Early arrival in Iowa

After the difficulties I experienced traveling to Iowa for RAGBRAI the last 2 years, it has been a pleasure this year to arrive a couple of days early. Instead of being stranded in the airport the day before RAGBRAI because of a late departure from Dulles resulting in a missed connection, yesterday I had a smooth and incident-free Delta flight to Cedar Rapids. Mike had the day off and was able to drive up with the kids and pick me up. My plane was landing just as they were walking up. The kids were excited to see Grandma's plane coming in and Grandma was happy to walk into the terminal to see all the smiling faces.

Iowa has experienced a heat wave the last couple of days. That is good news for RAGBRAI, since the one certainty about weather is that it is sure to change. By next week cooler temperatures should be here.

There was a scheduled 5:00 pm ride yesterday with Bicyclists of Iowa City (BIC) that Mike and I were going to join. After stopping for a fun lunch in Cedar Rapids at the Flying Weiner




we drove to the bike shop in Iowa City and I rented a bike for the day. By that time it was becoming clear that even with the winds picking up the day was going to be a sizzler. BIC decided to cancel the ride because of the heat. One of Mike's friends was debating if he still wanted to ride with me and Mike but at 4:30 he told Mike he had decided not to go. So Mike and I filled the water bottles and set out for a 30-mile ride. The thermometer showed 103 degrees.

The wind from the south was pretty strong so we decided to do a loop where we would head into the wind going out on the road that was fairly flat and then the trip back on the road with more hills would have the advantage of tailwinds. It was incredibly hot but we had the good fortune after about an hour of pedaling to pass by a spectacular display of fountains in front of the Riverside Casino. We put down the bikes, walked over to the fountains, and stood downwind of where the spray from the fountains was shooting over the grass. It was pure heaven standing there getting soaked with the spray after the sweaty ride.


Continuing on after our refreshing shower we soon spotted an A&W Root Beer stand and had a different refreshment--a deliciuos root beer float. We finished the ride with a dinner stop at a Chipolte restaurant downtown. Shades of RAGBRAI...riding your way through beautiful Iowa countryside filling up on treats at every opportunity.