Jay’s Note: This is part eleven 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 ten is here.
Today is century day. The knee’s still hurting, but better… for now.
We woke up at 5am and got on the road by 6:45. I had my Athletic Greens for the first time in a while, which gave me a boost, plus a quick granola bar. And here’s the thing that actually saved the day: yesterday I sat down and wrote out a whole game plan — breaks, pushes, and food, town by town. It came in handy the entire ride and kept me topped off and comfortable the whole way through.
This morning was also our last brush with civilization for a while — flush toilets, one final time. From here on out we’re on battery power and sleeping in the pool parking lot, so none of the fancy stuff.
I rode solo today mostly, which I thought would be boring, but as usual, I find ways to entertain myself. I also packed extra ibuprofen, which turned out to be the right call.
Remember that game plan? I rode the first 30 miles non-stop, then pulled into Casey’s for the first time — grabbed a Gatorade and two Rice Krispies treats, chugged half the Gatorade, ate half a Rice Krispie, and pushed on. Just after that I caught a great pace line for about 10 miles. The guys I was with ended it with a friendly wave and a “it’s been a fun time!” before pulling off to eat. I kept going.
Around mile 55 I stopped for Beekman’s ice cream. More sugar for the machine. Then I pressed on some more. My final stop came around mile 70 at another Casey’s — a Coke and some electrolyte water. Pounded the Coke, nursed the water for the next hour, and finished off the Rice Krispies.
I pulled onto the century loop right around noon, grabbed the patch, and then hauled for the final town. The funny part about the loop is that you end it where you’ve already been — so when you merge back on, you’re riding with people who were about an hour and a half behind you, and you get to see a whole different kind of cyclist. And again, my biases were confirmed. Within 10 minutes I saw a person on a recumbent e-bicycle (basically a motorcycle) and another e-cyclist talking on their cell phone. Absolutely ridiculous and hilarious simultaneously.
The knee nagged me the whole time after about mile 30, but I managed it better today — anti-inflammatories and a consistent cadence did the work. My average was just a little over 16 mph, which is way below what I’m capable of on this kind of terrain (probably closer to 20), but I’ll take it.
Coming into town was really beautiful — we crossed the bridge over the Wapsipinicon River, right where the water spills over the old mill dam in a small manmade fall next to the historic Wapsipinicon Mill. In town I grabbed a burger that tasted exactly like White Castle, except regular-sized. Absolutely fantastic.
Got back, iced the knee, had a beer, then rode over to the pool to meet up with Sarah and the kids. We spent a few hours there, then got Mexican food and went looking for water. There’s no water at the family campground here, but Sarah was able to talk the folks at the pool — where we’re camping in the parking lot, remember — into letting us grab some of theirs.
Now off to bed. The girls both ride tomorrow — about 20 miles each — and it should be a short, enjoyable day. I’m going to get to show them some of my favorite things to do on RAGBRAI. This has been a long time in the making.