Roadside Mysteries

No, is it really hot

Yes, you can use the automatic water salesman give you a shower. There is other stuff, but it’s too hot to add any additional explanation.

Farm animals on our overnight in Sioux Center

And then Mr. Pork Chop until Cherokee. Very hot and humid today. Thanks to Adam and Robin for letting us sleep on their screened in porch. Tonight in Cherokee we might not be so lucky.

Sioux Center Iowa to be exact?

First night blogging in the out of doors, in 103 degree heat, 98 % humidity.

The great feast of the RAGBRAI is near.
This is illustrated above by:

1) The official RAGBRAI ceremonial banjo and

2) The formation of a team of five and a van with bicycles attached.

We left Fort Collins around 3pm and got into the town of Cozad Nebraska by 9. A few minor problems along the way– we thought we lost a wheel a few times but we managed to fix it all in a matter of minutes. On to Sioux Center Iowa tomorrow and next, the FEAST begins.

Not all buses:

Team Schortz and their modest bike trailer

Team Dennis’ converted school bus

Easy soccer mom van; after a good car wash it’s back to normal

Harold’s converted school bus

No time to paint a team name on this one?

Team “Life’s a Beach” really cool ride

The “Baboon Butts”. Of course for baboons, the redness is NOT a sign of irritation.

And Team LLama since ’09

Team Drag-On from Emmetsburg

Team “Zippy” officially sanctioned by cartoonist Bill Griffith

Another lizard team

The classic bus of the Molasses Asses

The Alcohawks?

I don’t know what this teams likes to do

This is not the only all female team

Named after a brand of schnapps why not?

Easily modified “school” bus

Team Party Patrol; We had one of their club members camp with us because the TPP kept her up all night!

Team Fish hangs out in the Miller Lite line

Team Mule, of course.

The SpokeEasy from Chicago.  The bus was parked right across from us in Boone, Iowa. They look for members (per their website) with the following qualifications:

1. Drinking more than your liver was ever intended to handle and all the while biking your ass off and sweating out the booze you consumed over the next 10 miles.Stripping buck naked and jumping down a beer slide.

   Getting in a drunken fight with your best friend or significant other then forgetting it ever happened the next day.

Team “Trust Me”. We were at the same hotel in Altoona, Iowa.

And the Barking Spiders!

The actual barking spider (Selenocosmia crassipes) is a tarantula native to Queensland, Australia.

And here are the team busses reported from previous Ragbrai rides. Some teams still exist from what I have seen:

In Carroll, Iowa:

At one of the information booths near the campgrounds

I had mentioned that the town of Carroll created this sort of Casino atmosphere when there really was no casino or racetrack anywhere near the town. I found out that the Carroll Ragbrai organizers were looking for some kind of theme for the big event. One of the local companies had a casino oriented benefit party the previous year and they still had tons of decorations in storage. There you have it!

At Shane and Alisa Olson’s farm east of Churdan, Iowa:

Me with Mr. Paul Berhard, AKA “Mr. Pork Chop”

Well, that’s what the Ragbrai is all about, don’t you know? And the Olson’s party was a big hit with many of the riders as the official Ragbrai blog declares.