Roadside Mysteries

Independence to Gutttenberg was the last day, but we knew from the 2005 ride that getting in and out of Guttenberg is a bit rough so we decided to STOP RIDING AT THE TOWN OF EDGEWOOD, pack up and go home! Might as well; things were winding down anyhow after the storm and nobody on the Flygirls and Tag-A-Longs dipped their tires at the start of the ride so… THAT’S IT!

The recommended parting shots for this day:

Some Bike Bands

These identify registered bikes on the route. Each rider gets to wear a similar band on their wrist to help the SAG drivers identify the body… Or maybe just to let you use the facilities like 1)Shuttle service in the overnight towns, 2)Free access to music events and 3)All the ice cream you can eat!

Edgewood Corgi

Duncan Madog would like this. It’s a little girl corgi with wavy back fur just like Duncan! Her name is Anastasia and she lives in Edgewood, Iowa.

Home made rocking chair

So the tradition since 2005 is to take pictures of Ragbrai team buses. From the archives there are some examples HERE and some over HERE. Yup, I think I have over 100 pictures of buses! Since we had a rain delay on this day, I’ll just show some of the buses I found this week and nothing more:

In Greene, Iowa:

There is an outhouse near the old train depot

It’s located away from the Ragbrai fray so I would think that it didn’t get used that day. The Shell Rock River runs through town making it a good venue to sit by the river side and play a few tunes. I also spent some time talking to the locals as they watched the bike parade coming into their town.

Farm Animal Petting zoo

Don’t know where this was on route, but there were several places you could stop and pick up a piglet or pet a cow or introduce yourself some other farm animal. The best farms provided plenty of shade and free water (and antibacterial towelettes).

I met a dairy princess today!

The last place before riding into Waverly was this 4H stop that advertised bananas and malts. Time for a photo op with Miss Celina Young, the 2013-2014 Iowa Dairy Princess (alternate). She will give up her crown next month at the Iowa State Fair. I told her that I used to be the chairperson on sub-committee E-66 on automated lactose analysis of the International Dairy Federation (It’s true!), but I don’t think she was impressed.

Also, while passing through Clarksville, Iowa they had a rusty metal step-ladder you could climb so you could do a panorama shot of the Ragbrai humanity in town:

Well, it was a long day in Clear Lake and it was getting late (and dark). Not really checking my map, I sort of got a bit lost in the overnight town of Mason City. I came across this place by accident however:

It’s called the “Rancho Deluxe Z Garden”

Created by Max Weaver, a former city council member, it appears to be a combination of Chicago’s old Bug House Square, Fort Collins’ Swetville Zoo, and Berkeley’s People’s Park.  “In this garden, everyone is welcome” Max would say and on this day a group of Ragbrai campers were using it for their overnight stay.

Jammin’ at the garden?

I was offered a chance to stop by later to jam with some of the Z Garden guests but by the time I found our camp I decided not to try my luck in getting back to the garden. It would have been fun, but I would have paid for it the next morning. One thing I didn’t ask them at the garden: Where were the bathrooms?

Stop 1: Ventura: Not enough KYBO’s in town, if you know what I mean. Played a few songs with Tom on the roadside then split for the next town:

On the way to the next town…

Things were beginning to pick up. What was missing in Ventura was looking much better as we headed toward the town of Clear Lake. Maybe because it was only 5.5 miles away from Ventura that the town felt they couldn’t compete.

Team Red Merkin

This team jersey made very little sense and to top it off, most of the team members that I talked with didn’t seem to know how the team got the name. It might have possible references to something worn by the actress who played the lead in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movie but what that has to do with cycling across Iowa has certainly been lost over time. Check out the Red Merkin Website for less information.

Whatever this was, Note the KYBOs in the background

Yes, it was getting better by the minute. Here various participants are watching contestants play “Coin Slot Roulette” which is not the same as “KYBO Roulette”,  a favorite Chicago Urban Bicycle Society sport. Click HERE for details.

The Pyramid House

The bikes traveled into Clear Lake via North Shore Drive, past this place which is a short term rental property ($2100/week) and does not have much information about the place on the official website.

And further down North Shore, the Surf Ballroom

Hey, wait a minute. Clear Lake was an overnight town in 2010. Here it is from this blog: CLICK HERE to see the entry “Winter Dance Party Memorials”

Ron, Jim, John and Dale

Ron plays the invisible drums, Jim plays the pressure cooker banjo, John plays the Iowa Guitar and Dale plays a cigar box guitar. This all happened at the City Park band shell a little bit away from the Ragbrai Main Stage.

ON the Main Stage

The rock band “ABBY NORMAL” with lead vocalist Jana West. They didn’t start until after we were done. Hope to hear from this band again; Could they visit the NoCo foothills someday?

On the way to Forest City: Bancroft!

Bancroft is where Mr. Pork Chop lives

And Tom and I were there to relive the 2005 ride with Paul Bernhard’s pork chop stand by the side of the road. Paul Bernhard, AKA Mr. Pork Chop is still recovering from a broken hip, but he held his porkchop ‘court’ in the middle of town in a gazebo so he could meet his adoring fans. He even had his own ‘Pork Chop Duet’ as mentioned in the Register.

We didn’t make it into Forest City

Only the bad ass Ragbrai riders ditch the overnight town and party in the town before the main town. We didn’t do this on purpose; We just couldn’t find a camping area in Forest City.

Crystal Lake

Wow! How nice was this! See? Only a few tents next to the lake!  What could be better than that? Well, how about an air conditioned cabin near the lake? Yep, no camping for us tonight! That’s the way to do it, you betcha! Note: Yes, we thought that this was yet another opportunity to play in the water as in the two previous nights, but there was a sign that warned us of something called “Swimmers Itch”  or cercarial dermatitis that turned us away. Too bad, it would have been a perfect night!

As if Five Island Lake was not enough, back in town there was a FREE WASH STATION:

The Diamondback Roadbike gets it’s chainring cleaned!

Good timing on this one. There was caked on dirt on the cassette from riding just a few miles of gravel road when I took a slight detour around the lake. I played banjo while waiting in the line…

The WD 40 Team asked me to play in the lube area

I’ve never been requested to work the lube area before! A Ragbrai first if there ever was one. I think they felt sorry for me and my old bike; they gave me a bunch of free WD40 chain lube applicators and a WD40Bike hat.

It’s what’s for dinner?

One of Mike and Tricia’s kids found this bison scull in the lake and brought it in for us to take a look.

Time for some jammin with the neighbors in town

We had heard some Irish bagpipes and saw that some musicians were riding around in a gold cart so we tried to flag them down. Nope, too old and tired at this point. Anyhow, we found some people just sitting around looking for to jam, so there we are!

Tonight we camp on the front yard of Mike and Tricia’s in Emmetsburg. And it’s near Five Island Lake so we had more fun in the water.

In fairly early for the in-town festivities

The route was only 40 miles and it gave us plenty of time to set up camp and check out the town. Emmetsburg was named after the Irish nationalist Robert Emmet and was settled by potato famine immigrants from Ireland around 1852.

Yet another Bike Club?

The Psycho Bikers may be a club or it basically sums up the whole damn group of 10K+ cyclists who invade Iowa every year at this time.

Not everyone has the luck of the Irish

On can only assume that her bike wheel needed fixing and she had to walk into the town to find one of the bike mechanics on tour with the Ragbrai. Note: The people who fix bikes on this ride are the Best In The World!

Today is a reported 69.2 mile route through Hull, Boyden, Sheldon, Melvin and May City.

First day: Nice day: not too hot at least

A Stop in Melvin for the Moose shot

Apparently a moose once walked into the town of Melvin and the town has made an event out of it, not just for Ragbrai. The locals ask if you want your picture taken with the “moose” on the wagon, so here it is. Our group camped out at the Emerson Bay campground instead of in the town of Okoboji and I didn’t ride into town to see what was going on because the bay was ideal for an afternoon dip. Then there were mosquitoes! Tons of them!

Silly and Goofy were there

A number of Ragbrai ‘virgins’ were reminded on this trip that they will have to get up the next morning and do it all over again. And it is true, you are either silly or goofy to do this one time in your life.