On paper, today looked to be the easiest day of the ride. It has the fewest miles and the least amount of climbing. In addition there are 8 pass through towns, the furthest being only 13 miles apart. For Jen and I, 13 miles is just a little over an hour. At some point today, we will pass the halfway point of the ride in both miles and time.
Last night before bedtime we had a little philosophical discussion. Our friend Steve leaves early, rides straight through, and gets to the end town before noon. Sometimes a couple of hours before noon. He gets a hot shower, changes to regular clothes, and gets a lunch and a dinner in the end town. Jen is thinking that she might want to do that. My philosophy is the best food is in the pass through towns. The entertainment is there also. There is good shade, lots of water, and you don’t have to hurry. It is more enjoyable to spend the afternoon in pass through towns than at a shade less camp site, under a crowded canopy, where the drinks are limited, the food is far away, and after the afternoon in the humidity you will need another shower anyway.
We have been setting our alarm for 5am and getting on the road a little after 6. She wanted me to set the alarm for 4 am and get on the road a little after 5. To think, I thought after the hard day yesterday she might want to ride the baggage truck. I compromised, set the alarm for 4:30 and told her, I am not starting to ride while I need a light to see the road. We shoved off a few minutes before 6.
Yesterday as the sun broke over the horizon, there was a turn in the road that made riders visible in front of the rising sun. Many people stopped to take pictures, alas, once moving we find it very difficult to stop for a photo session. I took this photo off the Ragbrai Forum and there is a short video of the riders at daybreak at this link. http://ctitech.com/users/chris9//index.htm
Riders at Daybreak
Water was hard to come by at our camp last night. I kept drinking until after 10 pm when the place I was getting water closed. By morning I only had about 2” of water in one bottle and the other was empty. Since there was no place to fill up, we started with very little water. I filled up as soon as possible, but I am wondering if I got a little dehydrated. After breakfast at Farm Boys again, another terrific burrito, I began to feel nauseous. I started looking for a place to give the burrito back. I knew that was a sign of dehydration, but by then I had full water bottles and had drank a Gatorade. I just suffered.
It resembled our hike on the AT. Some days Jen was the hiker and had to encourage me, sometimes I was the hiker and had to encourage her. You just have good days and bad days. This was Jen’s good day, yesterday was her bad day. It was the other way around for me.
Around noon, I forced myself to eat a pork sandwich, although I was still feeling bad, and I began to feel better almost at once. I don’t know what it was, but we mowed down the miles and arrived at Altoona around 2. Flat miles are difficult in their own way. When you are going up and down, you work harder on the up hills, but you can rest on the down hills. Specifically you can stand up a little in the pedals and get your butt off the seat. By now, any pressure off the backside is a blessing.
Altoona is a suburb of Des Moines. We were on the edges of a large metropolitan area instead of a small Iowa town.
When we asked about dinner, one of Steve’s friends told us the best place to eat was the buffet at the grocery store. I could see us standing around deli counters trying to find enough to eat to get full, but he assured us it was a good deal. We went there, and he was right. It was the best meal I ever ate at a grocery store. For 8 bucks, seniors price, we got an all you can eat pass, for the pizza, Italian, salad bar, deli, fruit bar, etc. Plus it was a sit down table, and it was air conditioned. It was the first time we got back on our bikes to ride after we had showered. But it was a mile to the grocery store.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in a rec center. We took our camp chairs down there, set them up, and talked and read until 10 pm when they ran us out into the hot. When we arrived at our tent it was close to the concert venue. Grand Funk Railroad was playing and it made sleeping impossible. After GFR another group played for an hour. I tried the ear plugs, but when I put them in, the ringing in my ears was louder than the rock band. We just suffered until the concert ended. I surreptitiously reset the alarm for 5.
We are over halfway. 256 miles down, 198.6 to go. 4 days down, 3 to go.
Sign of the day, well actually, comment of the day.
Jen to me when I was feeling sick. “Hold it down as long as you can to give your blood pressure medicine time to digest.”
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