Is This Heaven?

No,it's Iowa.
It sure seemed like heaven today, though. Of the 8 RAGBRAIs that I have done, I can't think of one that had such a beautiful beginning day. Starting before sunup means that many of the mornings when we set out it is still quite chilly and you have to start the day wearing a jacket. Then as it warms up you don't need the jacket and it's a bother to drag it along the rest of the day. But it was warm enough this morning that a jacket wasn't required.

It was a bright sunny day with only a few clouds building up in the afternoon. The temperatures remained mild throughout the afternoon and what was also rare is that the wind did not kick in. Looks like rain is not in the forecast for tonight either.




Chatting with different riders throughout the day, I got the impression that there are more than the usual number of first-time riders. Comments I've heard were that some people were surprised at the number of hills we encountered. Still a lot of people out there who think that Iowa is flat. The information given out earlier in the year when the ride was announced did say that overall for the week this will be one of the flattest rides ever. But this part of the state has some hilly stretches in the area that's called the Loess Hills. So today was not one of the days with a lot of flat stretches. Of course, for me and Lee, having put in a lot of training miles this summer, we tackled those hills with no problems at all. And one of the benefits of going through hilly country is that the scenery is awesome. This has been a rainy summer in Iowa so with the bright, sunny day those green hills just shimmered in the light. Almost heaven.

Tonight's accomodations are in Storm Lake, which is a first time visit for me. But Lee said he did go through here one other year when he was sightseeing and RAGBRAI went close to here. As we pedaled into town we were routed through the local college, Buena Vista University. They have a beautiful campus.

Our campground is right along the lake. After getting set up and eating dinner we have pedaled into town to take part in the evening activities after a great first day on RAGBRAI.