Jay’s Note: This is part ten of a running two-week adventure log for RAGBRAI. Each day I’ll be posting a journal entry and some pictures from our trip that begins in Virginia, lands us in Iowa for a bike ride, and then eventually gets us back to the East Coast. Part nine is here.
My knee’s been bothering me. It started yesterday about halfway through the ride; I iced it when I got in, and started out today feeling fine. Then about 30 minutes in, it hit again. The workaround: upstrokes only with my right leg, full strokes with the left. Tomorrow is the century loop day, so we’ll see how one and a half legs handles a hundred miles.
We woke up at 5am, packed everyone up, and got the gear ready. The trailer’s headed toward shore power again tonight, which means a big battery-charging session when I get in. For now: 68 miles from Boone to Marshalltown, with a few stops in between.
Jeremy and I split off from the group and hoofed it toward Nevada, the halfway meeting town. Nothing too eventful on the way — although our friend Andrew did recommend a stop, and promised “lots of fun.” I have to say, it was an interesting choice. Promises were made, Andrew…
In Nevada I grabbed a Coke from Casey’s and a burger from a place called Savory and Sweet that tasted exactly like an In-N-Out burger. Eating on RAGBRAI is one of the great pleasures of the thing — the calories you’re replacing are serious, so you can really go at it.
We pushed on to Colo, where Jeremy picked up a scotcharoo for a snack. A couple miles later I got my Beekman’s, as promised. Then it was on to the Iowa Craft Beer tent — root beer for me again. Tough times, I know.
Got into camp around noon. Sarah and the kids had already gone ahead to the pool, so I took a shower in the building right next to our site — fantastic — got changed, got back on the bike, and cycled over to join them.
They have a lazy river there! Plus a bunch of slides, and good snacks, which the kids put away in quantity. The only downside was the cool air, which made getting out of the pool a little brisk. Not complaining. This weather has been a gift for cycling.
Back at camp I iced the knee some more and got everything plugged in — we won’t have shore power for the last two nights of camping. And some surprise news on that front: after RAGBRAI, we’re now headed to Starved Rock, where we got a cabin for three nights. We’ll charge everything up, sleep in real beds, and generally get re-oriented before pointing east.
Dinner was easy tonight — ham and turkey sandwiches, carrots, and chips. After several days of eating like a linebacker, the lighter food felt great. For the record, today’s intake also included two Cokes, a root beer, a pile of cookies, and an ice cream. Simple carbs move the ride along. That’s my story, anyway, and I’m sticking to it.
We’re camping in the local park in Marshalltown tonight, which is a pretty nice spot. I got a lot of sleep last night and felt great for it, so I’m chasing another early bedtime — maybe 8pm.
One more thing to look forward to: I bought the girls their day passes for Friday, so they can ride with me. Both of them on their first RAGBRAI. That’s going to be a really fun day.