Great Bicycle Ride Part 8, Day 7

Coralville, Iowa to Davenport, Iowa and the Mississippi River; 65.6 Miles; 2,363 feet of uphill.

This is going to be a different day. The charter bus that takes us back to Glenwood and our Tahoe is scheduled to leave Davenport at 1:30. Over the last 6 days, we have not finished the ride before 2:00 and this is not a short day. It is actually the third longest day of the week. I looked at my watch yesterday at 1:30 and we still had over 20 miles to go.

When we signed up for the charter we had an option. Instead of taking the Charter bus back to our truck in Glenwood, we could drive to Davenport, take the Charter bus before Ragbrai week, then end the ride back at our truck. If we had done so, there would be no pressure today to hurry. It didn’t make sense though, because we would have crossed Iowa 4 times instead of just twice.

Jen wanted me to set the alarm for 3am so we could get an early start. I set it for 4. We were on our bikes and on the road about 5:30. The temptations to stop were fewer. Farm Boys, Beekmans, Mr. Pork Chop, and some of the other regular food vendors did not set up on Saturday. Pretty early in the day, we were riding together and Jen said. “You better let me go first, I can’t keep this pace up. You are riding too fast.” So I dropped back and let her go first. Zoom! She took off. She increased the speed I was going by almost 2mph and I had to really work to keep up with her. My salvation is the downhills where I am much faster. Thus, without as many stops, and pedaling harder than we had all week, we made it to Davenport by 12:30.

As we cruised into Davenport and coasted down to the Mississippi River the citizens of Davenport lined the street and cheered our finish. We made it across Iowa. We made it with some of the most unusual companions. For example there was one couple whom we passed every day who rode a banana bike. It was two three wheeled recumbent bikes attached together with a yellow air deflector all around it. Another rider forsook a bike altogether and rode the whole week on a skateboard. I heard about a guy who was going to ride his push scooter and another who added wheels to an elliptical machine so he could elliptical his way across the state, but I didn’t see either of them. On day one we passed a runner, I don’t know how far he went that day, and I didn’t see him again.


When we made it to the river, the carnival atmosphere preceded us. All week long the ride along the way reminded us of the state fair. All the food vendors were there. They talked about blue ribbon pies. There were displays of farm equipment, quilts, town histories, and even animals. Some farmers would try to entice you off the road to buy their water, corn, watermelon, cinnamon rolls, Gatorade, etc., by setting up a small menagerie of baby animals. “Come see our one day old pigs” one sign said. You would be at the state fair all day, go to sleep, and while you were sleeping, the fair moved down the road in front of you again. Jen said it was all here but the rides, then she decided the bikes were the ride.

The state fair had made it to Davenport. We really wanted to dip our front tires in the Mississippi even though we were running short of time. Before we boarded the bus, we really wanted to take a shower and get out of the riding clothes. When we got to the place of the official tire dip there was one last line we would have to stand in. We decided against it or we would miss our bus.

We rode down to the river’s edge at another spot. There was a railing between the sidewalk and the river, which was still close to overflowing its banks. We had a brilliant idea. We could put our bikes over the rail and dip the tire in the Mississippi after all. That is what we did. In the picture you will notice I never let go of Jen’s bike. I could just see her dropping it into the Mississippi. There is no telling how deep the water was even right next to the shore.

Now we had to find our charter. We had to find where they dropped our bags and get our clean clothes out. Our bags go on, and under, the bus with us. We have to check our bikes in and they load them on the baggage trucks to take back to Glenwood. We needed to find the shower and there was always a wait for a shower. Our time grew short.

We began to follow the OOS signs. We rode by campsites, other trucks, other charters, and then we began climbing away from the river. Away from the river is uphill. Away from the river in Davenport is steep uphill. We are riding in traffic with no sheriff to stop cross traffic, and we are getting more disgusted by the minute. Actually, disgusted describes my demeanor, Jen was getting downright livid. Thoughts of a shower were fading as the minutes ticked away.

Since you don’t know where you are going you have to follow the signs. At one point we were one block from our destination, but the signs took us 6 blocks to get there. Grrrrrrr! We finally got to the charter a little after 1 pm. We found our bags and checked our bikes in for loading. Our friend Steve asked me, “Is there anything I can do to help?” I told him, “The best thing for you to do is to avoid Jennifer. She is not a happy camper.”

The girl at the check in said we probably didn’t have time for a shower. The busses were due anytime and our departure was scheduled for 1:30. Steve told us where the showers were, promised to take care of our bikes and get our bags on the bus. We hustled off to try to get the shower. When we returned it was about 1:40, the busses were mostly loaded. Steve, bless his heart, we would have been in trouble without him, had taken care of everything for us and even saved a couple of seats on the bus.

When I think of the ways he helped, I need to pause and give a public thanks to Steve Mattern. Without Steve’s help we would have showed up at Ragbrai without the tent fan that made sleeping bearable if not comfortable. We would not have had our lawn chairs with us. He loaned us an extra bag that gave us the extra room for some comfort items. He loaned Jen a handlebar bag, then at the end of the ride gave it to her. Every day when we got to camp he already knew where the showers were, good places to eat, and other tidbits of information. In addition to those, we stayed at his house in Nebraska the day before and the day after. I am sure I haven’t thought of everything, but thanks Steve, from the bottom of our hearts, for all you did to make the ride more enjoyable. Sadly, Steve broke a wheel early in the ride on Friday. He rides a recumbent and his wheel size is not standard so he was unable to get it repaired. He missed the end of the ride. Jennifer and I both offered to let him ride our bikes on Saturday while we rode in the air conditioned baggage truck, but he said he would suffer.

After all that worry and hurry, there were three people missing. They looked for them everywhere. The finally found them on the other bus. The bus pulled out at 10 minutes to 3. When I was finally able to stretch my legs on the bus I fell asleep, and the nap lasted most of the way back across Iowa. We arrived at the parking lot around 8 pm, just as the truck with our bikes were unloading. We got everything transferred to the Tahoe and Steve’s Jeep and after finding some dinner, we went to Steve’s house in Nebraska.

We did it! We rode across Iowa. People would ask me if I was a Ragbrai Virgin. “How many times have you done Ragbrai?” they would ask. My standard reply was, “Not only is this the first time I have done Ragbrai, this is the first road trip I have ever done. I have only owned a bike for the last two years.” Why did we pick this one for the first ride?

In my next post, I will give you some possible answers to that question, analysis of the overall ride, and try to answer the most asked question we get. “Will you do that again?”

Sign of the day: on the back of a shirt. “No Sniveling”