On the road again, this time starting in Onawa, Iowa:
Looks like we have here Lois, Barb, Ken, Sue and Jim getting ready for the first day of the ride
Onawa, Iowa is where the Darrow Pipe Organ company is located. I stopped by their shop located at 421 Pearl Street in Onawa just by chance as it was just a block away from the Ragbrai Expo, a good thing too, because there was not much new at the expo this year except for the Tide booth where I won a stainless steel coffee mug.
Biggest tractor award
Goes to this Case Quadratrack Mega-tractor parked out near some main street in Iowa someplace.
A sign of our age
No, we didn’t stay here, but this was the first Ragbrai we did where there was NO CAMPING! Oh, one night we stayed in a rustic cabin in a state park that had a bed and was air conditioned, but the bathroom/shower facility was located in another building. Other than that, it was Quality Inns and EconoLodge for us.
Weld two school buses together, what ya get?
The Bus Maximus of course. Since we didn’t make the campgrounds at any overnight, I didn’t get a chance to meet up with some of my favorite Ragbrai teams and their buses but we saw this one in the parking lot at one of the meet-up towns. (I did get to meet Lee Dog of the Tall Dogs again this year for a short time).
Thomas Rest Haven in Coon Rapids
This place sold Gyros for lunch and the residents were having a great time using water guns to shoot at the passing cyclists. I had heard that they were pretty accurate marksmen.
With Iowa State mascot, Cy the Cardinal
The Iowa State ‘Cyclones’ were called the Cyclones since 1895 but it was too hard to dress some volunteer to look like a a system of winds rotating inward to an area of low atmospheric pressure so years later the university chose a bird for their mascot.
The ABC computer
I made a pilgrimage to the Durham Center to see the first electronic digital computer ever built, but of course the exhibit was on loan to a computer museum in California. There were a few vacuum tubes and a memory cylinder on display so it wasn’t a total loss.
Jacquie Phelan and the Ragbrai Banjo
Jacquie, also known as “Alice B. Toeclips” is a famous cyclocross racer and founder of the WOMBATS. From an interviw: She has been called “the outlaw queen of mountain biking.” Sometimes, she plays the banjo.
Six Miles outside of Melborne, IA
In this picture, upper left is an Iowa State Patrol vehicle with a large audio speaker on the roof. On the right, THOUSANDS of cyclists safely crossing a highway. Bottom center is an official Iowa State Patrol wireless body microphone connected to a left-handed banjo.
Wilton, Iowa
In a caboose playing banjo for an hour. Another Ragbrai complete. No rain, no heat, no humidity. Best Ragbrai ever?