And we're off!

Sunday-
    I expected the first day to be hell- it was very hilly. Actually, I loved the rolling hills of northwest Iowa. I don't know if it was the hills themselves, or the training finally kicked in, or perhaps I was doing a better job with my nutrition-  but I'm seeing a lot bunch more speed than I'm used to. I had noticed some improvement recently in my training. I noticed that it felt a lot better after I went through and did a little tune-up and lube of the whole bike also, but I really hadn't seen this big a difference. Of course, downhill runs are always fun, but I set a new personal best for top speed ever- 44.1 MPH. That was a long gradual hill- none of the hills on Sunday were that steep. And I found myself enjoying it so much that I had to push on the way up the next one, and most of the time I was able to keep it above 20 MPH all the way up the next hill. I made up for some of those with some 8 MPH uphills, but those were fairly few. I found myself running flats at 22 -23 MPH. Amazing. Then I spent the evening wondering if I'd done a little too much by pushing like that all day. Legs were pretty sore, and even had a few moments of feeling like it might cramp. I used to have some leg cramps at times that would cramp so hard they would injure the muscle and I would be a bit crippled for days or weeks. If that happened here, it would be disastrous, so I worried. After an evening of worrying and stretching, it turned out that there was no need to worry. I didn't have any more trouble, and my legs weren't hardly sore by morning.
    Sunday started with the ride down to the dipping site to dip my rear tire in the missouri river. It wasn't as much Chaos as you might expect- there's no official starting "gun", so there's a steady stream for hours, but not too much of a crowd at once, at least for me and what others reported. The campsite was only a couple of miles away from the dip site, so not a bad ride to get started. Then, it's off through the streets of Sioux City. There were people along the route for miles, just sitting out yelling encouragement or just saying "Hi". Some had free water or snacks for riders. Roads were pretty good, with no major problems, and the State Troopers and local police were out there to make sure everyone was kept safe- and could keep riding without stopping. At one intersection towards the end of the area, a driver of an SUV was talking on his cell phone, and started inching out like he was going to try to run through the endless stream of riders. The officer at that intersection jumped into action yelling like he had a bullhorn in his throat. He got the guy eye-to-eye and stood right in front of his bumper. "Get off the cell phone NOW!", he said. And the guy did. "You move when I tell you"- and his tone said, " ... or you're going away for a while". I'm sure the driver wasn't trying to be a jerk, but I was impressed with that officer's instant reaction. It might have even saved some lives, and was totally appropriate. People sometimes just aren't thinking- glad you were, officer. Thanks!
As we got to the edge of the developed area, it seemed like breakfast was a good idea. There was a church there having a pancake breakfast to raise money for their relief effort for Haiti, and I stopped. They had decent live music going, and were set up fairly efficiently to get everything served. It was a pretty good breakfast, and all of the church members were clearly there to help in any way they could. I was using a shelf inside the church to organize some things I was carrying, and a couple of people just walked up and got me a chair, turned on lights for me, and suggested a few other things I might need. Great place. Then, it was off into the hills.
   As mentioned previously, I loved the hills. I was surprised that I seemed to be one of the fastest people riding except for the really serious "pace line, heads-down, $3000+ bike" group. And there are some of those. I did have some good rides alongside people who rolled up to talk. RAGBRAI issues a "bike license" for you to hang from the back of your seat, and you fill in your name and town, and what RAGBRAI this is for you. It's a great idea- let's people call out "Randy, on your left" so I know they're talking to me. Important when there's a large, mixed crowd of riders of many different types and levels. It also let's people ride up and say "Miamisburg- I'm from Germantown", etc. Helps the social aspect. I've met a bunch of interesting people with interesting stories to tell. I probably didn't get quite as much of this as I should- nobody pulls up to talk at 25 MPH or more, and nobody wants to start the talk while someone is passing them up the hill. I just was having so much fun going fast, I know I missed some opportunities. Still, it was fun.
I'm actually writing this in the Church on Monday night, and they are about to get to lights-out, so I better sign off. Lots of stories I still haven't told, but I'll get to those when I can.