RAGBRAI 2023 (cont)

Day 2 (Tama to Coralville)

Once again, we rolled out of town about 5:30 AM. This time the drive to the start was much shorter. We were off on the ride by 6:45 AM. It was 75 and sunny and as it turned out, we wouldn’t catch a break in the heat the rest of the day.

This ride started cool enough but it was already in the mid 70’s by 8:00. A south west headwind did help keep things cool but it also caused a little of resistance so there was a trade-off. There were the obligatory hills early but soon we were on mostly flat roads. I didn’t take French in high school but I’m guessing that Belle Plaine means nice and flat. This allowed for some good speed especially for the peloton-type groups that would fly by us. We’d first hear them coming, six, eight or even 10 riders. As they flew by you could actually feel the draft for a few moments, cutting the wind. I even thought a couple of times to try to join. But then as soon as they came, they went. Too fast for us.

We rode through Belle Plaine, Marengo and into The Amanas where I had a huge brat from one of the stands. We rested in the air conditioned van for 30 minutes or so then it was on to Oxford where we stopped for a another quick break. It was approaching 90 degrees so we didn’t want to delay too much and we were on our way.

This last 20 miles section was by far the toughest test heading south under I-80 then turning east towards Coralville. Then it happened. My riding partner had a flat. At the bottom of a hill. We found a huge tree up a gravel path and changed the tire in the shade.

Twenty minutes later, we were back on the ride. But now with it in the 90’s we were taking more breaks. At the top of almost every hill, there was a farm house with large shade trees. Those groups seemed to be larger the further we went. So every 30 minutes or so we’d stop at the top of a hill for a quick breather. It was at this time I started relying on the world’s most perfect food for this type of weather-watermelon!

You could get a nice slice for a dollar. It gave me a boost of sugar and hydration. Best money spent-ever! We stopped at one such farm where there was a beer wagon and a band playing. There must have been 500 people there. I finished my super-food and off we went.

After a number of such stops, we made it to the edge of Coralville, stopped for one more watermelon break and cruised into town. Our support van found us in the parking lot of a HyVee.

We had just a short ride to “headquarters”, showered and went out for steak…again. We made plans for the last day and by 9:00 it was time to get some sleep-but not before the civil defense sirens started going off and all hell broke loose with the weather coming from the northwest.

We were just fine in our house but I really worried about the 1000’s of riders that were camping. As it turned out many rode out the storm in schools, community centers, and other public buildings. Clearly the ride organizers had thought through the emergency plans. I heard of some minor damage and a few bumps and scrapes but overall everyone survived to ride one more day.

To be continued…