Monday, August 03, 2009

Indianola to Chariton (44.4 miles, 2182 feet of climb)

A short day to offset the long hilly days!


It was a bit misty out. I wrote a haiku in my head while I was bicycling. I am very in touch with my artistic side.

White hole in the sky
Beads of mist on my forearms
A RAGBRAI morning.



Sometimes a surprise rolls out of the fog. A couple next to me were discussing the fog and one said, "It's just like a fishing day in Canada." All I could think was "except for the constant pedaling!"


So many cyclists. I'd like to offer an ode to all the female cyclists, like the nice young woman from Duluth who told me I should bike the north shore and eat at Betty's pies. She was very convincing. Oh lovely RAGBRAI girl, with your jersey unzipped, your hair unfurled, diamond earrings in place, legs awhirl...that's as far as I've gotten, although it needs a bit about bike shorts, pony tails, and chain marks on calves.


Eryn watching a singer in Chariton, with a very svelte looking Klund in the background. Chariton is the place I had the delicious blackberry pie. You can't see them in this picture, but on a nearby corner are three Amish teenagers lounging and looking absolutely like a gang and leering at bicycle-shorted women who walk by. I say this in order to draw a distinction between my ode and this behavior. I was appreciating, not coveting. There's a very distinct difference. I did picture them as Jay and Silent Bob for a moment which almost made me laugh.


I believe this may have been the day I saw a guy at the pancake breakfast in a Mycogen jacket. I used to work for Mycogen Seeds, specifically writing code to automate their gifts-for-seeds program. That jacket was probably delivered as a result of code I wrote. An interesting way to meet an end user in the midst of Iowa.

A couple of videos of Bikes in the Mist, the Scooter Fossey story:


1 comment:

klund said...

Klund lookalikes rock.