Mission Complete!

spill — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 15:31:32 +0000

Eastern Iowa is absolutely beautiful!

Today was the shortest route of the tour, but it had the most hill. 3000 feet of elevation gain in 54 miles. Its was my day to drive but Nathan and Bert also drove. Once we parked, the three of us, along with Ray Allen and Micheal, of Team Cow Bell, rode a good portion of the days route in reverse. We caught up with everyone and headed back into Bellevue, grabbed a quick bite to eat and dipped our tires in the Mississippi.

Everyone completed the full route, 477+ miles in 8 days.

What a fantastic trip! Everybody did great , and had a blast. Now back to Texas.

We will continue to update the blog with photos and video, as our Internet connection permits, so keep checking for updates.

Also, Thanks to you all for the words of encouragement and for keeping up with our journey.

-blanca

Independence to Dyersville

spill — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:13:04 +0000

Good ride today, a few small hills and little wind. Everyone made it in to town without incident……. except Tom. Its was his day to drive and after parking the RV, he decided to get in a few miles on the bike. On his way out of town he was making a left when another cyclist make too wide a turn and they both went down. He was taken to the hospital, by a local lady, and received 5 stitches above his right eye.

Tom is doing good and is intending on riding in the morning. His bike was a little messed up, but we got it fixed up, at the expo.

Other than Toms mishap, we had a great day.

Weight Loss?

spill — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:54:21 +0000

OK, I have a little bit of a weight problem, have had all my life. So I figure this RAGBRAI thing is just the ticket for maybe 10 to 15 lbs. of loss, with 500 miles over 7 days, should work out. YET after riding about 375 miles and burning in the neighborhood of 13,000 calories over 4 days, I have gained about 20 lbs. WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THAT, could it be MR. Pork Chop, the church ladies and their pies, the Mennonites and their home made ice cream and pies, the root beer floats, BEER, walking tacos,the Pastafari dudes, the Amish home made pies, Mama Rafael’s burritos, chocolate malts, fresh waffles along the route within 7 miles of the departure city, VFW Sirloin steak dinner, BEER, VFW Brats w/ all the trimmings, gyros, pulled pork sandwiches, OH YEAH and don’t forget the University of Northern Iowa student cafeteria with the stir fry bar, taco bar, ice cream bar, expresso bar, salad bar, pasta bar, roast beef bar, did I mention the corn, OOOOOHHHHH YEAH, corn fritters , corn pones, cream corn filled donuts, well you get the idea. I’m too depressed to go on…………………………….

Bert rides with Lance

bert — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:38:48 +0000

Yep just out side Dunkerton was riding was pulling a good pace-line what I thought was fast, when I hear a lot of loud “on your lefts” look over and it’s Lance so I hop off my pace-line and join his, it’s fast but I manage hanging on for about 6 miles till he stops for water at the bottom of a hill and speaks with some of the locals he starts to leave and walks past me and I said hay he says Hi hopps back on his bike with the rest and starts up the hill Im late getting back on my bike and can never catch up Oh-well.

Hamilton to Cedar Falls

blanca — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:47:21 +0000

Finally got a good Internet connection!

We left Hamiton at 7:00 am, had a quick start. We were averaging close to 18mph for the first 30 miles, then we stopped to eat at Pastafari. Less than a mile down the road we stopped for a Root Beer float. The weather today was a lot like yesterday, mild temps, 8 -10 mph wind from the south. Going through some of these smaller towns gets a bit crazy, every one we went through we basically had to walk the bikes. Just too many people. They were estimating 20,000 riders per day so far.

Humboldt to Hamilton

blanca — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:58:24 +0000

Today’s ride was 74 miles. The weather was great! Still had a South wind but it seemed to be less than the previous days. As Nathan and Rick were riding into town a pace line started to pass them on the left. One of the riders in the middle said “Hey Lonestar” to Nathan, referring to our jerseys, and when he looked over he realized it was Lance Armstrong. So, Nathan took off and latched on to the end of the pace line. He rode with them for a few miles then him and a few others got dropped because of an Ambu-Lance. He did manage to get a little video of Lance’s back, but that’s it.

Great ride for all! Everyone’s doing great!

Spencer to Homboldt

blanca — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 05:43:49 +0000

Today’s route was 73 miles with an optional century (100 mile) loop and we all opted for the century. The start was good, some small hills in the beginning and the roads were excellent. We had pork chops at the 30 mile mark, provided by Mr. Pork Chop, and pie with ice cream at the 68 mile mark.

At the century turn off Nathan, Tom, and Rick missed the turn due to some bad directions and signs. Phil and I were unable to see which direction they went and decided to go for the century alone. 5 miles in Phil had a flat and he blew three more tubes trying to fix it. Out of tubes and patience, he borrowed a tube from a support vehicle and it seemed to do the trick. When we completed the century loop we ran into the rest of the group while searching for pie. When they finally realized that they had missed the century turn they had already gone 8 miles on the wrong route. So they decided to turn back and they met up with us shortly after. When we completed the ride, Nathan, Tom, and Rick turned back and did an extra 10 miles to complete their century.

For the most part it was a great ride. Rick had a small run in with another cyclist and had to have his rear wheel fixed. The guy just ran into the back of him as the were going thru town. No injuries, just a few bent spokes.

Again the wind was brutal, but no rain and cool temps.

225 miles down, 252 to go!

BTW… Internet connections are spotty in this part of Iowa, we’ll upload some more photos and videos when we get a better connection.

Rock Rapids to Spencer

blanca — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 03:03:45 +0000

We left this morning at 6 a.m. It was Phil’s day to drive. The ride, for the most part, was good… but extremely windy. We were riding into a headwind or crosswind about 90% of the ride. Fairly flat terrain for the first day. Everyone did really well. We arrived between 12:00 and 12:30 in the afternoon to Spencer. Some of the towns that we went through were so crowded that we actually had to get off our bikes and walk. There were stops about every 1 - 2 miles along the road. Burritos, pork chops, pies, you name it! And of course we took advantage of it as much as we could! Tomorrow morning we’ll be leaving at about 8:00 a.m. heading towards Humboldt. Tomorrow will be Bert’s day to drive. The rest of us plan on doing the hundred mile route, as long as the wind is not blowing 20 mph! Pictures will be available soon… we’re having some trouble connecting to the internet. As soon as we get a good connection, we’ll post all the pics. Thanks to Lisa for posting this for us… with Blanca dictating what to write over the phone!

Ragbrai Prologue

blanca — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:29:45 +0000

The ride actualy starts tomorrow, but we decided go for a little spin this afternoon. Since the ride starts 23 miles from the border, we took a ride to the Big Sioux River for the traditional tire dip, to make it a true cross state ride. The ride out was fast, wind at our back, but we paid for it on the return trip with a 15 to 20 mph head wind. We totaled about 47 miles round trip.

People have finally started to show up. It’s starting to get quite crowded around town. The High School and Fair Grounds are completly packed, there are tents in most front yards, Churches and business parking lots. Its an absolute zoo!

We have arrived!

blanca — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:10:06 +0000

We left Denton last night at around 8:30 pm and drove thru the night, arriving at Rock Rapids, IA. at 1:00 pm. The trip went well, no issues. We found a nice place to camp, thanks to a gentleman by the name of Jack. He’s letting us camp on one of his many plots of land.

Being some of the first riders in, we had first choice and picked a lot 2 blocks from downtown, right next to the river, with electric hookups and water available. Jack’s also been kind enough to invite us to a steak dinner at the local VFW.

Also, Thanks to Michelle and Terry for providing the fuel for the trip… The official MBBC Cookies, hot dog buns and brownies.