Ragbrai 2010: July 26, Day Two

Note: Click on photos to enlarge.
Today we began in Storm Lake. Our pass through towns today included Varina, Pocahontas, Plover, Rolfe (on the loop for those wanting to do a "century"....100 miles for the day), West Bend, Whittemore, and our final destination for the day, Algona.

A great day for biking. Temperatures in the 80's. No head winds. Cloudy afternoon, flat terrain. Today I'd set a record for the most miles I've ever ridden in a day.

 Morning hygiene duties, Karla and I brushing our teeth.

 One last photo of the Razorback head, before I detached it. Decided to just haul it on the back of my bike, as it was making my neck sore.

 Looks like they've already cleaned up the trash from the previous evening.

One last photo of Storm Lake, as we leave town.

 Fruit on a stick.

 Never seen a sign like this on an Arkansas poulty farm!

 You often have to get off and push your bike as the it gets congested as you get closer to a town.

 Not sure what this bike was. Heard him say, was some sort of prototype.

 Here's the sign for those wanting to ride 100 miles today. Each year, there's one day where they offer a "century loop". Today's route is 75 miles, but the loop adds another 25. I'd never ridden more than about 85 miles in a day, so I decided to go for it. By noon, I'd already ridden close to 50 miles and averaged 14 mph (which is good for me). If I were to ever attempt a century, the situation could not be more perfect.
We'd decided to try and meet up with Lajunta around noon, but there was one problem we had to deal with. Apparently, the cell phone towers just couldn't handle the thousands and thousands of extra phones. It was almost impossible to get a call through.
I found some delicious veggie pizza for lunch.

 This lady was handing out patches on the "century loop". It was a "century patch".

 One thing that was a bit of a break, on the century loop, there were few bikes. Actually more than I expected. I was able to stop at a convenience store and get a soda!

 A father and his 2 daughters. This is a tandem bike with a tag along. My grand babies may be about big enough this summer to try one of these.

 I visited with the lady pulling the trailer (or as my kids call it, a chariot).I noticed she had 2 small children in the chariot. I asked, "How old are you kids?" Her reply shocked me, she said, "The oldest is 2 years old, the youngest is 7 weeks"! And she was planning to ride about 75 miles that day. Told me they did fine, she just had to stop occasionally and nurse the baby.

 Fresh, sweet corn on the cob!

 This was a shock to see such an elaborate grotto in rural Iowa, in the town of West Bend. Here's a link:
http://www.westbendgrotto.com/

 First time I'd ridden 100 miles in one day.

 The over night town, Algona.

 I had a bunch of fun with these guys. I'd gotten into town at 4:45, so I had plenty of time to kill. They had an extra chair, so I sat and visited with them awhile. Like some of the other spectators, I'd hollar at cyclists as they went by, "Where you from?"  Or, "Welcome to Algona". Glad no one knew me...lol

 Ok, how'd I end up with 110.26 miles today? Was supposed to be 100. Well, first, Lajunta and I had a little trouble communicating. Since our cell phones didn't work too well, she'd find the "Message Board" and leave us a note as to where to find her. She'd find our over night spot, and wait for us. For some reason, I misunderstood her directions, and rode all the way through town, and had to come back. Finally found her. Then Lajunta got a phone call from the people I stopped to visit, I'd left my cell phone there.So had to ride back and get it.

 Door greeting from our over night hosts.

 Our home for the night.

 Our hosts for the evening.

We looked for a nice restaurant for dinner, but the wait was too long. So we found the expo where all the food vendors were at, and had dinner.

Click here to go to day 3.