Ragbrai

Well - another Ragbrai under my belt - and this year was just as eventful as years past! This year my college roommate Corinne Teeter flew out to do this crazy thing with me! She flew into Omaha on Saturday around noon. We planned to drive and pick her up then head to Sioux City and camp in preparation for the week ahead. About 20 minutes outside of Omaha the check engine light on Ace came on....again! It seems like everytime we have a long trip this happens. It felt like the transmission again, and we have had the darn thing worked on so many times it seems! Each time it is under warranty and doesn't cost us anything - but it was definitely getting old - and we had to get another 1.5 hours North to Sioux City!

So, we call a local dealership who recommended taking it to H&H in Omaha as they were open at that time on Saturday. We pulled in and they did a quick diagnostic predicting it was the torque converter. Bad news was it was going to take two weeks to fix. Good news was they leant us a brand new $70,000 suburban to drive in the interim! Awesome customer service for sure!

So, we head to the airport a few hours late and meet up with Corinne. We soon discover that she is in the process of finishing a paper that needs published and applying for a job. So, she brought not one, but two laptops on Ragbrai that she was going to tote along the way - crazy woman! Not just that, but the airline lost her bags...so she has 2 laptops and no biking stuff - awesome! After waiting for a few hours, we gave up.

We finally get to Sioux City and get ready to make camp. Luckily I brought a sheet, so I used my air matrtess and a sheet and corinne used my sleeping bag in my tent that evening, in the hopes the airline would deliver her bags in time to make the ragbrai truck the next morning (it pulls out at 8am!)

Around 7:15 Southwest baggage truck arrives and so did her bags. Now we have the dilemma of her having two bags and only able to put one on the truck! We crammed a bunch of stuff in my bag and she crammed a bunch of stuff into one bag and then crammed it into another. Along with her bike basket we were able to get everything either in the basket or in the truck just in time!!

The first day we rode about 30 miles before Corinne needed to finish her paper that they were waiting on. She decided to take the SAG wagon and work along the way. I pushed on and rode the rest of the way to Storm Lake. Along the way I stopped for lunch and realized I left my wallet....after riding an additional 6 miles! I had to turn around and go back to get it...luckily in honest Iowa someone had turned it in! I couldn't believe none of my cash was gone!

I found Corinne in the campground and we ended up right next to the lake. It was really pretty! That night we went and saw a band that did 80s cover hits, we drank a little and got hit on by 20 something guys who thought we were 20 something girls...it was fun and flattering - but we snuck out of there and crashed around midnight.

The next day we rode to Ft. Dodge, again saw lots of interesting things along the way! Corinne  stayed in Storm Lake to finish her paper, and headed out late. We met up later at camp and she said she was officially done working! Slept really well that night, day three is always hard for me...so wasn't looking forward to the next day! The morning started out looking like rain, but ended up being a great day despite that.

Day three we rode into Eldora, this was the first time I ever got a flat on Ragbrai! At least it was in town and like mere yards from a bike repair booth! We walked around and enjoyed the crowds, did a lot of just talking and laughing and eating!

Day four was into cedar falls. This was the first time I'd ever really had to get off my bike and walk. There were a few unfinished parts of the road - totally gravel and dirt that we had to maneuver through. Lots of people were complaining, but I thought - great...a fanny break! This was by far the best night as we went to see Hairball! They did the BEST impressions of Styx, Aerosmith, Journey, REO speedwagon, Cinderella - just all of my favorite 80s bands! We had the best time. Prior to going we found a bar off the beaten track and had the BEST margaritas...truly a wonderful Ragbrai night!

Corinne had the brilliant idea to take these silly pictures.

Day five we biked to Hiawatha and were pretty tired - went to bed early that night! And the last day we headed to Coralville. It was a great morning but started to get overcast and cloudy around Springville. Corinne's phone stopped working so we developed a system not to lose eachother! We met up in Mt. Vernon just before it started to downpour! Luckily we found a little bar that 10,000 other people also seemed to find! The wind picked up and the thunder rolled and we hunkered down in this bar. We just laughed at everyone getting drunk and doing shots. Then people started climbing on the bar and doing team shots off of a big ski, it was definitely entertaining as we waited out the storm!

This small bar was so bizarre The girls bathroom had two toilets and zero stalls.....hmmm....

Corinne had to get one last porkchop in before we ended our ride.

The last day was definitely the most beautiful, rolling gorgeous hills! But after the rainstorm it got hot! We called Josh and asked him to meet us a few miles from the end of the route. I am glad we had decided to end a day early as our stuff got DRENCHED by the rain! So many people were airing out sleeping bags and clothes - we got to drive home and sleep in a real bed! Kenna had her brown belt testing the following day and I decided we couldn't miss it :)

So grateful to have such a wonderful friend to ride this with me - what an adventure!!