| Home Glenn's log Scott's log Photos Official RAGBRAI site |
RAGBRAI 2004 began in Onawa, near (but not on) the
Missouri River. Most (all?) of the team arrived on Friday (some by bicycling out from Clinton), and made camp right
in back of the court hourse. It was a beautiful, quiet setting...at least until
Saturday. One interesting event there was all of us talking outside of a
restaurant on Main Street, chatting with the mayor, when we were told we had to
go inside or quit consuming beer. Apparently rank doesn't count for much in
Onawa. As we set out on Sunday morning, it was unlike any RAGBRAI I had ever been on...COLD! It was brisk and flat through Mapleton, then the hills started. They were pretty big hills, but not too bad as the weather was so pleasant it was cool biking up the hills. We rolled into Lake View, actually a bit past Lake View, as we found our first night's lodging, a house right on Blackhawk Lake. The boys went for a swim; most of the others headed for a nice restaurant for dinner. Downtown was a rip-off, with scarce and very spendy food. Monday it was again cool, although not quite as cold, as we made our way over flat roads to Fort Dodge. It was a bit challenging to find our overnight, but it was great once we did. Most of the group headed out for a grand spaghetti dinner, but when we arrived at the church we found out that they had run out of food. So instead we found a Village Inn Restaurant, where ordering was a challenge, and getting what you ordered was near impossible, to say nothing of the complimentary pie that wasn't. Tuesday we made our way to Iowa Falls, again very pleasant weather and gentle terrain. I kept having to convince Scott that he would never again see weather like this on RAGBRAI. Our overnight was a ways out of town, and a bit extra cycling, unless you saw the sign off the route which led directly to it. It was a huge yard, bordered by cornfields, so sleeping was luxurious. Wednesday was a short 62 miles to Marshalltown...against a fierce headwind, complete with gravel stretches. This day was not too much fun bicycling, although our overnight was again great. We were near some great bars with great music, and plenty of grass to make camp. Thursday we started the day with a surprise birthday announcement for Scott, who turned 16, and instead of getting his driver's license spent the day on a bike seat. Then we headed off to Hiawatha, another fairly easy day's ride. We arrived at our overnight, the home of Steve and Rosemary Giunta. That night we were treated to some fantastic pasta, and the evening featured a tribute to Charlie, who was calling it quits after this year of driving and sagging for us. Friday Team Take-A-Break grew substantially with the influx of family and friends into Hiawatha. We started heading off to Maquoketa; most of us stopped at Anamosa to eat breakfast and replenish our liquids. I hit a downpour outside of Anamosa, and, together with Scott, had probably the worst few miles I've ever had on RAGBRAI, riding through gravel, now mud and slop, and the pouring rain. By the time the rain stopped, every bit of rider and bicycle was coated with mud. But the weather cleared as we arrived in Maquoketa, again with a substantial area in which to camp, and lots of additional friends and family showing up at the last overnight. Saturday we stopped in Preston for breakfast, with our team member Dean being responsible for much of the town's planning for RAGBRAI. Biking the last day is usually carefree and thoroughly enjoyable, and this day was no exception as we made our way east to the Mississippi. It was especailly enjoyable finishing the ride at Clinton, the home of Team Take-A-Break, and the weather was sunny and warm as we finished the week on the shores of the Mississippi. Great ride, great friends, a great time. |
Questions or comments email glenn@gpearson.net