The Guy and I applying sunscreen lip balm. My lips were so burnt by the end of RAGBRAI.Sunday was the first day of bike riding. We rode from Glenwood to Atlantic, Ia. (about 60'ish miles). We were climbing out of the Missouri River basin so there were lots and lots of hills. Everyone hates me for saying this, but, in general, I like riding hills.
Riding into the halfway point of the day - Carson, Ia.The Guy drove the van on the first day. so, I rode with a couple of other people until we all got split-up. It's easy to do when there are so many people riding. You're never quite sure who's ahead or behind you. Since I was by myself, I got to ride a little harder and was the first person from our group in the meeting place.
I started texting co-riders to see where they were, but phone reception was spotty at best. I called The Guy and he was stuck in traffic on the interstate. I finally got a text from LN saying she was at the bar in town. I met her and a few others there. The Guy showed up and instantly started trying to figure out where everyone was. Which was really tough, because everyone is at such different levels of riding and we found out that G. had a broken spoke on her bike and couldn't really ride it.
The Guy was awesome, as usual. He found a tent where they worked on bikes, took G.'s bike there and went back in an hour to get it once it was done.The rest of us headed to the van to rest in the shade before we left for the the afternoon ride.
Dorky cut-out in Carson, Ia.The Guy parked the van and rode his bike back along to meet us. He told us where in Atlantic we were parked - in someone's yard across from the YMCA. We decided not to stop at any of the spots along the way, because the pool at the Y closed early and we wanted to be sure and swim.
The Guy and our friend, Burne rode our bikes to find a place to eat and it was all very nice. By then, I was exhausted and I knew there were just as many hills to ride the next day, so I hit the hay.
For not really knowing what to expect, the first day of riding was a pleasant surprise.
6 comments:
Glad you had a good time, and way to go!
Ha! I love the dorky cut out pic. It sounds exhausting but excellent. =:)
Looks great! One of my bucket list items is to ride RAGBRAI with Johnny C in a side-by-side recumbant.
I know what you mean about the group splitting up and not knowing who was ahead or behind. That's what happened during my walk this past weekend.
I'm glad you liked to ride the hills! You were probably one of the rare ones who did.
Okay, I'm all tuckered out! It sounds like you really need to be organized to do a big event like this (duh)...but it also sounds like a lot of fun :-)
Churlita,
Team work at its best. Sounds terrific.
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