More Day 6

There was this monster of a flag draped over a huge building in this little town...you can see "Team America" preparing for some photos in the background.


Here's Gavin and his beloved Burley...I wonder how many total miles he has ridden in this thing....must be close to a thousand with all the bike rides Sean has taken him on, Gabby too.
Taiga worked on getting some of her "summer reading" for school done...She read for exactly 34 minutes...in case anyone wants to know. It was wonderful having them all contained while we set up tents.

Gavin really likes putting the tent poles together...he pretty much took it over as his special job...although it was sloooooow work. We had to be patient!

We camped by a pretty lake today. It was so nice to get to camp after the ride and just jump in the lake rather than hunting down a shower. I am pretty emberassed to admit that that's all I did for a shower today...what can I say...it was so convienient! Sean's brother Rob aka "Uncle Robby" joined us tonight, he was doing business in Iowa and decided to tag along for some of the ride tomorrow. He loves a good party. 

Day 6 RAGBRAI

Man, I have got to get this done! Today we drove the van in the morning again. Gabby was pretty pooped, she had been running a fever here and there...maybe the 105 degree heat outside?? So Sean and I just took Gavin in the Burley...it was wonderful and pretty easy...especially with no kids fighting! Gavin is in heaven in that Burley, hardly hear a peep out of him, I really don't get it but he really loves it!

Heres a look at what we saw most days...you can see a very PROUD member of Team Flamingo riding there...they were hilarious with their pink boas...don't know how they could stand to wear them in the heat!

A very funny KYBO (outhouse) in one of the towns today...they had signs on a bunch of them, cracked me up.

We actually paid $2 to have our picture taken with Miss Pigalicious...a very clever way for the townspeople to make a few zillion bucks!!

Gavin has a thing for RR tracks, he begd Sean to take him to walk on them in every town we stop in...love this photo of Father and Son. 

More Day 5

This town had a great pool. We found Dave and Patty again...Devra is such a cutie. We played a while, showered and then tried to figure out where to camp. The Dogheads had reached a breaking point...our team almost dissolved....long story...but we figured things out, set up camp, cleaned out the van and got ready for another day!

 

Day 5 RAGBRAI

Well if there was a good night to be in a hotel...last night was it. There was a pretty bad storm and Michelle's tent blew down...they all ended up crammed in Naomi's tent, wet and miserable...but we didn't know this until later on. Yikes!

Well we got up in the morning, had a big breakfast and drove to the halfway town where we left the van for Michelle and the girls. They rode the first half and would take the van the rest of the way.


We stopped along the way, had a turkey leg and freezie pops. Man it was hot! We also ran into Dave, Patty and Devra....strange karma.

The beer gardens were really getting wild...I still can't figure out how people could drink all day in that heat and then ride a bike. Craziest thing I've ever seen!


30 or so miles under our belt and we cruise into the sleepover town...such a great feeling of accomplishment. 30 miles is starting to seem easy to me. 

Day 4 continued

On the way out of town we had to stop and see Albert the Bull....isn't he impressive? The kids played at the park for a little while, we were waiting to hear if Michelle's chain was going to hold. She only got about 10 miles out of town and it kept breaking so she decided to give up on riding and try to get it fixed for good. We spent the next hour or so trying to figure out where they were on the route...the cell phones didn't work very well so it was a guessing game since we can't take the van on the bike route.

We parked on one of the side roads and Sean jumped on a bike and found them...when they came back to the van Lucy was running into the cornfield, pulling ears of corn out, tearing them apart and then doing it again...it was pretty funny to watch although I started stressing about an unhappy farmer showing up. So she finally stopped!
We all drove to the halfway town and somehow ran into Naomi and Barry...amazing that we can run into people so easily...more good meet up karma!


The kids played in the water, we grabbed some food and set off for the overnight town to drop off Michelle and the girls....Waukee, Iowa. This town had a huge vendor area...like a little art festival and there was even a woman selling pre-made scrapbook pages....couldn't believe it!

After getting them set up we headed to DesMoines and the Holiday Inn...ahhhh a nice long HOT shower. It was lovely. Outback for dinner. Jacuzzi tub and pool. Life is good, we were completely refreshed for the next day. I tried to get the blog done that night but the darn Internet wasn't working.

Day 4 RAGBRAI

Ahhhhh, something about waking up in the morning knowing you don't have to ride. Well, okay, so I felt a little left out. But my tush and my legs were pretty sore after the marathon ride yesterday so I was happy we planned on going to a waterpark and the Holiday Inn tonight!

We sent Michelle, Naomi and the girls on their way not knowing if we would see them sooner or later. The chain on the tandem kept breaking when powerhouse Taiga would stand up to pump up the hills. They weren't sure how far they would get.


Gavin had some cereal in a box and we leisurly packed up camp...we even left after the RADPAN bus this morning...last ones as usual. But hey, it is ok! 

Day3 continued

After Mr. Porkchop I think it was another 12 miles or so...we rode about 45 miles today, the most I will ride in one day on the trip...we got to the halfway town and played in the water spray that the local firehouse had out. It was so refreshing. We found the van that Sean's sister left for us, he was planning on riding the other half with the kids but we were all totally pooped....it was so wonderful to get into the van and blast the air.
We drove to the sleepover town, Audubon, Iowa and found where the RADPAN team was camping....Gavin was thrilled that we were camping in the infield of the racetrack at the town fairgrounds. He ran up the the guard rails to check out the other side.
We decided to try to find some food before showers tonight so we rode over to the main vendor area and pigged out....pulled pork, sweet corn, pizza and kettle corn...it's amazing how much you can eat after riding 45 miles! After dinner we rode over to the local pool and cooled off, another cold shower after waiting in line, then back to the camping area to set up the tent and crash by about 11....exhausting, crazy, but kind of fun. Tomorrw we are taking the day off, getting a hotel in DesMoines....thank god because I am pretty sore EVERYWHERE. Advil is my new best friend. 

Day 3 RAGBRAI Monday

Woke up this morning again to an empty campground. Only the support busses and us were left...it just cracked me up. I was sleeping with earplugs in my ears...heard you could sleep better that way so you don't hear the porta-potty doors slamming all night. Well I think I am sleeping better than I ever have in my life, I don't even wake up to hundreds of bikers taking down their tents! Might have to try them at home!

We finally got on the road by about 8:30, there were still many people riding out of town...they just weren't in our camping area. Luckily it was a little overcast because it was sweltering already. There was an evil headwind and the hills were not as steep as yesterday but they were long and gradual with very little downhill breaks. Nothing but farms and cornfields. We saw the sign for the pancake breakfast on the route....9 miles away, ugh. It was a long 9 miles but we made it just in time for the last pancakes on the griddle and the last 5 sausages. Good karma. They were absolutely delicious. We also ran into our new friend Barry from Hell's Kitchen, NY, always fun to talk to and he kept a banter with Gavin the entire trip about renaming our team. They just cracked each other up with new names like "Gavin and the sausageheads"....and "Barry and the cowheads." Barry also told Gavin that the cows would come steal his pancakes if he left them sitting too long....Gavin took that pretty seriously. :)
We got back on the road and it was another 15 or so miles before we found another place to stop for cold drinks and snacks. It was tough because we were so late that we were just barely making it to the stands along the route before they closed up. Normally there was almost zero car traffic on the route since we were kind of at the end of the pack there was much more traffic that totally stressed me out. I was ready to sag (have the sag wagon take us to the next town) but Sean kept us going....a few miles later I saw the sign "Mr. Porkchop, 11 miles" I soooo wanted one of those porkchops ( I bypassed his stand yesterday and regretted it). This guy is an institution on RAGBRAI...he parks at a different farm everyday on the route and yells out this long pig call...PooooooorkChooooooooooops! So you give him $6 and his granddaughter hands you this HUGE steaming porkchop in a papertowel. Seeing that sign was all I needed to get me motivated again. But it was a tough 11 miles. I was so incredibly happy to come over the hill and see that pink bus...and once again the good karma was there because we got 2 of the last 10 or so porkchops for the day. Yum. They also had some amazing fresh lemon slushie....cool and refreshing. Gavin still likes to do his own version of the porkchop call! Funny.

Day 2 RAGBRAI Sunday

Well here we are, Katz and the Dogheads, the first day of riding. You can see all the empty grass in the background...well when we went to bed last night is was a tent city...tents as far as you could see. When we finally got on the road, the tents were all gone. We were pretty much the last bunch of 10,000 people to leave this morning!
Sean stayed behind to pack the van, we had WAY too much crap, and to drive it to the halfway town where we would meet up and I would drive the vanto the sleepover town. Naomi, Michelle and I started out with the girls at about 8:30am. We had a great ride, it was hot but we stopped in one town for breakfast burritos and water refills, and coffee. There were LOTS of big hills but it was fun to crank the bike down to "granny gear" climb the hill at the pace of a turtle and then go as fast as I could back down again, cooling off. If anyone ever says Iowa is flat...they are lying! It was a peaceful ride for me and I eventually got ahead of the girls and rode on my own (with 10,000 strangers). I did find Patty and Dave at Mr. Porkchop's stand and sat and chatted with them for a while.
We had a very good meet up Karma this trip. We always managed to find each other, in all the towns without much effort. When I pulled into the halfway town I pretty much ran right into Sean and the kids. Wierd. 10 minutes later Michell and gang showed up so we all got something to eat and drink and did the big switch. It took forever and we were boiling in the heat and sun but eventually they all took off and I drove to the sleepover town, found team RADPAN to camp by, cruised around town on my bike and waited for our team to get in. When the finally did we rode ove to the local pool, cooled off, showered (freezing) and found something to eat. Most of the vendors were done since it was so late (around 8:30pm)so we had to scrounge a little. I had my first of many pork burgers to come.....no losing weight on this trip! Back to the tents, by the time we got the kids ready for bed and ourselves...it was easy to pass out!

RAGBRAI Day 1 Saturday

RAGBRAI.....the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa....6 months ago I had never even heard about this thing...Sean's sister Michelle had just moved back from Alaska and she wanted to try to register for it. Her good friend Naomi had done it 15 years ago and she always wanted to try it....but it was a lottery, they only allow about 9000 people register so we weren't sure if we could even get in...so Sean and Michelle came up with a team name, Katz and the Dogheads (long story), we sent in our $ and waivers....sure enough they cashed our checks and we were in. Ugh! I kinda hoped we wouldn't get in...I don't really like bicycling.

The first day:
I am still thinking at this point that I must be totally crazy to try this. I've only ridden about 10 miles this summer and they reccomend that you get at least 500 miles in before attempting RAGBRAI. Well we packed up the van and started on our way on Saturday morning....there really wasn't even room to move in the van...we had way too much stuff! The kids starting fighting right away and the 8 hour ride to the Western edge of Iowa was pretty much miserable. The only peace we had was when the kids watched a movie. Gavin was pretty unhappy to be in his carseat for so long...and he let us know it!

We picked up Dave, my sister-in-law's brother about an hour and a half away from Seargent Bluff, the starting town, so he could leave his car with family. He was an experienced RAGBRAIer so we picked his brain while Gavin kicked him in the shoulder several times and screamed. We think Dave will be waiting to have baby #2 for quite some time! Good thing he is an easy going guy!

We got to town just before 5pm. I figured would spend most of my time in the van so I wanted to go to the driver safety meeting at 5 so I jumped out of the van to find it while everyone else found a place to camp. The expo area was bustling with hundreds of people. I felt so inexperienced and green! I found the meeting at the local high school theatre but I didn't learn much more than I had already learned online...but I was glad I went because I need to feel like I know what I 'm doing. I called Sean after the meeting and he told me where they were, near the city pool about a half mile away...so I went to the info tent, figured out the general direction and started walking. There were hundreds and hundreds of tents... as far as you could see. It was crazy how many people were invading this small Iowa town. But everyone seemed happy and excited...me, I was nervous, I still really didn't know what to expect.

I found everyone at the campsite. The kids were itching to go to the pool so we took them over to swim...it was 8pm before we realized we needed to eat. We didn't really know where to go or what to do and most of the food venders were packed up and gone. We hiked quite a distance (should have been on the bikes) and finally found a spaghetti dinner at the primary school given by the local high school football team. I was either really, really good or we were VERY hungry....but we scarfed it down and headed back to camp. We stopped at the fire station on the way. They had all the trucks out and the kids got to go sit in a few of them and got little plastic fire hats. Gavin was in heaven. We got back after dark and went right to bed. Thank goodness I had read about bring earplugs, the band in the beer garden was about a half a mile away but was very loud....popped those babies in and I slept like a log....just got a little cold in the night because we didn't put the rainfly up....

Floggin

Okay, okay, I know I've been floggin!! Trying to keep up here. We had a fun weekend up in 'da North' with 3 other families. Felt great to get on a jet ski again...been a few years. And the kids had so much fun riding with us on them! Gavin was terrified in the beginning but quickly learned to love it. The only bad thing that happened is that Gabby got Swimmer's Itch all over her tush....must have been all that sitting and digging in the sand on the beach with all the snails...yuck! At least she had fun and it doesn't seem to bother her.

We have been working our butts off getting ready to do this insane thing called RAGBRAI. AKA riding our bikes across Iowa in 100 degree humidity with 10 thousand other crazy people, camping in a different field every night, using portable toilets and showers for 7 days, eating porkchops in a paper towel, hauling the kids in the Burley and keeping them happy, did I mention RIDING OUR BIKES ACROSS IOWA, in JULY?? I am really in for some serious pain. I haven't really trained at all, haven't had time. Luckily dh is a bike riding machine so I can always just drive the support van and be a whimp. Just hope I don't get stuck in the van with all the kids!! We are going with my sis-in-law and her two girls too. We leave at the crack of dawn (ugh!) on Saturday...drive to the Western edge of Iowa and start this crazy journey! I guess all the towns we ride through welcome the riders with amazing hospitality....it's all about the people they say. Of course they make buckets of $ selling corn, pies, pancakes and other goodies.

I am excited to see the Reminisce store in IowaJulie talked about...maybe I can ditch the family and hang out there for a day....hmmmmmm. So anyway, we are bringing the laptop but I don't know how much I will be able to do online....I think I will have serious withdrawals by Wednesday! I will miss you guys! Wish me lots and lots and lots of luck. Hopefully I will come home in SHAPE again!! :)  

Lunch and Cardstock

What more could a girl need? :)