Tuesday, July 29, 2008
RAGBRAI Day 2
Yee haw! Big day today: 83 miles and over 5200 feet of climbing.
Once again, we rolled out around 7am to get a jump on the heat of the day. Although 83 miles was about double my longest ride of this year, I was excited and felt great after Day 1. This was a great day on the bike.
The hills were just awesome. Big ring climbs, granny climbs, they were all good hills. In fact, someone counted 51 hills in the first 45 miles, then they just stopped counting in disgust. Me, I was having a grand time.
Along the way, I jumped into a lot of pace lines and rode well. I met a lot of great people and a few strong riders that gave
me some great pulls.
I just loved this ride: not only the best ride of the year but probably one of the best rides ever for me ever. I just felt strong and fast and climbed better than I have ever climbed before. OK, its Iowa, but folks... these were great hills! :)
After losing Team Fohty at the first pass thru town (I think they ditched me at the beer garden) I rolled along until meeting up with some of the others at the lunch town. This is where I met up with my new hero Tom (more on him later). Tom and I stomped all the hills and got into Jefferson around 2pm. This included a 2 hour lunch stop at Coon Rapids (that's the town mascot: "Road Kill Raccoon" to the left) where I needed to get a spoke fixed at the bike tent. Even so we were making some good time today.
In Jefferson, Tom and I were greeted by our host family at the door Craig Hertel, his wife and daughter. Imagine my surprise when he said, go ahead boys and get cleaned up, then join us on the gazebo for snacks... and oh, there's a half keg of beer for you guys on the deck too.
Is this heaven? No, its Iowa, and its pretty good here.
Unfortunately, the bus did not arrive until 5pm so we had to delay showers, and instead we went straight for the keg and the snacks, reveling in beer, salty chips and our own filfth. ;)
Thank you Hertel Family. You are awesome and you were wonderful hosts!
Today's Metrics: - Mileage: 83 miles Climb: 5,239 feet
The ride into Jefferson will be a true test of cyclists' conditioning, with 5,600 feet to climb over 83 miles. The route resembles a pastrami sandwich: Imagine two pieces of bread, flat on either end, with mounds of meat in the middle. As riders approach Jefferson they'll see what looks like a grain silo on the horizon. It is not. It is a 162 foot bell tower. Anyone who's not too tired from the 14.5 mile Karras Century Loop can ascend the 18 flights of steps to the top. Me? I'll take the elevator.
I have beer, snacks and a shower. Has anyone seen the bus?
Passing through Kimbalton > Elk Horn > Exira > Larland > Coon Rapids and Scranton.
Once again, we rolled out around 7am to get a jump on the heat of the day. Although 83 miles was about double my longest ride of this year, I was excited and felt great after Day 1. This was a great day on the bike.
The hills were just awesome. Big ring climbs, granny climbs, they were all good hills. In fact, someone counted 51 hills in the first 45 miles, then they just stopped counting in disgust. Me, I was having a grand time.
Along the way, I jumped into a lot of pace lines and rode well. I met a lot of great people and a few strong riders that gave
me some great pulls.I just loved this ride: not only the best ride of the year but probably one of the best rides ever for me ever. I just felt strong and fast and climbed better than I have ever climbed before. OK, its Iowa, but folks... these were great hills! :)
After losing Team Fohty at the first pass thru town (I think they ditched me at the beer garden) I rolled along until meeting up with some of the others at the lunch town. This is where I met up with my new hero Tom (more on him later). Tom and I stomped all the hills and got into Jefferson around 2pm. This included a 2 hour lunch stop at Coon Rapids (that's the town mascot: "Road Kill Raccoon" to the left) where I needed to get a spoke fixed at the bike tent. Even so we were making some good time today.
In Jefferson, Tom and I were greeted by our host family at the door Craig Hertel, his wife and daughter. Imagine my surprise when he said, go ahead boys and get cleaned up, then join us on the gazebo for snacks... and oh, there's a half keg of beer for you guys on the deck too.
Is this heaven? No, its Iowa, and its pretty good here.
Unfortunately, the bus did not arrive until 5pm so we had to delay showers, and instead we went straight for the keg and the snacks, reveling in beer, salty chips and our own filfth. ;)
Thank you Hertel Family. You are awesome and you were wonderful hosts!
Today's Metrics: - Mileage: 83 miles Climb: 5,239 feet
The ride into Jefferson will be a true test of cyclists' conditioning, with 5,600 feet to climb over 83 miles. The route resembles a pastrami sandwich: Imagine two pieces of bread, flat on either end, with mounds of meat in the middle. As riders approach Jefferson they'll see what looks like a grain silo on the horizon. It is not. It is a 162 foot bell tower. Anyone who's not too tired from the 14.5 mile Karras Century Loop can ascend the 18 flights of steps to the top. Me? I'll take the elevator.
I have beer, snacks and a shower. Has anyone seen the bus?
Passing through Kimbalton > Elk Horn > Exira > Larland > Coon Rapids and Scranton.
