So we decided to ride in the RAGBRAI (Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) again this year after giving it a try for the first time last year. And we only rode two of the total seven days again. One issue is finding a place to stay near the start towns. Accommodations for 15,000 plus bicycle riders are a challenge.  The majority, camp out in tents, but some of us older riders need a real bed and air conditioning and trying to find available rooms even immediately after the route is announced can be tough. So we spent Thursday night in the Hotel Ottumwa in Ottumwa, Iowa which in its heyday must have been quite the place.  Its heyday though was well over. But we had a place to sleep and were only 30 minutes by car from the start of Friday’s ride in Fairfield.

Our first day – the 6th day route – was from Fairfield to Burlington, a total of 69 miles.

The route was mostly easterly with the prevailing winds behind except for the south sections which were straight into a strong wind. The total mileage this year was 427 miles averaging about 60 miles per day.

There were six in our group; Al, Jay, and Ross rode most of the route.

I rode very little and drove one of the cars, and Cathi and Brenda were the other sag wagon drivers.

And it was hard work being a support vehicle. We spent a lot of time on country roads with a phone in one hand and a map in the other trying to figure out how to get into towns while having to avoid the bike routes. And it was hot. And invariably a pesky fly would get in the car and manage to escape every effort to get rid of it one way or another. And we were always needing to track down ice because it was not only hot but humid.  And I spilled an entire bottle of orange gatorade on the floor of our car. Which is probably why the fly stuck around.

But the guys started out fresh in Fairfield and headed to Salem 32 miles down the road. The first town on the route was Stockport and they stopped here at a pancake place run by a friend of Al’s. This was before 10 am and so far he had served more than 400 orders of pancakes. He follows the ride and moves his pancake-making operation to a different location every day.

Today was “college jersey” day and Ross managed to meet up with a fellow buckeye along the ride.

I was in the car and planned to meet Ross in Salem to switch off. I arrived and hung out at a street corner and watched as riders came into town.

I continued to watch riders come into town and sunburned my feet while waiting in the sun. Lots of riders who arrived earlier were lying in the shade in people’s yards trying to cool off a bit.

I had not been able to reach Ross to tell him exactly where I was because I had no phone service, and even though we had walkie-talkies, he hadn’t turned his on.  Best laid plans, etc. And Salem was pretty crowded; only a few thousand riders were milling about.

Including several ladies in these pretty outfits.

I was tracking him on my phone, however, and noticed that he had been 2.5 miles out of town for quite awhile. This generally meant one of two things: either he was having trouble, or, he had located homemade ice cream. Fortunately, it was the latter. The guys found this tent selling baked goods and ice cream too good to pass up.

Finally Al arrives.

Then Jay and Ross. Super hot. At least 90 degrees now.

We grabbed lunch in the park at a barbecue place.

Although the tenderloin vendor looked good too.

This Iowa Hawkeye fan with the interesting helmet decided to give that a try.

Another interesting biking outfit with wings and ruffles.

After eating I headed out to ride the next 10 miles or so. The wind and sun were fierce so I took a breather and stopped at a farm to check out a baby donkey which wasn’t too much of a baby anymore. There were lambs and baby chickens too, and the lady of the farm had a lemonade stand. The key attraction was the welcome shade.

Finally the road changed direction and the wind wasn’t in my face anymore and I arrived at the meeting place we set up which was at a crossroads. This was a major intersection where state troopers stopped traffic to let riders pass.

Then we had a tricky time figuring out how to get the cars to Geode State Park where Al wanted to join back in the ride. A gravel road finally got us to a back entrance and I took a photo of a tandem bike coming down a hill through the park.

This sign let the riders know which way to go.

Other signs warned that 15,000 bicycle riders would come this way and to be prepared.

We drove on to Burlington and met up with the riders and then headed to the Squirrels’ Nest B&B for the night.

This was a comfortable contrast to our abode last night.

And our nice landlady Inez shared her “nutty delight” cookie recipe with us. We had already sampled the cookies in our room.

With so many people in town overnite, we figured restaurants would be super busy so we ordered pizza and salad and ate on the back deck with this nice view of the Mississippi.

Other RAGBRAI participants were camped out in the backyard.

We already decided that our riding experience last year was better because this year’s rides were (1) hillier, (2) hotter, and (3) windier. But regardless of the weather conditions, the ride was still extremely interesting because of the variety of people you meet, the manner in which they are dressed, the concession stands in the small towns and farms along the way, and the energy and fun-loving spirit of the riders.