Sunday, August 1, 2010

RAGBRAI - Tuesday




Having fallen asleep at 8pm (with Ambien, a Bucky, and earplugs), I'm up on my own at 4am. Dad was moving quickly too so at 5:30 am we were on the road. It's early, but there is still plenty of light and there is a long line of blinking lights ahead of us.

We stop for pancakes at a Firehouse. Our campmate, Floyd is there with us. Floyd is 79 years old and this is his 25th RAGBRAI. He really moves too. I hope I'll be able to ride like that when I am 79 years old.

The route to Clear Lake is circuitous. Heading east we are keeping a steady 18 mph pace. Heading south we face a fierce headwind so we switch off drafting every mile (keeping up a 15 mph pace). Heading north we have the wind behind us we clip along at 22 mph, hampered only by the cracked pavement below us. The last 10 miles are rough, rattling pavement with big "snakes" running vertically beside you. My aluminum bike does nothing to absorb this force and before long the buttons have rattled right off my heart rate monitor.

We get into camp at 10:40 am (65 miles?). The heat is already stifling so after showering I ride into town and duck into a library to work on my blog for an hour. An hour later I am starving, queasy (can you be starving and queasy at the same time?) and dizzy. I ask where is the closest place for food and they tell me the church next door. My stomach is in knots, but I am determined to eat so I sit in the church basement (which is probably 80 degrees) for 4 hours picking at food. I talk to lots of people while I nibble. They all love my corn story and we all got a good laugh about the roadkill on the route today that had an I heart Iowa sticker on it. I decide to try beer again tomorrow to relax my stomach.

I sit in the church reading room for 2 more hours sipping on lemonade. Forecast calls for a storm tomorrow. Maybe it will cool things off.

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