On the Road Again

The last full day Team Barrel of Monkeys spent on the RAGBRAI road started with a 4:30AM wake-up call. After breaking down our campsite (We were lucky enough to camp in front of an elementary school... right under a street light... on a busy street... with the night before's rock & roll concert just a few blocks away.), the three riders hopped on their bikes for a quick sunrise photo before heading off for the day.

Toni took a few photos from the road. This photo showcases a smidgen of the bikes they saw along the way:

Dad grabbing a cuppa joe along the bike route:

Dad & Toni posing in front of a silo of some sort:

Bill & Dad at one of the small towns between camp sites:

And at the end of the day, the riders met back up with Mom & I for what would be our last campsite.

"Why, that campsite looks fine," you say? We have since come to call that campsite "Tick-landia." And it was hot. And it was humid. And it was loud. And the next day, we were done.

The Barrel of Monkeys Get Air-Conditioning!!

After our first full day of RAGBRAI, we were in for a very special treat.

The folks who opened up their yard for us to camp in (so we didn't have to stay in the general camping area), had an air-conditioned studio apartment big enough for all 5 of us, and they invited us to crash there for the night. Yippee!!

We ate BBQ in their front yard, watched tons of bike riders & team vehicles cruise down the road, and got to know this really nice family.

We also met a lovely woman from Appleton, WI, who was waiting late into the evening trying to get in contact and meet up with her friend who had rode the arduous first day of RAGBRAI. I mentioned in my last post that the first day riding was tough - Mom & I heard over six ambulances picking up riders throughout the course - and we learned a few days later than this woman's friend was all right, but had been transported to an area hospital for dehydration.

The first day, as Toni so aptly put it, "was grueling." Therefore, the air-conditioned studio was a god-send!

The family also created cute welcome signs for us.

And decorated the room with monkeys and signs so we really felt special. This is the one monkey that we got to keep to decorate future campsites.

Needless to say, but we all felt so much better after a full night of restful sleep!

RAGBRAI XXXIX

After almost a year of training & planning, last month we went to Iowa for the (Des Moines) Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI. It was the 39th year RAGBRAI was held, and the first time my Dad, sister Toni, and Bill participated.

The event lasts 7 full days, and we made it to the 4th day before the incredible heat & humidity made us choose to finish our participation. As Bill said, the ride was an absolute joy, but camping in (heat index calculated) 100+ degree heat & humidity just about did us all in. Not to mention the price gouging - $5 for each cup of plain old coffee, c'mon! It's not even that expensive in Monterey!

However, we did get a lot of great pictures & stories. Here are a few, and there are more to come...

Here is our first campsite, the night before the first ride:

Alas, about 2 hours after these pictures were taken, a serious weather front came through... tornado sirens rang out (Needless to say, I freaked - I know what to do in an earthquake, but tornados? Those suckers are scary!), and after the threatening weather moved on, our shade structure was halfway across the field and one of the poles was bent beyond repair. An ominous start to our adventure :-/

To beat the heat, Toni made each of us a "Barrel of Monkeys" coolie - neck bandanas with gel inside that became cool when soaked in water. Yeah, we pretty much wore our coolies every night at the campsite!

Bill purchased a do-rag / sweat band thing that really helped keep the sweat out of his eyes while on the trip, but was also a bit too tight, creating a stubborn, week-long headache. Ouchie!

A picture of our campsite right before the storm hit:

And at 5:45AM the next morning, our three bike riders hit the road! They had over 60 miles and 4,000 feet of elevation to climb before the day would be done. And all three were doing so on very little to no sleep... Yikes!