I figured I would try to post some recollections of the trip that I said I would days ago... so much for organizing thoughts and making this coherent!
On 7/20, Jim and I both drove to Clear Lake/Mason City from different sides of the country... and arrived within 1 minute of each other.
The next morning, we didn't want to actually getup and get going... it was too nice at the lake, but alas, we had to tackle this ride. It took us a while to get out of town so we didn't get to actually start at the South Dakota border like some of us wanted... oh well, probably would have just made us more sore. At Wal-Mart, before heading out of town, I painted some of the windows on the RV to make sure folks knew I was from NC; others had already done some of the other windows and even put some awesome flames on the paint (whoops).
We thought we had the best spot in town for the RV in Rock Rapids. It's funny though - we got there and Blake looked at the sign and said "none of our names are on this, it's not for us." Well I reckon he had already forgotten who I was because right there was "Zack Wynne." So we parked, ate, got setup, hung out and went to bed thinking we'd wake up around 6:30 to be on the road by 8. Oh how wrong we were...
COWBELL! "WE GOT BREAKFAST!" "hey, the route's this way!" 5:00am. I kid you not. Directly at the RV was a group selling breakfast and the first turn for the route. So much for the sleep. We straggled up and out and everybody's all excited (except ole me, the negative nancy of the group). I just kept saying "I just want to get through the day." Which I did, just fine, and even was able to stop and take pictures of all sorts of stuff.
Jim and I met some nice guys, Chad and Trent, in Moneta, the last town before Spencer. I ended up running into them later that week in Clarion and one offered to let us use his house to shower and sleep in once in Cedar Falls if necessary. Thus, the first of my RAGBRAI "boyfriends" is met.
In Spencer, we stayed with a Ron Paul supporter (I had to keep quiet!) and his friends who just hung out and drank...loudly, but funny. They'd holler "welcome to Missouri!" at riders that went past in an effort to freak them out. The next day, their daughter Jamie rode with us.
I never actually rode with many of the folks in our group... they were too fast (or was I too slow?) and I liked to stop and enjoy it more than they did.
In Humboldt we stayed with Dr. Judas, the school superintendent. She used to be principal at Mason City HS and her son Chris Yost grew up with all the other guys (I met him when he came to Wilmington a while back). Her neighbor, Ms. Monahans allowed us to shower at her place... so nice. The next morning, Dr. Judas made breakfast for not only us but also 12 other people staying at her place... a nice breakfast too! This is only the beginning of the great Iowa hospitality.
I'm not sure if it was Day 2 or 3 that I met my other 'boyfriend', haha. John Myers is a photographer from Rochester, NY and this was his 14th RAGBRAI. He rode up beside me and just started talking; he had brought his 20 year old son along but he couldn't finish that leg. We rode and talked for a good long way and then had lunch at Pastafari together (his treat, woo!) where I saw Jim and the rest of them. We rode through Laurens where we had homemade pie (you can see why people don't lose weight on this thing). In Rolfe, I had to stop and take care of my knee which was starting to hurt and he rode on.
Once in Hampton, we met the town's awesomest smoky lady, who ride by on her bike with more gold jewelry than I've ever seen one person wear. Later, I was able to update some and then had some homemade church lasagna. I met up with John again and his son, Dan. We attempted to win a radio trivia show... and even though I was wrong, I still got the prize (I haven't seen the Breakfast Club and was unable to answer who all was in it). So if anybody wants to play Trivial Pursuit "Totally Awesome 80s" or whatever, let me know.
The next day, Day 4, was hell day. It was the day I simply couldn't finish. That hurt the ego more than the sunburn, butt soreness and sore legs. I ran into Jim's mom and stepdad just outside Kesley... literally ran into them taking pictures along the route and they were kind enough to drive me the rest of the way to Cedar Falls. Well, I didn't feel bad for long; the next day, all the rest of our group who went out in Cedar Falls got started late, cut the route in half, and finish in Independence the same time I did!
Outside Independence, we rode through Amish country and I stopped for water at one of their houses. I noticed a sign that said "buggy rides, $5." So, of course, I did it, haha. It was short but neat to talk to them. Aden, a 15-year-old, drove with his small cousin Nelson on the back. Once in Independence, we stored our bikes in town and rode out to the country to stay at the Deckers, where I became an alcoholic.
Thats right folks, teetotaling Zack Wynne had his first real sips (ok gulps) alcohol. I had been drinking a 12 oz green/lime Gatorade Rain when Mrs. Decker appeared carrying a jug of what she called "lemonade." Seeing as how I'm not too smart, I believed her. It was bright green, so I thought it would be similar to lime. Blake and them smelled it and suspected it had some sort of Blue Raspberry vodka in it... I didn't believe them, so I drank it up. Whoops. It was lemonade and vodka. Jim took a picture of me napping after supper and says its me passed out from being wasted, haha.
They were incredibly nice to us. First, we didnt have a place to stay in Dyersville and they hooked us up with the Hawkeye Poet, a man who reads poems at tailgating at Hawkeye Football (the U/I and Iowa State rivalry is amazing, by the way). Second, she cooked an amazing meal for us... which we all ate up. Then homemade ice cream. Finally, she cooked another huge meal for breakfast. This Iowa hospitality is amazing.
In Manchester, I stopped to eat and then went to the Good Neighbors Home to meet some of the nice folks up there. I talked for a long while to Alice, a resident. I also saw a man who rode in the first RAGBRAI, 35 years ago. I figured, if they could come outside and watch us, I should go say hello. I'm glad I did.
On the way to Dyersville, in Dundee, I rode past a 'massages, $1/minute' sign and stopped... nice! I met Darcy who gave an awesome massage and I made her boyfriend Ben take a picture (why not?). I invited her to Dyersville to give massages to the other guys and hang out. They came later and it was awesome. Then they all went out since it was the last night (I took a different view... it wasn't the last night, it was the night before the worst day!). So I stayed in and got ready for the ridiculous hill climbs into Bellevue.
So, on the last day, it was much quieter in terms of vendors, but still I was able to stop and eat and take some breaths. I have to admit some pride in not stopping to walk up the hills... I rode them all, but quite slowly. I did have to stop and catch my breath some at the top, though. But, soon, we hit the ridiculous downhill into Bellevue that ended in a valley that could easily be mistaken for being in the mountains. I couldn't help but smile as I made it into town knowing I was done. Once I got to the river, though, I decided to wait on the boys, who I beat handily, woo! No seriously, I had to wait a bit and decided to buy a jersey... but they sold out of all the fat people jerseys at the beginning of the week (have they not seen the amount of big folks on the ride?!?). I told myself I'd wait to get one until I was done and I would wear it to the river to get my picture taken. So, I was disappointed they were out, but bought some other cool stuff.
Finally, they showed up and we went to the riverbank, dipped, and were done!
They all claim to want to do it in 08... I'm not so sure. I enjoyed it, but I wonder if I need to have a new, different adventure for next year (or whenever). So we'll see.
