Ragbrai seatosea day 3.

Today was great day. We got up at 6 ish to the familiar sound of clicking tent poles. I knew I was in Iowa because a train blew its horn in the middle of the night. Then around four in the morning someone drove a hotrod around the park we were tented in. Just like old times. 

Still smiling in the morning thanks to ear plugs. 

The ride was true to Iowa. Lots of hills that are just too far apart to carry momentum from down to up. Wayne Joanne and I ran into sue and Susan and mark. 

As we came into diagonal it looked strangely familiar. Everybody gets off their bikes and walks through the town. 

We found terry and the seatosea in the parking lot of the "united Presbyterian baptist church". No kidding that was the name. The truck is working great. I had three people ask me what this seatosea thing all about. This opens the door to let people know about this great cause. Other cyclists reported the same thing. 

Now most people lift their bikes in celebration but I decided to lift a car. 

Here are a bunch of tractors for the farmers. Not sure what kind the are. Must be a grave yard. When we got back to the campsite we found out there was a outdoor community pool we could use for three dollars. It was a welcome relief tithe high heat. As I sat in the pool the thermometer on the wall read 110 degrees. It was hot. 

At night Nancy did some repairs.

Safe and sound for another day.  

SeatoSea day 2.

So I'm writing this blog on carries phone because we swapped phones today. This is actually the second time I'm writing part of this apparently when u go out of this app without saving to fix the fact her photos won't up load everything disappears. The morning started with much optimism. 

After climbing into town last night we figured more hills right away. We lucked out. 12 km of relatively flat riding.  Could this be the Iowa that everyone says is flat. I actually make a point of not studying the next day's ride. Had I, I would have known that we were in for 75.2 miles and 4000 feet of climbing. As we were riding I was surprised to have so many people ask me about SeatoSea. Great to tell them about the great work of world renew and the other SeatoSea partners.

The riders were tight at first but seemed to spread out a lot quicker then yesterday. The climbing started at 12 km and didn't stop till the end of the ride.

  

Caught a pic of a few old cars. 

This truck is like to take home with me. 

Climbing lots of hills. People were a little less chatty today. 

Saw a bunch of different bike setups. 

What a collection of people. All Gods children. 

We met Carrie in Corning. 

This is Joanne passing a cool barn. 

A couple of old trucks in town. 

I had my first piece of pie. It was great. 

The last 1/3 of the day was a tough grind. The hills are too far apart to carry momentum from one hill to the next. Lowest gear and find your happy place. 

As we passed people cheering us on said just two more hills. Even the signs on the road said two more hills. I think it's an Iowa inside joke. It was 20 more hills. 

So my knee has been achy but holding up. Today was the biggest test. The last 30 km Joanne and I would screem down the hills and then putter up the other side trying to keep our knees from giving out. After rolling out our legs and icing our knees well head to bed and see what tomorrow brings. Talk to you tomorrow 

Len. 

 

Ragbrai day 1

Day one started after a hot night where the temperature barely went below 90 degrees. 6 am and the place was clearing out. I watched most of the seatosea group leave but with my knee being a little iffy I was ok with that. Started out very tentatively. The pace to start was very slow but that was ok with me. This was the reason why. 

It was wall to wall people. Not something I was used to. Training alone in the middle of nowhere to riding in the middle of thousands. It was a good way to force me to take it easy. I just rode and tried to take it all in. Last night terry said our mission for the week was to witness. Not something most of us are real comfortable with. As we were riding I had people ask me what seatosea was all about. So just wearing a shirt was enough. I got the opportunity to tell people about the great work seatosea is doing. 

The classic selfy shows the amount of people. 

Quite the lineup of people behind and in front of me. As we got to the first town we had to get off our bikes and walk for 1/2 a mile. That was a first. 

Malvern was happy to have us and had plenty for us to do. I saw an old truck and was pulled in like a tractor beam. 

I have to say the slower pace to today was a refreshing change. I met up with Joanne and Wayne in the town and we road the rest of the way together. 

In the town of tabor I talked to a guy about these old trucks  and cars  they built cages around and used them in a type of 3 on 3 soccer game. 

That was fun. 

Pushing this ball around with these cars would be fun. We met Carrie and terry in the town. 

We continued on to the next town and passed an old ice cream maker. People seem to be having too much Fun. It's been an interesting day to learn how to relax and enjoy the ride. 

Things started to space out after 3/4 of the ride was done. The last ride into town was enjoyable. 

After showers Carrie and I went to town and enjoyed some food just before it started to rain. 

Back at camp now enjoying the evening. 

Ragbrai 2016 with seatosea

On our way to the southwest corner of Iowa to a town called Glenwood. Looking forward to seeing some old friends. 

I figured the first pic should be of corn fields. It is a well deserved stereotype. 

   

As we were driving here today we passed "dusty" crophopper. Made me think of the grandkids. 

We are passing a ton of buses loaded with bikes heading to the same place. They all have there team names, like

team blonde, team jort, barking spiders and a host of others. The seatosea group is made up of cyclist that are riding in ragbrai but raising money to fight poverty with seato sea. 

Here's a screenshot of the first day ride. If you want you can look it up on the ragbrai website. 

I've been looking forward to the ride for qiite a while. Training on and off the bike. I was determined to be in better shape than last summers ride. I even started playing hockey this summer. On Monday July 4th at 11pm I went down and heard my knee pop as my right foot decided to go sideways. Apparently they don't bend that way. The goalie came rushing over and was like I heard that and saw your leg bend, don't move. As I was rolling around in pain the last thing on my mind was don't move. I looked down expecting my leg to be pointing in a different direction. To my surprise it looked ok. I couldn't get up so they helped me off the ice. 

There goes ragbrai I thought. After exrays at the hospital they said looks like the knee is in place and I would have to see a surgeon at the fracture clinic. That couldn't happen until the next Monday. That wasn't quick enough I thought. I have to bike in three weeks I told them. I went home got Tom to bring my bike, the trainer upstairs. I tried to climb on my bike but couldn't get my leg over. Tom grabbed a step stool and I managed to get on my bike. I had my leg straight and slowly tried to rock back and forth. I couldn't even do a full revolution. This doesn't look good I thought.  After Ice and rest I tried two days later and managed to get a few full revolutions.  In my mind there was hope. After talking with Jon Stevens Fromm Renew fitness he hooked me up with a surgeon that I could see on Friday. Carrie and I went to see him and I'm not sure if we were in the same meeting cause I heard good news but Carrie heard the opposite. See me before you go if it doesn't improve or after I get back. After two weeks of ice rehab and light cycling were still going. Carrie and I did 25 km on Wednesday pain free ish. I think I'm ready. 

Day 10. Last day.

The goal today was to ride up loagan's pass via the road to the sun. Then we were to head down the other side of the mountain to st. Mary's. Turns out that with all fires on the other side only cars can go down the other side. Here's a pic before more talking. 

This pic is about 1/2 hour into the ride. It's 6am. I know what your thinking. Are u guys crazy. That's the best set up yet. 

It was so cold. Numb fingers, toes and knees. The first and last rest stop was at 18 miles. 

The new plan was to go up to the pass, turn around and make it back by 11 am. A round trip of 60 miles. Not counting the fact that we had to climb a mountain. 

You can see the urgency so we didn't hang around long. I barely drank anything by this point cause it was so cold. I took two bottles but a lot of people filled only one because of the climb. Less weight. 

As we approached the bottom of the mountains I thought how are we ever gonna pull this off.

Riding beside the mountain stream the climb was very minimal and quiet so early in the morning. We turned a few corners, 

And it became real. Full on climb. Nothing crazy but a steady unending climb to the top. Bob the machine took off. Every man for himself. Ride at your own pace. 

Thru a tunnel. Not really sure which peak around us was ours. 

You could see I was gaining some elevation. The road was below us now. We just did a switch back. Now my legs were warm, but my fingers were still cold. 

Climb climb climb. A few more cars as the time ticked away. 

It's hard to smile as you climb. 

You can't stop concentrating because just over the side is a huge drop. 

Well lets just say that the scenery made it all worth it. It's different than being in a car. You feel the temperature change as you go from beside the lake to the start of the climb to mid way. It's getting colder. 

This is going along side the mountain looking at the valley we rode in on. I think you can see the rode alongside the river. 

This was my first look at the pass. The low part between the mountains. You can see the cut line in the rocks from the road. Of course as I was riding there were no signs of how much further. I didnt know that  was the summit. Keep going and legs don't give up I was thinking. 

 Not knowing how much longer was tough. No partners to ask what mile were at. This road was built in 1932. Look at that block work. Riding in the sun would be nice. I guess that's why they called it the road to the sun. I'm sure the guys building it thought the same thing 

Maybe I should stop and take a hike. Then I saw a welcome sign. It said 1/2 a mile to summit. I think I was going so fast that I only got this sign just after it. 

They're  messing with me, a parking lot like we're finished. Around the corner I go. 

Some where on this is a mountian goat. 

There's the summit. A bunch of cyclists are cheering me on. They must have gotten a ride up;) I should have trained more. Too late for that. 

I was going to throw my bike down the mountian but then I realized I had to ride it down and back 30 miles. 

Carrie drove up the mountian and showed up just after I hit the summit. 

Thanks to bob and Jane for dragging my sorry butt from jasper to glacier park. Thanks to Terry and all the volunteers for supporting us all the way. Thanks to Carrie for helping me and the other riders. Wouldn't have done it without you. 

Here's a bonus pic

This is a

One of the tour buses that runs to the peak and back. 

Thanks Len