RAGBRAI 2003
During the week of July 20-26, several SLOBCs will be in Iowa doing the 21st RAGBRAI. This includes Vicki Backman, Dan & SuSun Berger, Ben Patrick, and some others. | |
They will be sending back periodic progress reports which will be posted here. | |
The following links contain more information about the ride | |
| Map | Provides full map of the route, daily ending locations and ride distances. |
| Team Skunk | This is the group with whom Vicki and Ben will ride. |
Click here to see stories and photos by "Team Skunk"
| Date | Miles | Daily Map | Comments | Stop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19-July | Ben
Patrick and I got out here with no trouble at all, all flights on time and all
connecting gates were adjacent! Must be Ben's luck, it's not mine. Put our bikes
together and went for a shakedown cruise this morning. Now they're on the Team
Skunk Ryder truck ready to go to the starting town tomorrow. The Skunk River in
Ames, Iowas is about 100 yards behind us in this picture (not in sight). It is
NOT true that Team Skunk got its name because the members don't take showers all
week during RAGBRAI. Today we took in the sights--a butterfly farm, a virtual
reality room and more. Note the stylish Team Skunk helmet covers. Ben thinks that
the Yellowjackets might need helmet covers now.... | Glenwood | ||
| 20-July | Ben
and I had an interesting first day. The short 55 mile ride turned into a steam sauna with temperatures at 100 degrees. Then we had a tornado warning and a nasty thunder and lightning storm in the evening. On the other hand, the ride started great--cool and foggy and lots of odd riders. The Donner Party is back (we eat the slow ones), and some hula girls were evident. We ate well and stopped too much. | Shenandoah | ||
| 21-July | Today
is much better (cooler). I came in fast with Jeremy I talked with a couple people today
from California who Team
Skunk is doing well and Ben is also enjoying their | Bedford | ||
| 22-July | Osceola | |||
| 23-July | Oskaloosa | |||
| 24-July | At the end of Thursday, we have about 100 miles to go. We've seen Susun and Dan several times in the evenings, and they are doing fine now. They also faound the first day (100 degees last Sunday) very hot and difficult. Ben Patrick fell coming into town last night when he tangled wheels with a self-contained rider. He took today off for good measure, but feels he can ride Friday and Saturday. He missed a nice day of riding today, 65 miles with 3 miles of gravel at the very end (yuck). There were about six Ormonde Road sized hills today, so he had a good day off. Ben and I stayed in a B&B last night courtesy of my mother. The B&B lady was terrific. She even did our laundry, made both dinner and breakfast and gave us gatorade and water for the road. We've had good riding weather the last two days, with only one thunderstorm at night. Ben has enjoyed lots of Iowa pie. The only amazing thing is the headwinds. Nomatter which way we turn each day, the wind comes from there. Truly amazing. Actually, in 5 RAGBRAIs I cannot remember one day of tailwinds. | Bloomfield | ||
| 25-July | We
are all having a great Friday, at least on the riding front. Ben is riding today,
and his leg is looking OK from the fall on Wednesday. Today is only 65 miles with
about 20 on a strong tailwind. Yahoo! We crossed the Des Moines river 3 times,
and it is running high. It's a big river, and the valley was really pretty. Of
course every crossing involves a climb back up out of the valley, but a great
morning with good temperatures. I saw Dan and Susun in the last river town, Bonaparte.
They are having a great day too. There is a young guy riding an old fashioned
bike today with a five foot tall front wheel, looks like he's going to make the
whole stage. Wish I was carrying my camera. What a stud. Well, there's about 7 miles in to our night town. I love these Iowa Telecom trailers packed with fast free computers! | Mount Pleasant | ||
| 26-July | Stayed
with Rich and Joanne McCabe (friends of Jim Twentymen's) at there farm house about
five miles out our final days route. Joanne fixed us lasagna for supper toped
off with some great fresh fruit and cookies. This was wonderful for our last night
on the road, great food, hot shower, fun people and real beds. Got up this morning
at about 6 am and there already was a steady line of cyclists going by. Had a
great breakfast then went out to watch the parade for awhile, said goodbyes, and
joined the parade. Was a great finale to a fun filled week. Of course, more rolling
hills and wind in our face but no one seemed to notice today. We stopped in the
last town, Denmark, for our final meal on the road and finished off with more
homemade pie. Yum Yum Traditionally, the Skunks all wearing black shirts with
white stripes down the backs, group together lined up two by two and proceed to
the river (Mississippi) to dip there tires. Today was no different. Each team, in there colorful team jerseys, filed in to form a spectacular ending to a challenging but wonderful week. Vickie and my bike boxes were on the Team Skunk truck and UPS was there at the river. So we dissembled the bikes, boxed and shipped them on the spot. Two days before in Bloomfield, I had lost my blue plastic sunglasses case with my prescription glasses enclosed. Vickie said "don't worry, the RAGBRAI people are good at finding things". Well, sure enough!!, when I checked at the RAGBRI booth in Fort Madison, they had them! Whew! Ben | Fort Madison |
