - riders were on the road until well after dark.One of the businesses along the route offered this display of taxidermied art. (Knowing my fondness for squirrels in this state, Bill proudly presented me with this show for the blog.) Guess this is a good overview of Iowa wildlife in its unnatural state.Many teams have their personalized koozies along, and this seems to be most popular trading item. We all loved this one...Speaking of dead wildlife (well, I was!), I also learned that it's become a RAGBRAI institution to mark roadkill with a warning sign "Roadkill ahead." This is not so that biders can avoid them, but so they can leave a decoration of Mardi Gras beads. According to our team, some of the creatures are so covered in offerings that you can no longer identify what they were. Would you call them Ex-Party Animals?

Finally, both bikers and support team arrived at Clear Lake, our next overnight stop. What a beautiful place it is! Our hostess, Ann, was riding for the day (many folks will pedal just one day of the route), so the next door neighbors on either side were there to welcome us. Everyone was hot and hungry, so Cheryl led us on a short walk to the nearby tiki bar (wish we had one of those at Club Lake...). She and Denise decided to check out the water while we waited on our burgers to arrive. Clear Lake is about 14 miles around the lake and only about 15-20 feet deep. Like Storm Lake, it was created by the glaciers. It's been a popular resort town for Iowans for generations. You have "North Shore" and "South Shore" folks who have grown up on the lake - like Club Lake's East and West beaches. We were staying on the South Shore, high on a bluff looking directly across to the main beach of Clear Lake.The main bike route was only about a mile from the restaurant, and those who knew about it, stopped by for a cold one and a splash in the lake before heading on. We enjoyed watching them stream in and noticed that one large group were dressed in an especially unique way. It was a crowd of cross-dressers. The men were in dresses (polka-dots being the preferred pattern) and the women were in men's clothing. We found these guys to be especially fetching.

Many of the roads around Clear Lake are small and several in our group had a hard time finding our host home. They ended up around the lake at the main beach. Tired and hot, they were discouraged when they learned they had to ride about 7 miles back to us. Cheryl solved the problem by getting their boat out and offering a taxi service. Of course, a bunch of us had to go along to identify our riders for them. How else would they find each other? It was a great day to be out on the lake and we all loved the ride.
Cathy didn't go along for the boat ride because Bill had just ridden up and wanted to eat lunch and have a beer. As it turned out, they experienced the best event of the day! Remember those strange-looking cross-dressers we'd all seen arrive earlier? Suddenly, someone came through the crowd and announced there was going to be a wedding and the groom was buying a round of beer for everyone there. Not about to miss a free brewski, Bill and Cathy decided to hang around for a little while. And they got a show. All the polka-dot clad couples formed a line and processed in - they were the friends of the bride and groom who'd all particpated in the RAGBRAI ride! The groom, attired in a black straw hat, sequinned jacket and short black skirt joined his betrothed, wearing a long black-and-white polka dot dress, a red straw hat and Jackie O sunglasses. The minister wore a long floral-print dress with feather trim. All sipped margaritas. Despite the crazy clothing, Cathy said the service was actually very sweet and they really were getting married.

Of course, Captain Bill quickly offered his congratulations to the happy couple. We learned from the newspaper the next day that the couple had met on a RAGBRAI ride the year before. The actual reception was to take place the following night in the next town on the ride.This lovely lakeside place was our home for the night. A series of decks made the distance down to the water easier to handle. The view across to Clear Lake was spectacular. Ann and Byron live in nearby Mason City (about 10 miles) and come and go much as folks do with Club Lake, mainly because of the winters.

Clear Lake does freeze over and therefore offers a variety of winter activities, too. Ice fishing, ice sailing and snowmobiling are popular sports. Cheryl told us that they take in the docks every winter because the lake freezes. Each house has a boat house on shore where they can store everything. Cheryl pointed out that their dock was in sections and built of lightweight material so it could be done easily and quickly. All the Texans were agog at this idea.

Ann and Byron offered a boat ride to the riders while the support crew cooked dinner. Because they'd been so nice to us, we invited the neighbors to join us, too.

City Beach at Clear Lake was a very popular spot. It was also the scene of fireworks and a concert in the evening. We didn't have to go anywhere but the deck to enjoy it all. Furthermore, a big cold front was on the way and the line of thunderstorms provided nature's fireworks. It passed overnight, bringing cooler weather in its wake.

Monday, July 26

Day 2 of the ride was a big one – about 80 miles, with an optional extra loop that brought the total up to 100 miles. Registered riders who do the loop will receive a special patch, so most ride the extra loop. And for others, it’s just the idea of riding 100 miles in a day. Joe Johnson, who was riding ahead of the main bunch, realized he missed the turn-off for the extra loop, so when he got to town, he turned around and rode 10 miles out and back so he could say he’d done it. That’s determination!

The route to Algona, IA, departed along Storm Lake, providing beautiful scenery for the first few miles.

Fortunately, the terrain was pretty flat, so it was an easy ride for everyone. That meant there was time to enjoy the surrounding vistas – lots and lots of corn and soybean fields. Although both bikers and support team have remarked on the amount of agriculture, we all agree there is a real beauty to these regimental-straight plowed fields interspersed with neat farms under tall trees. When we were looking over everyone’s photos of the day, this picture stood out as one that really captured the essence of scenic agriculture. Ed Ramos said, “You think they grow some corn in Iowa?”

The support crew had lots of chores to do before we could get off, including servicing the motorcoach and purchasing groceries and supplies. Storm Lake’s Wal-Mart was the place to be. The parking lot was full of team buses (more on those in a future blog) and even some teams who hadn’t departed yet. Inside at McDonald’s, we met members of Team Bat in line for breakfast. Their activity is to trade their personalized team koozies with other riders and locals along the way. Here are 3 members proudly showing their trophies. We also really liked their logo - the bat symbol inside a bicycle gear.

About 10 miles into the ride, the bikers usually stop for breakfast. Churches and service clubs in the first pass-through town will often host a breakfast fund-raiser. The “pancake guy” travels from place to place on the ride, cooking for the crowd. But you have to work for your food, catching the flying flapjacks as they sail high into the air. Look at the center top of the photo to see the pancake. The fellow in the blue shirt is supposed to catch it on his plate.

Our pedalers had a great time on the

road today. And they remembered to take photos of the sights for your pleasure, too. More than one took shots of the same attraction, so I’ve chosen the best photo. The pass-through towns offer food, restrooms and other diversions for the riders. Here’s a wonderful shot showing hundreds and hundreds of bikers taking a break in town.

This was a popular shot….

And one took a photo of this bike, while another got the shot of the rider on the road. As Gerry said, he’s got a tough ride – no gears for the climb and no brakes for the downhill.

The bicycle next to him is one of the recumbent bikes, which makes the size contrast even more interesting. We figure his head is about 6 to 7 feet off the ground!

As the day grew warmer, folks looked for activities to cool off. The Ice Cream man had a line. Gerry struck up a conversation with the couple behind him, only to discover that one of them was blind! Now that’s courage.

At the same time, others found different diversions. Bill called Cathy to say, “We’ve found a beer tent with a slip ‘n slide – we’ll be a while…” We have a movie of the spectacle for you to enjoy, too! Paul and Corbett provide the entertainment two at a time!

The highlight of the day for the riders was in the town of West Bend, where everyone was invited to tour the Grotto of the Redemption. This was the life work of Fr. Paul Dobberstein, a Catholic priest, who died in 1954. He gathered rocks and precious stones from around the world and began construction in 1912. For the next 42 years, Fr. Dobberstein created hundreds of intricate rock settings that form the Grotto’s walls and ceilings. The Grotto of the Redemption is the largest grotto in the world (defined as man-made cavern). It is comprised of nine separate grottos, each depicting a scene in the life of Jesus. All the riders said it was amazing. Some took the time to tour it and shared these photos:

Meanwhile, Richard was hard at work in Algona. In each overnight town, his team sets up a booth where they sell and service their brand of bicycles. (In fact, Mike and Rita – the other two members of the Specialized bicycle team, have now joined our merry group for dinner and sleeping space). Riders who are interested in purchasing a bike from Specialized (or any of the big bicycle companies, for that matter), can test-ride a bike for a day.

When the support caravan arrived in Algona, we quickly parked and dashed back up the road to a spot where we could watch the bikers whiz by. A cooler, four lawn chairs and a shady spot for Maggie and we had a blast. It was a wonderful way for Steve and Denise to get a sense of the scale of this event as we watched an unbroken stream of riders for over an hour. I remember well how that was so hard for me to grasp last year.

Folks waved, honked, dinged their bells and otherwise greeted us as we shouted encouragement and, “You’re only two miles from town – nearly there!"

Even Maggie barked encouragement until she succumbed to thirst.

Within the space of 15 minutes, everyone from Team OWBNID was at our intersection. Another spectator at the intersection snapped this team photo for us.

Our hosts, Janet and Ervin (“Erv”) have a lovely place on 10 acres just west of Algona. Janet returned after a day spent volunteering to help us in her spacious kitchen. Erv and his sons have a jewelry and gift store in town, so he joined us in the evening. Their lovely home had the prettiest garden – lush vegetables surrounded by flowers. Cathy and I were so envious of her green thumb! She was kind enough to share from her stand of rhubarb so Denise can make strawberry-rhubarb pies one night. Yum!

All of the riders were tired and sunburned, but we all agreed that Dustin won the prize for the best line of demarcation. Look at those legs - it's gotta hurt!

It was Corbett’s birthday, so we stuck candles in the chocolate-peanut butter-pecan pies, and he obliged us by blowing them out.

After dinner, the younger crown went to town to celebrate Corbett’s birthday further. Each night, there’s a live band in town and everyone enjoys the music.

All these little towns also have bars (Toto, we’re not in Texas with its local option laws), so when the music stage shuts down at midnight, there are still plenty of places to party. Our group made sure to try several.

Curtis and Richard (he finally got to shut down the bike operation for the day) showed everyone how they dance in Texas.

I don’t think they’ll have a particularly early start on Tuesday….

Sunday, July 25th

The bikers like to get an early start, so they rose about 5:30 and enjoyed cinnamon rolls and coffee before heading out on their 68 mile ride. A final goodbye to Linda and they were off. Cathy and Denise rushed down the hill to catch the photo of the team as they headed out about 6:30. Many other riders were also up early and on the road, too. The cool air caused ground fog to develop and all the members of Team OWBNID remarked that they loved the eerie sensation of riding into it. Captain Bill snapped this beautiful shot of the riders heading into the mysterious mists.

Before the support crew left Sioux City, I kept a promise to Carol Ferguson. This is her hometown and she gave me the address of the house she grew up in. It turned out that her childhood home was only about 3 miles from Linda’s house, so I made a quick dash over to get a few photos for Carol. As I arrived, Team DLO (De Last Ones) was departing so I was saved the agony of knocking on the door to say, “You don’t know me, but…” I met the current owner, who is a preservationist and member of the historical society. She and Carol had corresponded and she was delighted to let me take a couple of photos. Team DLO got into the spirit of things and presented me with one of their customized team koozies to present to Carol as well. It’s a prize I will carefully convey to it her.

Captain Bill was pleased to see Mr. Pork Chop had returned yet another year. He sets up in a cornfield on the route and grills bone-in pork chops – cut about 1” thick. The bone becomes a handle and you can ride and gnaw – the perfect on-the-go snack for carnivores. Also returning was the Ice Cream Man. This year a new twist for his operation was a station where you could have your photo taken riding a bike that cranked an ice cream freezer. Folks were lined up to help – I think the purveyor took a cue from Tom Sawyer.

The road was very hilly and beautiful – both for the bikers and for the support crew as we traveled our separate routes to Storm Lake – the next town on our itinerary. When we joined up, we all agreed that the site of dozens of windmills sprouting from the cornfields was an arresting sight. At first, I thought they weren’t spinning, but gradually realized that they were rotating at very slow speeds.

Each of our riders has a simple, one-person bike. But several came in talking about this family-size contraption. There are 6 passengers here – Dad, Mom, two daughters pedaling and two little tykes being towed in the bike trailer. The father told our group that he intended to ride the entire way. Talk about a family vacation!

Our directions to get to Storm Lake said to “Go to the lighthouse and take a left.” Lighthouse? Yep. We first spied it towering over the cornfields and as we got closer realized that it was the welcome sign to Spirit Lake. This is a lovely lake that was scoured from the earth by the glaciers in the last Ice Age. Now, it’s a popular summer vacation spot, as are several others in Northern Iowa – we’ll enjoy Clear Lake later in the week.

Our host couple, Dolly and Tony, lived in Alta, a town about 6 miles away from Spirit Lake (remember – it’s a challenge to put over 20,000 people up for the night). Their lovely home was built in about 1880, and we were delighted when we pulled up. Outside where large shade trees to provide us an inviting place to set up camp. Inside, the house had been completely redone, with a modern kitchen and beautiful details. This young pair welcomed us and a team from Minnesota to their home. Shortly after the support caravan pulled in the riders arrived.

Leftovers were served for lunch and everyone settled down in the shade for naps. Ahhh...

Dinner was served alfresco, too. It was too nice to stay inside. We treated Dolly and Tony to King Ranch Chicken, guacamole, queso, sautéed kale, salad and brownies.

Lovette, the 86-year old neighbor, sat on her front porch across the street and watched the commotion with delight until we invited her to come join us for dinner. She proved to be an entertaining guest. Another neighbor strolled by with a Newfoundland dog – this photo does not show the true scale of Maddie, which was comparable to a VW bug. Despite her imposing size, she was the sweetest dog. Everyone except Chief Canine Officer Maggie was delighted by her gentle presence.

As the stars and fireflies winked at us, the group gradually drifted off to settle in for the night – some inside where every inch of available space contained an air mattress or sleeping bag, and others outside to enjoy the cool evening. Another perfect day was at an end.