The last day, kind of bittersweet. Knowing that you will get a real
shower and a real toilet by the end of the day...but then all the fun
and the camaraderie will be over. There is just something really cool
about being on this ride with 20 thousand other people, so many that you see year after year. It's like one big happy family.
Hard to see all the bikes on the road but it was a really cool scene IRL! This was at an intersection where a couple of the hwy patrol guys had music blasting and a microphone...nothing more funny than cop commentary!
Click on the image for a bigger version...
First stop, a farm with Chris Cakes, that's pancakes by the firehouse boys. Yum.
The kids visited these girls while we waited in line.
Love this jersey, I made Gabby go over and get the shot. :)
They kept flipping pancakes out into the hungry bikers waiting in line. Hilarious!
Serious pancake making.
They also flipped the pancakes onto your plate...the kids LOVED this and didn't drop a single one. That's Team Flamingo in line behind us.
Mmmmm. You do lots of standing up dining on RAGBRAI.
I love knowing that this sausage will be evaporated from my body in the next hour. :) Guilt free sausage!
The beautiful Basilica in Dyersville in the background. Sean pointed out that this is our first town that we ride through on two separate RAGBRAIs. I believe we spent the night in this town on RAGBRAI 3 years ago...seems like yesterday.
I am pretty sure her Burley days are almost over...too big!
We found the ladies at the Peanut Butter Jam. Gavin is a bit distraught that this will be his last sugar sandwich until next year...shhhh don't tell him that they sell marshmallow fluff at the grocery store!
My bike kept throwing chains on the hills today. I'm not very good at getting them back on, can you tell? See, I really could use a new bike...this one in case you wanted to know.
The special of the day is gummy bears. How happy can one 7 year old be?
Pretzels, chocolate chips and marshmallow. The lunch of champions.
I think you will be seeing this shot again on our holiday card. :)
After conquering Potter's Hill from He*ll, 19% grade 1 mile long. Ok Iadmit I walked it, it totally conquered me...but Sean and Gabby powered up it amazingly! He promised her a pack of gum if she pushed hard and she did. Then after few more baby Potter's hills and a quick tour through the beautiful oldest part of town we made it to Dubuque! Here are some little video clips Gabby made from the Burley of the last mile...be aware you may need to throw up your lunch after watching them. :)
The bridge home behind us. The end of RAGBRAI is always a little anticlimactic and we never wait in line to dip our tires in the Mississippi but it is always fun watching the teams ride in together, a few tears here and there.
