We finished RAGBRAI on Saturday afternoon by dipping our wheels in the duck-weed covered, flood-stage Mississippi. The last day's ride was much more business-like than the previous six days. There were fewer places to stop and fewer people stopping at them. People had finishing on their minds.
Overall, we really enjoyed the ride. We finished with a total of 494 miles, according to the odometer on my bike computer. We ate ourselves silly with all the pie, homemade ice cream, church dinners, and Mr. Pork Chop. Iowa, particularly western Iowa, was beautiful - and far from flat. We were overwhelmed by the hospitality of those who hosted us and of the towns we visited. A big thank you to the organizers, support drivers, and hosts for our team.
I have a lot of pictures from RAGBRAI, so I thought I would just post some tonight and I'll post more over the next few days.
Pictures (click to enlarge):
At the finish on the Mississippi River in Davenport, IA
494 miles on the bike odometer
An antique fire truck in Oxford, IA on Day 6
Sunrise on Day 6 on the lawn at Grinnell College
Bikes rolling into Victor, IA on Day 6
Brooklyn, IA on Day 6
The water tower in Mitchellville, IA on Day 5
A "banana tree" in Mitchellville. Apparently, this is the only "banana tree" in Iowa.
The high school pep band in Mitchellville.
SSW Spouse (in white) helping another rider fix a flat on Day 5.
Getting a chair massage on Day 5.
Mr. Pork Chop's bus on Day 5.
They burn corn cobs to grill the pork chops.
Pork chops on the grill at our lunch stop on Day 5 at Mr. Pork Chop. We liked them enough to eat there twice.
Loin Cloth Man proves that there are less modest outfits than the average road cycling outfit. Yes, he rode in that (hopefully, he didn't park his bike in the sun when he stopped).
It looks like the FOLKS; riders, hosts, and bystanders make this a wonderfull time. I especially liked the extremely rare banana tree. Falsum Musa acuminata or was it Falsum Musa balbisiana?
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