I spent a lot of time pondering buying a new road bike. New as in used. There's a lot of inventory out there. But sitting in my personal backlog was this inkling that I might want a winter bike as well. I was fairly safe because a.] every year I go to a tech conference at the U of MN which is almost always subzero [F not C] and I see students who have to bike looking miserable, b.] I had as specific bike in mind, c.] that specific bike was not cheap [by my standards].
And then, end of October, the price dropped enough to cover the taxes and more. I caved. I went over to Angry Catfish and picked up a Surly Wednesday Fat Tire. It is a thing of beauty. It sounds cool. It rides cool. It is NOT anything like my other bikes beyond the bikey configuration of two wheels, handlebars, et al. It feels like a different beast. I even knew before I got it via a bit of research that the size would fit me almost perfectly. And when I got it professionally fitted last week [part of the Angry Catfish service for buying a new bicycle] we didn't adjust a single thing.
What I didn't count on was both cars having issues/accidents immediately after my purchase resulting in an expense pretty much equivalent to the cost of the bike. In retrospect, I should have expected that. It's been the case with every big purchase/bonus I've ever received. At least now it doesn't hurt the same way it did when I was in my twenties and the Caddy would go on the fritz right after I spent a windfall. There's got to be a law of economics somewhere that says whatever you spend from a [earned or unearned] windfall you should expect to spend twice as much, so carefully focus on spending no more than half of your found money. You can name it Nod's Law if you like.
Anyway, my goal was not something to replace my road bike / sport bike in the winter. I'm not under any illusion I'll go 60 miles on this thing. Probably not even 15. But for rides to the liquor store, local brewery, movie theater, burrito, grocery store, and down in the river valley if I drive it down there on a rack...perfect. Amazingly fun in the snow. Except we have no snow. Until yesterday, and barely. I've taken it for a spin a few times, but yesterday was the first day I got to play in the snow, and even then it was because the plow came through and left little drifts on the sides off the road. So all over my block you can see icy trails along the edges next to the mailboxes where I shot up and down my street looking for the deepest drifts.
Maybe it'll convince me to go visit my folks on a roadtrip so I can take advantage of sand instead. That's not quite as susceptible to climate change and, if I find myself riding on glass because of the weather, the bike will be the least of my [our] worries.
My new gear baby [if you can have a fur baby, I can have a gear baby] nestled up for the ride home.
This is the end of October, 2023. Two days before Halloween. There are still trees that look like they're in bloom and full on green grass. If it weren't for the incredibly short days I'd still be out doing long rides end of December.
This was the first year in....three....that I've done the MS Ride Across Around Minnesota [RAM] ride. The last time was literally as I was heading into a new job. My HR recruiter at the new company got me to sign on even though I was going to be gone the first week. She wanted to lock me in and assured me, I'd still have vacation, by hook or by crook, later in the year. Nine months later, I was on the plane home from a planning meeting in Providence seat to seat with college students from a dozen east coast schools being sent home as dorms closed their doors. There was a virtual MS RAM in between. And then last year they had an in-person RAM, but I wasn't willing to attend yet. I'm still not so sure it's safe with the new variant picking up more steam in Minnesota, but I seem to be unscathed. Ming went last year, but didn't last long. I believe he was derailed by getting lost on the first day. He couldn't go this year because of vacation allowance, but my friend Ben the School Teacher agreed to go as part of Forlorn Fenders.
I picked him up on the way to Proctor, MN, near Duluth. When we got about two thirds of the way there, roughly two hours, I was kicking myself for not plugging in my phone because I'd been using it for directions. That's when I realized I didn't have my phone cable. That in and of itself wouldn't have been an issue, but it reminded me that the cable and my wallet had been in close proximity. In the car. But they weren't in the car. They'd been on Ben's seat....so I probably picked them up. Yeah, I'd had them in my hand when I grabbed the bungie cords for the bike and I set them down.... uh oh....on the roof. They definitely weren't still on the roof.
After a moment on angst and panic, Ben called a neighbor to do a search of the ditches, particularly where I would have turned the first corner. I prepared to drive all the way back on a five hour round trip if anything was found after dropping Ben off at the campsite to get checked in so we didn't miss our window. Forty dollars was found, and a few other stray items, but not a license or a credit card. I called my kid and they took care of canceling my credit card. We drove on and reached out to my folks. My mom was heading toward the cabin and not only brought me money and a spare credit card, but bought Ben and I dinner [yum, Walley breakfast] at Tobie's in Hinckley. Situation saved. I didn't have to get more creative with asking a friend to bring me money and having my wife Venmo them immediately, or my wife hauling herself to Proctor the next day. Older than fifty/50 and still being bailed out by my mommy. Props to my pops for coordinating some of the calls while we tried to negotiate the timelines. So appreciated.
We set up at the raceway in Proctor. We were actually pretty happy to go get the free dinner and cash because we didn't have to listen to the car races. They were LOUD. By the time we were getting back, the last of the car trailers were pulling out.
We thought we found a good spot to camp, but what you can't see in this photo is the light post we didn't account for that kept the tents fairly bright all night long. That might have come in handy when a storm rolled through around 4 a.m. to wake everyone up with big winds. I don't know if it was the barometric pressure or something else, but I managed to get to the porta potty and almost back in my tent just before the first rain drops started to fall My getting up woke Ben up as well, so he avoided being soaked as well. I learned my tent isn't oceanic capable as the water pooled under an area near where my feet were and seeped in a bit. It was easy enough to pull my legs up and sleep all tucked up, but that had a definite affect on how comfortable I was riding on day one.
My sister and nieces have used my tent a few times for the boundary waters and it's really starting to show it's age. But it's holding up well once my sister bought me an extra set of stakes after the RAGBRAI crowd wandered off with over half of them.
These are the route captures for all the days. This seems like a good place to capture those.
So, Proctor to Chisholm.
Chisholm Loop, as we now do one day where we don't pack up.
Chisholm to Biwabik.
Biwabik to Two Harbors
Two Harbors to Proctor.
I'm missing one small section that was less than a mile where we went from the campsite to the coffee/staging area. I've added it in the totals.
TOTALS:
Mileage: 296.68 [dang, I really thought we'd made 300]
Hours: 27.29 [I never turn off the odometer, so that includes rest stops, climbing to the top of Henger, etc. We did average pretty close to 10 mph with stops most days, although the fourth day we picked up some velocity]
Ascent [as separate from descent]: 7322' [not quite a mile and a half]
The best part about the four a.m. storm was it cleared out by the time it was ready to ride. Little did we know how hot and humid it would be. But pretty at pack up and take off time.
Day one begins. Ben and I lugging our luggage to the truck, ready to start five days of cycling.
On Friday I pedaled from Eagan up to Banning State Park near Sandstone, MN. Good trip, although not particularly exciting.
It was mostly on trails: from Eagan into St. Paul, catch the Gateway/Vento, Sunrise, Willard Munger, and a spur. Total was 107.55 miles.
It was more overgrown (on the sides) then when we were up there 10 years ago or so, so a bit more shade. But still pretty flat with a slight grade because you're headed north in Minnesota (there's a reason most folks go north to south), and lots of sun. I started at 6:00 a.m. to avoid the bulk of the heat, but I still stopped twice to buy more water, three 16+ oz bottles each time. The second time I panicked a bit as the gas station was locked up tight due to an electrical outage, but there was another not too far down the road also out of electricity, but taking cash. Still, it was still almost not enough.
I did not like the shoulders on 61 where they simply fell apart and hadn't been cleaned in....ever? I hit a small spot of gravel at one point and there was a loud twang as a sizable chunk of metal went flying. I thought I had avoided a flat....for about another 60 seconds. Fortunately, it was easy to fix and despite the size of the shard of metal, hadn't shredded my actual tire. Simple puncture. After that I trended more toward the road despite the cars.
Other highlights? An idiot in a truck with a large Confederate Flag flying high above several US flags. Hampton Umbrella rides. Pictured below. Sort of sketchy looking in this context. I didn't get a picture of the Scooter ride entrance which was pretty terrifying; a tunnel full of pieces of metal sticking into the center. It was like it was beckoning specifically to me with my nickname.
A dam on the way there. I think this is just north of Hinckley, where I really should have stopped for a piece of pie at the Whistle Stop Cafe, even though it would have been outside on the cement. I've certainly done that many times before on RAGBRAI.
My wife met me at Banning State Park with the convertible for a picnic (abbreviated because of the mosquitoes, but still appreciated - I'd had mostly nuts and fruit snacks and goldfish crackers at that point) and for a tour of the park (abbreviated; we saw the rapids, but the falls were a four mile round trip that she wasn't up for). Here are a number of pictures of the rapids. Pretty area, particularly if you want to hike. I heard on the news that in Taylors Falls, 50 miles from us, a guy fell off the cliffs and landed on the rocks while we were at Banning. This didn't seem to get as high over the river as that, but there were some bouldering type areas that went higher than we were willing to hike.
Poot working on her own photo. She's got a selfie of us somewhere on her camera.
All in all, a great ride, although I'm feeling it in the saddle some today. I keep thinking my modifications to my bike seat will pan out, but I can find the right level. Still, close enough and getting new brake pads on is priority one.
Yesterday I pedaled up to the Finnish Bistro in the Como neighborhood of St. Paul. Very close to the State Fair. Given the Fair is going to be shut down this year due to Covid concerns (rightly so), it's about as close to my bike ride to an Americano at the Farmer's Union there that I'm going to get. Kind of a bummer - I'm usually there earlier enough to see some interesting sights. Last year it was Governor Walz stopping by my table to say hello. I'm still getting a little bit of rub on the back tire even after my deep cleaning during a streaming Sarah Morris concert We'll see if new brake pads will take care of it. I may have to bite the bullet and do a little bit of truing. I did take a trip later in the day to find tires for the other bicycle (which has a bald back wheel), but Gateway and Strauss didn't have anything with tread due to Coronavirus stocking issues. The wait is like 4 weeks at the moment. I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of tires off Amazon. They seem upscale compared to what's on the bike after a bit of research.
Some cool animal sightings as I was out at 6:00 a.m. A bunch of turkeys wandering around near the river. And when I went past Fort Snelling a deer in the parking lot was close enough for petting for a thirty seconds. Not that I'd pet him. Deer ticks make me nervous (after two rounds of Lyme's).
Here's my bike nearby (the old one) while I eat Oat Cakes with cardamom, reindeer sausage, and an Americano on the bus bench. I think my biggest issue was lack of a metal fork. I should put one in my pack so I always have one. It would have made the meal much better. Not that it wasn't delicious, albeit a bit too much.
Part of the reason I was up there was to drop a book off for Alex. No one answered, but with Covid I've been wrapping drop offs in quart bags, so I was able to leave it hidden in the weeds behind a pitcher and send him a photo. Although it's a Cthulhu book, so hopefully it doesn't leave an evil, otherworldly essence behind to infuse his plants.
As I neared home, I pedaled past a bunch of guys packing up their bicycles after a morning ride near Hwy 13. I was amused that there one guy explaining that his bicycle was "not a road bike" and he could move to a road bike if he wanted to in order to be more efficient. His definition of "not a road bike" had treadless, razor thin tires, and a light frame. I wanted to yell, "THIS IS NOT A ROAD BIKE." But I refrained.
Overall, it reminded me of the Craft Beer Drinkers Be Like series that Kyle forwarded me:
I like bicycling videos. There's a whole post about them around here somewhere that's been slowly falling apart as the videos disappear off Youtube. I have bicycles I pound into the ground that last longer than some things on Youtube. It's not a very permanent platform which surprises me, given the things I put up on it in the early days are still there. That said, I know of at least one video I have that disappeared because there was copyrighted music playing in the background. I never post for hits - only for a personal archive, so it's amusing how tightly fair use of whatever is just playing over a speaker somewhere, like a coffee shop, can negate your right to a video. Given the whole microtransaction culture, you have to worry at some point you might not be able to post something in any way because it has someone's copyrighted/patented color, advertising playing somewhere, clothing patterns, or one of a million things you'll need permission to show. Hyperbole and vaguely the stuff of science fiction, but it has parallels.
Then again, sometimes it just moves. I think the Pushbike song is one such example - I should just relink.
Anyway, courtesy of one of the RAGBRAI groups I follow, here's Pedro the Lion singing about his Yellow Bike.
Every time I see these markings on local trails, which must mean it's due for some sort of maintenance, I can't help but think stay on target....stay on target!
Last weekend I rode out to Hastings on an Ingress hunt. There was a portal at Spring Lake Park Reserve that was holding up big fields. The ride there...not so bad. Sort of downhill into the river valley for about 30 miles. The ride back...different story. I don't think it helped that I didn't eat because the breakfast joint I was targeting in Hastings opened an hour later than Google said.
Ride back: mostly uphill, 25 miles, slight wind, and a lot of road construction. At one point I had to go under an under-construction under/overpass on Highway 52. Going to Hastings it wasn't so bad because it was early and traffic was light. On the way back it was around noon and the traffic was buzzing. I was pinned against cement separators making sure I caught the eye of every motorist buzzing down the detour on/off ramp at 65 mph. Nasty.
Those Hastings Ingressers are nuts. The whole thing was back up within a few hours and I think they even scored some high rankings in the fielding standings thanks to rethrows.
On the way back I was running out of water, so I was excited when I found a pump. After a huge chug of water, I realized it was slightly off tasting well water. I thought about it for a few moments, and realized this bottle of water comes from directly between the enormous covered mountains of trash deposited by the refuse company and the cracking/processing plant on the other side. I can't imagine, despite all their precautions, that this isn't one of the most fucked up bottles of water I could have chosen to drink, at least in my area. I'm going to choose to believe that somehow nothing leaked into the water table.
Last Sunday I decided I was lacking in longer rides because of Ingress. Ingress tends to slow me down to 7-8 miles in an hour on average. No amount of sprinting fixes it. Hacking, linking, and fielding simply takes time. So I committed to picking a portal with a lot of big fields hanging off of it and decided I'd just go there with no stops.
It was more interesting than I expected. It was near Empire Township south of Farmington and I got a lost a few times before I finally found the dirt road I was supposed to be on. Reminiscent of Almanzo.
I got lost several more times trying to work my way around the portal because it seemed to be in the middle of a field. But every spur on the dirt road ran into private property or a no-trespassing fence. So I finally said "fuck it" and lifted my bike over my head and crossed a barb wire fence to get on a horse trail. It was a little wet so it was crazy difficult going uphill. But it was the right decision and I ended up at the portal. It was an easy takedown because no more than one person at a time wants to haul their ass out there. Ended up being about 41.5 miles and a 47.5 mile day.
Had my second bicycling accident of the year tonight. Neither of them has been too bad and neither involved cars or traffic, thankfully. The first one happened about two months or so ago. My brakes were getting looser and looser so I watched a YouTube video and tightened them up so that they had a two finger gap (e.g. pull them tight and there's still a gap of a two finger width). The next day I pedaled down by the river (Minnesota) on the gravel trail and needed to stop. So I pulled my brakes as hard as I would have when they were mushy. Slide and flip, right over the top. It must have been impressive. The two other cyclists down there who saw me looked a little shocked and then asked if I was ok. I had a sock full of blood and some good holes in me and bent handlebars and brakes. Everything was fixable, just beat up.
Then tonight, I laid it down. I was down in Blackhawk Park and it's damp out. So humid nothing is drying out. So as I crossed the bridge at the lake, when I took a slight left, I realized that the normally dry moss on the wood of the bridge was slick as ice. Looked just like a motorcycle going down on gravel. Except on a pedestrian bridge. Reminded me of when I flipped the bike upside on the ice on the way to work five years ago. I haven't discovered anything missing, although my water bottle went shooting down the bridge. Good bloody scuff on my elbow and I ripped my plastic toe clip loose on the side that hit the bridge. It popped the two nuts right off the bolts.
All in all - could be way worse, and the bike is still working. At least I think it is. I still have to double check for all my spokes when it's brighter out.
I was bicycling last week, just before dusk, when a bug hit me in the glasses so hard it actually caused me to rock my head back a bit. It was hard to see out of one lens after that and I thought it was just a smudge. But when I took the glasses off to clean them, the bug mark wouldn't come out. It's etched into the plastic. Must have been a beetle. Glad I wear the glasses as often as I do, although I'm disappointed to lose my lenses. Fortunately, Ming helped me pick out a set on RAGBRAI that came with four additional sets of lenses (although two are fairly clear), so I have an immediate backup.
One more picture of packing in the dark - I think we were on the road by 5:15 a.m.on the last day. Adam looks like he's packed fissionable materials. He had a new tent this time, so he didn't have to worry about trying to pack up a jumbled collection of busted poles. Ming, however, had a fiberglass pole tent that didn't survive. He was generally patching it together with duct tape and sticks until Tun loaned him a pole repair kit. At which point Adam remembered he had a kit as well, he'd just been reserving it in case his own pole broke before loaning it to Ming (actually, he forgot he had it).
My sandals. Pictured solely to remember they gave their life. During the trek to the laundromat, one of them lost the grip on the bottom. Only an issue on the slippery morning baggage truck ramp and when trying to walk evenly on two shoes of different heights. I pulled the bottom off the other one. And then it's strap broke. However, I could velcro the straps together which kept them functional for an hour or two at a time before re-jiggering. Farewell, sweet princes. May you rest in the Washington landfill peaceably.
Time lapse photo of a bunch of riders. Adam makes an appearance and there's a fun rider who gives me the peace sign and a big smile. Made me wish I'd had her on regular speed filming. That was someone who was certainly happy to have done the ride.
The Columbus Junction swinging bridge.
Ming on the bridge. He accused me of shaking it on purpose.
Another view of the bridge - total strangers.
Here's me crossing the bridge with some wobbling only to find Wisconsonites on the other side.
More bridge video, just because I had it. Filming was sort of dubious - I was worried I'd tip over a side or drop my phone. Those people in clipped shoes crossing the bridge - very daring.
When we pulled into Muscatine, this was taped to the ground Must be a bicycling team - I just hadn't heard of them before. Yep - looked 'em up. 25 members. But no one I know. I was familiar with Team Roadkill and Team Loon.
End of the ride - tire dip in the Mississippi River.
Ming took this nice action shot of me within a few dozen feet of the finish line.
The three of us dipping our tires.
The luggage as Jen came to pick us up. I didn't take a picture of it, but my bag, which I've had since RAGBRAI 2007, took a beating getting dumped off the truck each evening. This reminded me of it because it was one of the first bags on that morning, but we had a hard time finding it as it had rolled down the time scale. I used Adam's duct tape liberally to patch up four big new holes, not including one that ripped through the handle area and bent the handle. It lived a good life.
And that's all he wrote. 2016 RAGBRAI come and gone. Ming's looking at another non-Iowa location next year. I'm conflicted. I like the every-town-has-something nature of RAGBRAI and the 8500 week riders + day riders aspect. You're never far from trouble. You're never far from a fix. You're never far from food. You're never far from another bicyclist, even if you lose track of your own team. I figure in another few years another friend will ask me to go again and I'll reassess then. In the meantime I'm going to take a look at one of the mountain rides and get a taste of something different.
Day 6, Ottumwa to Washington, was a relatively easy day of riding despite being a little longer and steeper than the previous day. I think the difference was that we'd crossed into the decreasing elevation zone (so you had more descent than ascent), we were stronger after 6 days, the weather was a bit better, and there were plenty of strong riders to hang with. I spent a lot of time with two Team Cuisine riders who were averaging pretty much 20 mph spot on. Everytime I dropped below 20 I had to speed up to catch them, so I knew that was about their pace. Even uphill they seldom dropped below 16 mph. When I pulled in later, Ming was only a minute or two behind me and Adam, although we missed him, wasn't too far behind. This was a really nice day of bicycling, and what I look forward to on RAGBRAI, even if the best pie was the day before. I sort of wished it was longer, but in retrospect once that sun kicked in, it was pretty darn hot again. We managed to beat a lot of the heat to hang out in coffee shops and the theater.
Ming getting ready at Ottumwa in the morning. He looks like a chupacabra, ready to devour your bicycle, just like the real chupacabra devours goats.
The baggage truck in Ottumwa. I think this really captures how early we were usually awake and packed. And we were never the first. Plenty of folks clacking tent poles and the baggage truck dropping it's ramp before we were awake. The worst part about leaving this early (in addition to not having lights on my bike) was that we sometimes got lost trying to find the route because there wasn't anyone to follow. Ottumwa was a good example - we ended up routing around the north (?) end of the campground instead of taking the trail out like intended. Only added a mile. We got better and better at find the route signs, but it took some practice.
Packing in the dark. My flashlight died - I was extremely happy my battery for charging my phone had a built in light so I didn't have to use my phone to see. That's always an invitation to break it.
We stopped for breakfast at a turn off that wasn't obviously the stop. Ming and I had to turn around and pedal back. This is where I learned about the history of Chris Cakes and automatic pancake cooking. It was threatening rain at this point, but we never got wet.
My least favorite stop. There was no free water just "at your will" payment for water and watermelon and eggs. Admittedly, you could pay $0, but that seems a bit of a hit to the high school kids running the stop. I heard a few other folks talking about people filling their water bottles from plastic bottles of water later in the ride. No one appreciated it. If you look toward the back of the picture, you can catch a guy peeing in the corn field. There were many father's taking pictures of their kids wandering out of the cornfield after doing their business. I can only imagine those show up in graduation slide shows later in life.
Another picture of the town without water. There wasn't much left to this town - everything seemed to be shuttered. Reminded me of Donnybrook where my maternal grandfather lived. When Ming and I biked there several years ago it was in a similar state of little left to see.
Adam pondering the next stretch.
We stopped in another town for pie. It wasn't too long after breakfast, so I didn't think I was going to have any pie, but after Ming disappeared to the bathroom for over thirty minutes, it became too tempting. Turned out he was talking with a former FBI hostage negotiator at a table nearby.
West Chester. The town we all sprinted into I mentioned earlier. Cool use of existing materials to create something unique. My primary concern here was that there was a confederate flag proudly on display outside of town. I wanted to ask the rootbeer float stand I visited whether they were affiliated as I wasn't keen on my cash going to racists.
A good photo of the wire bicycle parking setup in West Chester that's mimicked in almost every town. It doesn't work so well for my sport bike because of the handlebar configuration. But if you've got a roadbike, it's great.
Ming, running over a goat in West Chester, in line with the chupacabra comment earlier. He had a root beer float as well. It was a very good find at this point on the ride.
Washington was a nice town. Probably my favorite stop, despite the two confederate flags we saw on this leg and a bunch of All Lives Matter nonsense. I say nonsense because it's easy to discount the specific theme of "our lives matter too" when your state is something like 97.5% white and RAGBRAI seems to be even less diverse (anecdotal - could be more diverse). And seriously, confederate flags in Iowa? You're not that f-ing far south despite being in Southern Iowa. The only thing I could intuit is that you were disappointed you never made slaves harvest corn.
They had a pig theme going on. Here's the central park where they had entertainment and all the vendor stands. There's a coffee shop on that corner up there where I hung out waiting for Adam and Ming because they went to the fancy showers and I used the closest possible shower to the tents. You'll see that later. But to continue my ALM theme (sorry, a bit of politics - I didn't start it), while I was waiting in the coffee shop two riders got into a heated argument about BLM and ALM. The ALM guy was wearing a watermelon bike helmet, so I think he lost some credibility. It got very loud until the BLM leaning rider said simply "I'm not going to talk to you anymore" at which point watermelon head grumbled "You've ruined my whole day and my whole ride. This day is no longer fun for me." Dude...you're an idiot. You don't want your whole ride ruined, don't start the political crap in the cafe with other riders (and he did start it).
During the entertainment later, one of the musicians on stage also took some time to explain All Lives Matter. That ended how long I was sticking around. Tun came up to us somewhat incredulous they'd do that during the ride. Ming, meanwhile, was being creepy and looking for a geocache in the middle of a square crowded with people.
While we were leaving the coffee shop - excellent smoothies by the way and they stayed open after their normal hours to serve RAGBRAI riders - Adam pointed out that the "woman in panties" he'd seen during the ride was inside. Ming and I turned around and pretended we were looking for things we'd left at the table so we could see who he was talking about. I think they were more custom shorts than panties, but they could definitely be classified that way. Frills and colorful fabric and short. Ming said she was too tall for him which led to a joke about him bouncing off her underboob. It was funny thing to imagine.
But, prior to the politics, and afterwards, we had a good time in Washington. For lunch, we hit one of the local restaurants. There were actually two Chinese restaurants in town. Ming was sure we needed to hit the buffet. Adam and I wanted the big shiny non-buffet restaurant. Ming gave in and admitted our choice wasn't too bad as far as Chinese food went.
And we got to see the other 85 minutes or so of Tarzan after seeing the last 5 earlier in the week. The theater was pretty cool, having been in operation something like 119 years. Looked a bit like the Pantages or State Theater inside with a balcony. I took a few power naps during Tarzan. It really wasn't very good.
Back at the campsite, they underestimated the amount of sewage a bunch of riders could produce. The smaller shower house on the fairgrounds reeked of sewage until this team came in to figure out how to drain it all away. You can get a baked potato down there in the lighted area - mmm....baked potato with sewage smell.
Other than that hiccup, the fairgrounds were very nice. This is some local entertainment that did covers of upbeat female-centric country songs. I sat there for quite a while listening to them. They got their start on RAGBRAI a few years earlier.
It was a small crowd, so better than the crowded venue downtown. But just as bad dancing.
I've RAGBRAI-ed in fair grounds before. People take every opportunity to find some shade, including dropping tent in barns and animal stalls. I'll intersperse a few examples further down.
The distance to bathroom was surprising. I think it was almost 1/3 of a mile (or more). I went twice during the night and was worried I might not make it. There was a Hyvee nearby where we had dinner (we actually ate something healthy) and during the night Ming lost his way to the bathroom and ended up at Hyvee instead. But having to trek all the way to the porta potties did allow me to find the Spam Bus, which I've managed to find almost every year I've been on RAGBRAI.
This is where I took my shower. No pictures from inside, but I can describe it. It's where you'd wash the cattle (or horses). A big cement area with nozzles and a truck of hot water hooked up. There's a men's side and a women's side separated by black plastic. Someone noted that this was the first time they'd seen volunteers having to watch for drones. Not for the men's side, but for the women's side, as there was no roof on the cattle washing space (go figure, cows don't mind being naked in public). Never occurred to me that tech might cause an issue for a traditional RAGBRAI showering option.
See...Cattle Barn. Although we weren't under the awning, but out back. I was a little worried about what sort of cooties I might pick up through my feet standing in an area frequented by livestock. I guess we'll know in a few months.
More of their pig theme. This was out back of the showers. I'm not sure who they expected to see it. I was only there because I was looking for the charging station.
More tents and bicycles in livestock pens.
And a few more.
Looks like their going to show their bike like some sort of livestock being judged.
One of the haybale pigs near the fairground entertainment. Haybales are extensively used as art during RAGBRAI. I didn't take a photo, but Ming has one, of the giant bear one town/group built out of like 5 or 6 haybales.
Washington Fairground central with light up bicycle art.
Spinny! Reminded me of the Valentine's Day card Kyle and I built in High School out of 4x8s with flashing lights. Maybe we could start careers as professional RAGBRAI decorators.
I'm not sure if it was because a lot of people were squirreled away in the livestock pens and elsewhere, but RAGBRAI seemed pretty sparse by Washington. In Ottumwa and elsewhere the tents were packed. One day someone even put their tent floor on Adam's stakes trying to wedge into a nice spot. And around the high school and college earlier, all shaded spots were full and tents were everywhere. This doesn't look typical at all. Perhaps a lot of riders were from Ottumwa and just wrapped it up there. I talked to a co-worker who rode with a team out of Muscatine and he said several people in his group wrapped up early due to heat and hills. Or maybe people were just worried the next day was going to be raining. There were flash flood warnings not too far from us the evening we were in Washington.
A view from the direction of Hyvee. You can't even see the porta potties in this picture. They're way down the hill past that building on the right.
I can't remember whether it was this day, or another one. As Ming and Adam say, the days start to flow together a bit. But while I was riding I saw a woman with a Spring Valley jersey on. I talked to her a while about Almanzo (I told Ming my tale of how far behind he was on the last hill keeps getting longer and longer - his time up the hill that is, not the time I tell the tale) and it turned out she was on the ride with her husband and they run the True Value Hardware in Spring Valley. She'd had the jerseys custom made for the two of them. Her husband sits on the board for Almanzo. I also met a rider who's a teacher not too far from my sister's house (although not for my nieces) who had moved to Minnesota from Iowa. I like the license plates on many rider's bicycles that give you a starting point to talk to them about where they're from, why they're riding, how many rides they've done, and what they do off the roads of Iowa.
