If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen I posted tonight was “date night” on RAGBRAI. Bill and I wanted to break away from the crowds for awhile, so after our showers, we asked someone local for a suggestion for a nice dinner, away from downtown. She directed us to a wonderful restaurant, only two miles away, so we were able to bike there. It was wonderful!
The crowds can be a bit much on RAGBRAI at times, yet, we take comfort in numbers… for safety reasons. On Sunday, 19,000+ registered and rode. Monday was 17,000. I didn’t see Tuesday’s total. They will post today’s tomorrow morning. I think you’d agree, that’s a whole lot of bicycles and people! So, at some point during the week we typically break away for some solitude. And tonight was a gift.
But earlier, our day started at 4:30. After breaking camp, we were on the road by 6. The sunrise was beautiful!
Not long after we were on the road, our chain came off as we were climbing a steep hill. Only by the grace of God were we able to clip out of our pedals in time to stop before who knows what could have happened. We continue to thank God for His protection, especially this week! Bill was able to fix the issue quickly, and we were back on the road again.
Towns I’ve never heard of in Iowa such as Humeston, New York, Bethlehem, Confidence, and Mystic were some of our stops. We seemed to have wings on the road today, as we biked at a pretty good clip. Were landed in camp after 70.3 miles by 1:30pm.
We found some fun spots along the way… one was this church handing out water, and another was our ice cream stop in Mystic. Some of the friendliest people around!
But, honestly, I’m exhausted. But it’s a great kind of exhausted. We’re tucked in for the night in Centerville, organizing for tomorrow and calling it a day soon. We have 57.6 miles ahead of us when we wake, and only 1,999 feet of climb. Yay! We’re traveling to Ottumwa.Enjoy a few more pics from today…
I’ll update again soon!
Blessings!
Julie
P.S. I wasn’t able to post this last night because of the network being busy. I guess that can happen with thousands of others on their phones at the same time.
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