July 24, 2023
Trail Blazing on RAGBRAI?!?!
A storm passed by early this morning with lightning and thunder. Probably rained just west of us. I know because I did not sleep at all last night. Don’t know why. it is what it is, but made the ride today a bit hard especially toward the end of the day.
Where we were at 6am when we left today it was pretty clear. 56-57 degrees Fahrenheit. A bit cool but I was tired so it seemed I needed to put out a little extra effort, and this kept me warm.
It wasn’t long into the day when the Cycling Marvel Charles Miller flew by on the back of a CoMotion tandem with Mr. Richard up front as captain. We rode together for about half the route enjoying great conversation and telling lies. Charles and I rode the Natchez Trace, Nashville to Natchez, several year ago. Until this tour that ride was the hardest I have ever done. We rode a tandem recumbent trike weighing in at 90 pounds with only 8 speeds. Additionally we carried panniers on the rear and pulled a trailer. All in it weighed over 550 pounds including us. (I think I already told this story.).
I parted ways with those two in Lake View so I could visit with a friend of mine, Paula K. Stupid oaf that I am I did not realize what time it was and rang her door bell at 830 am waking her. I had already ridden over 30 miles and didn’t consider the fact that I left before sunrise. Anyway I apologized and went in search of food. After a beef sandwich and a loaded potato for my second breakfast it was off to my favorite store (DG) for snacks and drinks as I planned to cruise to todays overnight destination on a rail trail where there were no services available.
I met Paula many years ago while trying to locate the address of a wounded vet I met at the Face of America ride. He was on a rented trike and the rental shop wanted an ungodly amount for it. My intention was to raise money and buy him a new trike. Anyway I could not locate Bob Briggs myself so I searched for folks who may help with Iowa vets and found Paula. She tracked down Bob, and myself and two others bought him a new trike which I adapted to him for his disabilities. Strange thing was Paula knew Bobs wife and had travelled with her several times to various vet related functions but did not know her last name or that Bob was her husband. So Paula and I have kept in touch since and have seen each other at least twice during RAGBRAI. Keep Paula in your thoughts as she is going through tough times health wise.
From there I hit a bike trail that follows the Middle Raccoon River and which took me all the way to the overnight town of Carroll Iowa. On the way I again stopped in to visit the guys on Team Borderline who were camped at the local Walmart.
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Sorry. No way any pics will load out here in RAGBRAI land.
Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 2,138 miles (3,441 km)
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