SAG ride and exploring Manchester

Friday opened with me waking up to discover that my numb toes were still numb. This led me to worry that I shouldn't ride today, in case this was something that could turn into permanent damage with further aggravation- or could get worse and guarantee that I couldn't ride the last day. I was almost decided to take the PBV SAG bus to the next campsite, instead of riding, when I had a look outside. It was raining, and really didn't look fun. It seemed clear that I shouldn't go out in that with this problem already there to worry about. I packed everything up and went up to see if I could pay the $25 for the SAG ride straight to the next town's campsite. They had room, so we loaded up and headed out. I spoke with the woman next to me on the bus, who had a problem that prevented her from riding, so she would go get camp set up while her husband rides today. Another woman had experienced a fall and broken her arm, so she wasn't riding. I was mostly excited to get a good camping spot and have a relaxing day. When we arrived, it was still a bit chaotic. Manchester had experienced some flooding with the amazing rain in the previous weeks, and our original campsite was still too wet. They had moved us across the road, and were still working out how to lay out that campsite. I found a good spot for my tent, set it up, got settled in, and decided that I might as well take a nap while they got things organized. This apparently was just what I needed, because I woke up a couple of hours later, and felt much better. It was just about half a mile into the downtown festival area, so I got my bike and headed on in. Another nice little Iowa town with its own personality and all sorts of interesting stores. As I walked around, I found the Castle Theater, celebrating its 75th year. Apparently, it had fallen into disrepair, and they decided to make it a community-owned theater and get it restored to its former glory. They had done an admirable job, and it was a very nice theater restored to like-new decor appropriate to its era. They were showing Toy Story 3, which I hadn't seen yet, and that sounded like a great idea of a way to spend the afternoon, so in I went. Classic popcorn and movie treats were available, and they were doing root beer floats as a special RAGBRAI thing. It was fun to watch the movie and enjoy the theater. I wandered around town a bit after the movie, then headed back to camp for another massage (focused on those toes this time, along with the sore legs), and another nice evening of socializing. I met a young woman who takes pictures every year, and then creates postcards from them to sell during the next year's ride. She says that more than anything, she likes the excuse it gives her to talk to people and hear their memories of the ride.
From what I heard from those who actually rode, it was a miserable day and a difficult ride. Many of them ended up holed up in some farmer's barn to wait for the lightning to susbside enough to continue fighting the headwinds and rain. I guess I'd like to be able to say that I went out and was up for that challenge, but I'm not really that disappointed that I didn't do this day's cycling. Settled in for some final clean-up and packing to be ready for the short ride to Dubuque tomorrow- and its killer hills. Dubuque isn't the rolling hills we had at the beginning of the week- you often can't carry over the downhill speed into the next hill. And they are a bit larger- including "Potter Hill", this year's longest/steepest hill, though there are several into Dubuque that we would be mentioning if Potter Hill hadn't overwhelmed the interest in them. That elevation map is all ups and downs, so hoping for a good night's sleep and more recovery for those feet before tomorrow. Those feet do feel better by bedtime, though not completely.