This was probably my favorite day of RAGRAI, which is ironic because it was the day I didn't ride at all.
Friday was my day off.
I started the morning watching Jeff, Kolton, and John take off for their morning ride.
Eventually we made it to Salem where we met the guys and had lunch. We just had so much fun walking around, sharing different foods (I even tried fried pickle, which is not much better than regular pickle).
And then, there was the dunk tank. They let anyone get in the tank and then for a small donation, you could try to dunk them. You may not know it, but back in the day, I was an all-star shortstop. In the second grade. Apparently I got whacked in the eye at some point during that season and decided softball wasn't for me.
Anyways, you'll have to watch the video for the epic showdown between me and Jeff. I'm not going to spoil that ending!!
No one was going to ride that afternoon, so everyone just kind of relaxed after lunch. We decided to stay overnight in Salem instead of going to Burlington. Ultimately, we would have just had to double back the next day. Our plan was to stay the night in Salem, then get up in the morning and drive to the meeting town for Saturday, thus avoiding the morning ride. Then we would start from the meeting town and ride to the end.
So we hung out, played on the elementary school playground, and just had some fun times together. The boys tried to teach me how to throw a frisbee the cool way, with minimal success.
Everyone had the chance to rest and get refreshed for the big finish tomorrow!!!
Current Mood: Awesome
Predictions: We will finish strong tomorrow!
Best Part of the Day: The dunk tank and playing frisbee with Jeff and the boys
Worst Part of the Day: Not getting to eat a Farm Kids breakfast burrito
Let's review: I'm an introvert spending the week riding across Iowa on a bicycle and staying in an RV with my future in-laws.
So basically, crazy.
What I didn't know is that normally by Thursday everyone is ready for a break and Jeff is the only one riding.
So I was completely exhausted and hadn't had a chance to recharge through some alone-time. Jeff and his dad and I all rode in the morning and everyone else took the day off.
By the end of the day, my entire being was telling me that I needed some time alone. So I went for a walk.
I'm not going to go into details, but let's just say at that point I was seriously considering ordering an Uber to take me back to my car (which was parked in Pella). I was upset, I was exhausted, and I was just done.
Jeff and I had a long talk late into the night (well it may not have been that late, but late for RAGBRAI nights).
I just felt like I couldn't not ride because I would be letting Jeff down, since he can't really ride the tandem without me. I didn't want him to be disappointed. But I really had nothing left to give. Jeff reassured me that I was not disappointing him and that he would much rather have me with him at RAGBRAI and not ride the whole thing than ride the whole way by himself.
So we worked through it and I tearfully agreed that it would be okay if I took the next day off.
Current Mood: Not sure it can be identified
Predictions: Tomorrow will be a better day and hopefully I will start having fun again
Best Part of the Day: Going to sleep
Worst part of the Day: Not communicating well with Jeff
Since riding your bike across Iowa (I believe it's over 460 miles this year) isn't enough of a challenge for some people, they add the century day.
They choose the day with the most mileage (it was 40 miles in the morning and 45 in the afternoon) and then add an optional loop that will get your total up to 100 miles in one day.
And since they are especially crazy this year, they added a loop that made it more like 112 miles.
No. Thank. You.
Jeff has done this century loop several times but since we were riding the tandem, we opted to only ride the measly 45 miles in the afternoon.
Kolton wanted to do the century loop. He's done it before, but this would be the first time that he would ride it on his own. I still wasn't feeling well (allergies and hives, yay) so I slept in. Kolton had to get up early to get started on his day. He pulled out around 6:45 am.
Everyone else rode in the RV in the morning. We went to the dump site to get rid of our waste and had to wait in line for an hour (there are a lot of RV's on RAGBRAI). I got to witness the excitement of the dump site, which was absolutely thrilling.
We reached the meeting town and Braden, Jeff, and I put on our gear and rode in to get some food. We had some pretty good stuff and I FINALLY got to try Amish pie. (Spoiler alert: my pie is better.)
Jeff and I were wearing matching Dutch jerseys, which he got from his friend Reuben, who lives in the Netherlands. We happened to run into the only other person on RAGBRAI wearing the exact same jersey! He was actually from the Netherlands and we had fun talking to him.
We finally got started on the ride. I'm not really sure how I made it through those 45 miles. That was insane. We stopped a lot along the way, in these tiny towns that you miss if you sneeze. At one stop in Bethlehem, IA, we got watermelon all over my shoe!!! It was so gross and got inside the shoe on my sock as well. Fortunately, I kept an extra pair of socks in our bike trunk, so things could have been worse.
I don't think I would have made it through that afternoon without the pace lines. You often see these groups of riders moving along quickly while drafting off each other. It looks so cool and you might feel a little jealous as they go buy. But today, we jumped in the pace line! I'd never seen a tandem in one of these lines before and we didn't get any negative comments while we were riding in it!
The pace line went so fast that the miles kind of flew by us. It also distracted me from the pain in my rear and from how tired I was. You have to concentrate pretty hard to be in the pace line because you are riding so close to each other. If anyone slows down or speeds up, you have to notice right away and adjust your own pace accordingly. One wrong move and you can take down the line!
As we were riding, another faster pace line came by and Jeff hopped over into that one! And then people were drafting off of us! I wasn't sure we could keep up with them but we held our own. We even skipped stopping in one of the towns because riding in the "train" was working so well. We caught up to Braden and he joined in, doing some pretty impressive riding.
Eventually we found Kolton who found Jeff's friend Josh. Josh and Kolton rode the Century Loop together. Kolton said he couldn't have done it without Josh's encouragement. So even on RAGBRAI, the world is still pretty small sometimes.
When we finally made it to the overnight town, all of us were totally exhausted and could hardly move. We had a wonderful dinner at one of the churches (and I think Margaret is now friends with the entire congregation).
After dinner, Jeff and I rode to the HyVee to get some Benadryl for my hives (yes, now I have hives too, yay) and some more sunscreen.
Finally, we all crawled into bed in the RV, totally spent from the day.
3 more days to go.
Current Mood: ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Predictions: Ride all day tomorrow? Will anyone ride tomorrow?
Best Part of the Day: Pace lines, Kolton completing the Century
Worst Part of the Day: hives
This morning we got up and had quite a few extra people to get ready for the day. Jeff's sister and her boys were going to ride out with us. Braden was driving the van and Margaret the Awesome was in charge of the RV.
There was a lot more silliness while getting packed up and ready to go.
Jeff's sister provided some "power bombs," as she called them.
When everything was ready to go, we all loaded up in the vehicles and drove into town because the place we were staying was on a gravel road and we didn't want to ride out on that, especially with the kids. But all the bikes were completely covered in dust when we got to the parking lot where we planned to start our ride! So first we had to clean off the bikes.
It took awhile to everyone situated and ready and a nearby team was playing some funky music, so Kolton and I took the opportunity to get in some dancing (watch the video for some footage of our awesome dance moves.)
But finally we got started and headed out of town. Leaving the overnight town is always a little bit difficult because it's always the biggest number of bikes out on the road at the same time. We were in a big pack when Jenny's wheel hit the rear wheel on her son's bicycle and she went down.
She's ok - so please don't worry.
When she fell, her sunglass broke and cut her face right around her eyebrow. Fortunately a nurse had just gotten a flat tire and was right there on the side of the road. She assessed Jenny's injuries and was able to reassure everyone that she needed stitches but she was okay.
Braden was driving her van with the other support vehicles and so he turned around and came back to bring Jenny to the hospital. She wanted her boys to keep riding because she didn't want the accident to ruin their day. She was really a trooper. (For more details, check out the video above)
We also had help from one of the Air Force Team riders and from a woman who lived in a nearby house. Thank you to all of the people who helped us out!!!
Despite the significant delay, we made it to the first stop (Howell Tree Farm) before they shut down the food, so the kids all got their breakfast burritos.
It took a while to get to the meeting town, but everyone made it. Jeff, John, Josh, and Kolton rode in the afternoon as well because Josh, who is 10, really wanted to complete the full ride.
We stayed in the middle school parking lot in Indianola and they let us use the showers!!! Unfortunately, the showers in the girls locker room were freezing, but it still felt good to get a full shower instead of the dripping in the RV.
I did get some sunburn on my arms and legs and my allergies are still raging.
That night when everyone else went to bed, Jeff and I went downtown. There was a concert going on and a lot of drinking. We took a bus there and this guy was being super annoying. I had a severe sinus headache, so I was resting my head on Jeff's shoulder. This dude kept turning around and telling Jeff not to let me fall asleep.
We just walked around and had pizza and talked for awhile, which was nice. RAGBRAI date night!
Current Mood: sleepy but good, relieved that Jenny is okay
Predictions: Tomorrow will be a less dramatic day
Best Part of the Day: hanging out with Jeff's nephews, date night
Worst Part of the Day: The crash
I am not a morning person. (Braden will agree with me on this one). Who wants to get up at 6:30 when they can be snuggled nice and comfy in their bed?
Unfortunately, I sleep on top of the table (it converts into a bed). So certain people who are morning people are itching for me to get up so they can eat breakfast.
Today we rode 41 miles from Atlantic to Stuart, the meeting town. I have never ridden 41 miles in my life!! And it was not easy.
One of the hardest things for me is the comments that people make about the tandem and how I'm just taking it easy and not really helping. I don't understand this. They don't make fun of single riders who are struggling along. This is the most physically demanding thing I've ever done but I'm here. I showed up and I'm working my butt off. Just because I'm doing it on the tandem doesn't make it any less difficult.
So here I am, struggling, my butt hurts like heck, my legs are getting tired, I already feel like I'm weighing Jeff down, and I'm wondering if I can make it to the next stop.
And then some dude comes by and makes a snarky comment. But it isn't just one guy. It's many of them. I guess they think they are funny.
But at this particular moment, we were nearing the last town before the meeting town, I was tired, in pain, and emotionally and physically spent. I'd endured too many of these comments. And I couldn't take any more.
So I started to cry. Jeff knew I was having a hard time and wanted to pull over so he could give me a hug, but I told him to keep going. I knew that if we got off before the next town, I wouldn't be able to get on again.
We make it to the next town and I was just completely deflated. I didn't want to keep going and I was wondering why I had even tried to do this instead of going back to work after camping. I felt like I didn't belong.
While we were resting, we met an older couple riding a tricycle tandem. (So they sit down in a chair and pedal with their feet in front of them and there are three wheels). The woman came over to me and chatted for a bit. She asked me if I had experienced people trying to be cute and saying I wasn't pedaling or similar comments (like, oh who is pedaling harder, must be nice, speed in front, chill in back, her feet are up on the handlebars, etc). I told her I had and we bonded over our mutual dislike for such annoying comments.
I almost quit at this point. I really was not feeling well and was struggling to understand WHY I was putting myself through this.
Jeff, as always, was very encouraging and supportive. He told me that he is really happy that I'm here with him and that he would be miserable if I wasn't. He tried to come up with answers he could give when people ask dumb questions.
Later on, we had people ask more encouraging or interesting questions, like, "How does riding a tandem affect your marriage?"
I just wish that everyone could be a little more encouraging. At that moment, I needed someone to just say, hey, you are doing a good job. Hang in there. Keep pedaling. You're awesome.
So if you ever ride RAGBRAI, don't make fun of people who are riding. At least they are out there doing it and you never know, an encouraging word from you might make the difference between them making it to the next town or giving up and waiting for the SAG wagon to come pick them up.
I rode 41 miles. 41. For me, that's a huge accomplishment, tandem or not. So take that tandem jokers. You just wish you had an awesome stoker like me on the back of your bike.
SO, I FINALLY got to have some of this fantastic food that everyone has been talking about. We stopped for second breakfast at Farm Kids and had a delicious breakfast burrito. I have to say, they were right about the food.
Breakfast burrito with eggs, bacon bits, potatoes, cheese, and onions
We also had the popular Bucawhich. I have to admit, I didn't think I would like this one because the fillings appeared to be spicy. But it was SOOOO good. Jeff got the cajun chicken first so I could try it. It was so yummy that I had to get my own but I got the cajun steak.
We didn't ride in the afternoon because we were both tired and ready for a rest. Kolton and John were the only ones who did the whole day.
We had a host again and after dinner we had a nice campfire in their backyard while we did our devotions. Jeff's sister, Jenny, and her boys had arrived and set up their tents. They will be riding with us tomorrow.
Current Mood: somewhat discouraged, but enjoying time with Jenny and the boys
Predictions: I will ride the whole day tomorrow, it will be a much slower pace
Best Part of the Day: Eating the breakfast burrito with Jeff and the boys, actually finishing 41 miles
Worst Part of the Day: The break down, the nasty comments
Not really the best way to start off your first RAGBRAI.
You can ride in the rain and many of the riders are, but we made the decision to skip the first 40 mile ride from Council Bluffs to Avoca.
One of the reasons is that our water tank has a leak. We need an O-ring or a whole new system? So right now we are trying to use as little water as possible. We tried stopping at a few places on our way out of town, but many of them are closed because it's Sunday. We finally found some O-rings at Menards, of all places. (My father's favorite store).
So, we are trying to make the best of things. Yesterday we also had an issue with the tire on Kolton's bike. The valve core blew out after we pumped it up, so now the tube won't hold any air. We replaced it with a new tube and that blew too. Turns out the tire side walls are threadbare and we just need a new tire. So we had to put a spare tire on his bike so he can ride it.
All in all, it's a little frustrating and pretty disappointing start. Will update when we reach Avoca.
Current Mood: Disappointed but optimistic
Predictions: The rain will stop and we will get to ride at Avoca.
The Afternoon:
So before we got to Avoca, the weathermen were saying it was going to rain all the way to Atlantic. John and Braden decided they were going to ride, so we saw them off. Then Jeff, Kolton, and I went into town to experience RAGBRAI.
There were SO many people. Not exactly my cup of tea - but we had a good time walking around and getting some food.
By this time it was pretty much just sprinkling, so we all decided to risk the rain and ride for the second half of the day. The ride was about 20 miles, which is the longest I've ridden so far in one day. We stopped in a town along the way to get some pie and to rest. It didn't rain on us!
I discovered that tandems go really fast downhill, which is both really fun and really scary. It's also a chance to rest your bum because you can stand up on the pedals while you are coasting and stick your butt in the air. It's really one of the best things ever.
When we arrived at our host family's residence, we discovered that they were willing to let us use their bathroom and shower!!! So I have been saved from using the RV shower for now.
Margaret made a great dinner and then we all went to bed. Early day tomorrow!
Make sure to check out the video for more exciting ramblings!
Current Mood: Tired, but hopeful for tomorrow
Predictions: We will ride all the way to Winterset
Best Part of the Day: Arriving at the overnight town
Worst Part of the Day: Not being able to ride in the morning
Today it’s as hot as the summer in the Sahara.If you take one step outside, you melt.Literally.(Pretty much, that’s what sweating is, ok!)
The wait is over, it’s too late to train, RAGBRAI is upon
us.
We left a few hours behind schedule and I am relieved that
my family is not the only one that never seems to leave when we intend to
leave.The most important thing to
remember is . . . .
It’s not my fault that we left later than planned!I was feeling pretty anxious that I would
still be packing and everyone would be waiting around because I WASN’T READY.
Packing up and setting off takes a lot of work.
As you can see, all the bins are labeled.
First we pack everything in bins. Then they get loaded on the RV. The food also gets loaded on the RV and we
make a few last minute runs to the HyVee to get some things that were
forgotten. Once the RV is fully loaded,
Jeff moves it from the driveway to the street so they can put the bike rack
on. The driveway is sloped and it won’t
make it out of the driveway with the rack on.
So finally, after a gourmet lunch provided by Braden,
everything was finally ready to go.
My home for the next week
There is no turning back now.
Jeff started off piloting the RV with me acting as co-pilot.It’s a pretty nice view from up front but we were sweating our behinds off. Eventually we switched with Jeff's parents and I was able to work on the blog for awhile.
Jeff, the relaxed pilot
Joy, the not-so-relaxed co-pilot
Traveling in an RV is not so bad when you aren't the driver.
Kolton digs into the snacks.
Jeff gets organized
Riding in luxury
We arrived in Council Bluffs and found our host's residence. In each overnight town there is a tent town and an RV town. But you can also apply to have a host and if you are selected, you get your own private parking area and usually a place where you can plug in the RV.
Karen was our host in Council Bluffs. Since the Missouri River is so high this year it is too dangerous to have a dip site by the river. (A dip site is where you dip the rear tire of your bike in the river at the beginning of RAGBRAI. At the end, you dip your front tire in the Mississippi River). So there was an official dip site in town in a tub of river water. Karen told us that part of the parking lot at Harrah's was under water and told us how to get there. A short ride later, we got our dip picture without having to wait in line!!!
The Missouri River came to us!
After the dip picture, Jeff, Kolton, and I rode to the Expo. We got there just as everyone was starting to pack up, but we persevered because I really needed new riding shoes. We found a booth with shoes and asked the woman if she had anything comfortable. She knew exactly what we needed!
These shoes are the right size, they don't bite into my ankles or leg, and they have clips! Unfortunately although they also come in teal, they only had the one color. Of course they had about nine different colors of mens' shoes (discrimination). But I've been having a lot of problems with my left foot and I'm very happy that we found shoes that hopefully will not make that problem any worse.
Once we got back from the Expo, we celebrated the beginning of RAGBRAI with some dessert!
Angel food cake with strawberries and fresh Michigan blueberries.
Time for bed! Ready to ride in the morning!
Here's some fun video clips from our day:
Current Mood: hopeful
Predictions: This is going to be a long, sweaty, smelly
trip.
On Day 4 we took a much needed break and went to the
beach.It was great.
On Day 5 it rained.A
lot. Of course we had to make sure the bike was protected.
Wrapping the bike
Camping in the rain is kind of
miserable, so we went out for lunch and to see Toy Story 4 with the kids. When we emerged from the movie theater, the
sun was shining! We were able to go for
a ride after all! I was still a little
shaky from Day 3, but we went in an area that did not have a lot of
traffic. Jeff said it was our best ride
so far! Which is good because the
training is over and next up – it’s the real thing!
#RAGBRAI2019ORBUST
Current Mood: Undecided
Predictions: I’m going to drive Jeff crazy next week
Best part of the day: Only having to stop once to rest my
butt muscles
Day 3 of Intensive RAGBRAI Training was a little rough for
us.
Every year my family goes to see the Musical Fountain in
Grand Haven, MI.(First we get ice cream
at Temptations, which is the real draw for the adults.).On Day 3, we decided that since we were going
to Grand Haven that evening, we would just ride our bike there and have someone
drive our car so that we wouldn’t have to ride back in the dark.The rest of the day was pretty busy with our
family wedding shower and other things.So it seemed like a good idea.
What we didn’t know at the time was that the way to Grand
Haven included a section where we had to ride along Route 31, a busy
highway.There was a very narrow
sidewalk along the bridge there, with a tall railing on one side and a large
drop off to the road on the other.
It was terrifying.I
am not a great rider and I have zero urban riding experience.This sidewalk was so narrow and so close to
the traffic rushing by next to it.There
were also some very large bumps and gaps in the sidewalk that we had to
navigate.
Even Jeff was tense and nervous, a condition that was
exacerbated by the fact that he could hear me crying behind him.And I’m not joking here, it really was very
scary.
We made it through that harrowing section of the ride only
to almost get run over by a vehicle that was turning rightJeff yelled through their open window and
they stopped before we ran into them.
At this point, I was done.I was like, I can’t do this, it’s over, I hate bicycle riding, I hate
cars, I hate other riders, I CANNOT DO THIS.This was NOT what I signed up for, no way.
Jeff hugged me and calmed me down.He told me that he was scared too and that I
had every right to feel scared.He also
said that RAGBRAI is not like that and if he had known that’s what the route
was to Grand Haven, we wouldn’t have done it.
As I said before, riding a tandem takes a lot of trust.The sidewalk wasn’t impossible for a single
bike, but it was very, very difficult for a tandem.Jeff is an experienced rider and he handled
it well, but I never want to do that again.
After that ride, I’d say I earned my peanut butter cup ice
cream.
Jeff and the Pedal Boat in Grand Haven
Current Mood: No way I’m doing RAGBRAI
Predictions: I am not going to make it through next week
Best part of the day: My wedding shower, Jeff wore the jersey I got him in New Zealand
Worst part of the day: the terrifying ride
Tuesday, 16 July 2019
Our second day of riding the week before RAGBRAI and we make some breakthroughs. Also, why are they called clipless shoes?
It's July 14. The epic event know as RAGBRAI (The Register's Great Annual Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) starts in less than a week.
My doom awaits.
To some, RAGBRAI is a hobby. To others, it's an obsession.
For me, it's a test.
I am marrying into a RAGBRAI family. And the wedding is not officially on until I pass the test. It's my own personal Kobayashi Maru. (And if you don't know what that is, you don't belong in my family).
The epic adventure starts in 6 days. And I am TERRIFIED.
The ride across Iowa is not a race. According to my fiance, Jeff, it is a leisurely ride of 468 miles over 7 days. There are lots of stops for food, dancing, karaoke, and other fun. I'm more focused on 468 MILES.
I am not a good cyclist. And yet I find myself with bike clothes, a helmet, bike gloves, shoes, and a beautiful tandem bike, ready to take on this challenge.
And yes, we are doing it on a tandem.
Riding a tandem is like a special brand of pre-marital counseling. It may sound easy, but it involves a lot of communication, coordination, practice, and did I mention COMMUNICATION?
I have almost no control over where the bicycle goes. I have to trust Jeff to steer us in the right direction. He has to trust me to not fall off the bike and to help keep our balance and not make it more difficult for him to steer. We work together to bike up hills, our legs pedaling in unison. He has to remember to warn me when there are bumps in the road and let me know ahead of time if he is going to stop or turn, etc.
It's hard work. But it's also fun. I love doing something with Jeff that he is so passionate about. Even if I'm not quite prepared for the behemoth that is RAGBRAI.
But if we can survive this, we can survive anything, right?
Ready to go!
For the past few months I've been going to spin class (which is AWFUL) in preparation for next week. Since we don't live in the same state, Jeff and I don't get a lot of time to practice on the tandem. But this week we are camping with my family so our intensive training has started. We are going to ride every day this week and hopefully I will still be able to walk next week.
This is my first ride with the shoes that clip into the pedals. I've been riding with a tennis shoe on my left foot and the clip in shoe on my right. It's difficult to get out of the clips, so I'm pretty nervous about being fully clipped in. We'll see how it goes.
And now you can come along on this journey with me as I experience RAGRAI as a rookie. There will be laughs and probably some tears, blogs and vlogs, and hopefully a whole lot of fun.
And just maybe, I will decide to come back again next year. Bring it on Iowa!! #RAGBRAI2019orbust
(Disclaimer - I don't really have to survive RAGBRAI to get married. Jeff is a great guy and is very supportive. Some of the things I put in this blog are exaggerations).
