RAGBRAI 2016 Update 3

Day 3 of our RAGBRAI ride couldn’t have been more beautiful, or more fun. Well, maybe it could have been more fun with a few less hills. But with good music motivating us to keep peddling up them, we did pretty well!

I lose track of time and forget what day it is on RAGBRAI. We have no schedule, just as long as we make it to the overnight town by dark. Today we arrived mid-afternoon.

But before that, 63.3 miles were clocked on our odometer. We again experienced quaint towns, full of personality. Diagonal was our first stop. There we had lunch for breakfast, and I “drove” a tractor.

We flew through Mount Ayr, our next town. But something happened there that I didn’t expect. As we biked past a corner-lot house, an older couple was sitting together in the front yard, watching the bikers pass by. I’m unsure why they caught my eye, because that’s typical in all these towns. People sit in their yards as if a parade was going by. But at first glance, I would have sworn that couple sitting there were my parents. Strange, but it nearly took my breath away. Tears instantly filled my eyes. Glancing closer, they looked nothing like my parents. I lifted my arm and extended to them a wave. If my parents were alive today, I wonder what they’d think about me riding a bicycle across Iowa for a week! Mom would be worried about us, for sure.
We ran into our nephew, Evan, and his friend, Mitch, in Kellerton, and finished the journey with them to Leon. Had a blast with them!

Bill’s was able to reconnect with his high school classmate, Jody, as she and her family were serving dinner at Leon’s United Methodist Church tonight. Such a great group of people, and a great dinner.

As I write tonight, my eyes are getting droopy. I need sleep. Tomorrow’s ride is 65.1 miles with 2,708 feet of climb. We end up in Centerville.

Thanks for coming along with us on this journey! I’ll update again soon.

Blessings,

Julie