July 25, 2008 (North Liberty, IA) Today's jaunt took us 65 miles with a fair amount of North-South riding as well as the West to East route that we're on. The climbing was modest with rolling hills through several small towns: Solon, We Lisbon, Mount Vernon, Martelle, Morley, Machanicsville and finishing in Tipton (the overnight town). We're staying down the road a ways in New Liberty (not North Liberty) which is near the route. We'll head in early tomorrow to finish the route to the Mississippi River (Le Claire is the final town) and then head back to our hotel, shower [View Full Entry]

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Top Ten Things I Appreciate (even more) Because of RAGBRAI 1. The crest of a hill 2. Water 3. Paceline Products’ Chamois Butt’r 4. A peloton paceline on a windy day 5. Overcast skies 6. Shade 7. Hotels v. tents 8. A big van 9. A big trailer with bike rack 10. Scott and Ann Johnson for organizing it all [View Full Entry]

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It has been crazy trying to plan everything to make my study abroad possible. I am so stressed trying to plan and coordinate everything. Of course, to make things more difficult, everything always has to happen in a certain order. For right now I am still home in Iowa, but will be leaving in a few short weeks to study in Perugia, Italy at the Umbra Institute. [View Full Entry]

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July 24, 2008 (Chelsea, IA) While staying at Gary Lamb’s Lodge in Chelsea, we were joined by the remaining team members Ken and Diana Bannon from Wichita. Ken is riding and Diana is our support driver for the remainder of the trip (unless one of us gets too tired, sore or intimidated) and then she’ll have company. Ken hasn’t done as much biking as he should of (like me) but is an enthusiastic participant. They rolled in late last night after a 7 hour drive from Wichita. We got up at 5:30, knowing that there was rain in the forecast. The [View Full Entry]

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July 22, 2008 (Ames, IA) The riders made it in to the Comfort Inn in great shape. A flatter course made for more efficient riding in the peloton of riders. Sunny, but not too hot this morning. The route actually goes right in front of our hotel, so we take off from here tomorrow. Scott will be the designated driver, so he won't even need to get up since we can take off directly from our parking lot. After the riders got back and showered, we all headed across the street to the Azteca Mexican Restaurant. Great authentic Mexican food of [View Full Entry]

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July 23, 2008 (Ames, IA) Four of us made the effort to go to the Styx concert and were pleasantly surprised. It was held on the University Campus on a big parking lot, and they expected about 30,000 people across all age groups. It was a perfect evening - warm with a nice intermittent cool breeze, no bugs and clear skies. The band came on as the sun was setting and sang a lot of their hits: Lady, Madame Blue, Come Sail Away, Fooling Yourself, Too Much Time on My Hands. If they did Mr. Roboto, they opened with it, because [View Full Entry]

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July 23, 2008 (Ames, Iowa) For all of you following the blog, you have to realize that we're staying in some pretty remote areas where we don't have access to the internet and many areas where our cell phones don't get coverage. Hence, the one day late blogs that are just now coming out. Its the problem being the blogger, because after everyone starts figuring out what its all about, then they expect it to be done. Now the team members complain "the blog hasn't been updated!" Oh well, here's what we did on day 4. We had a great break [View Full Entry]

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July 22, 2008 (Ames, IA) Today I was the designated driver (i.e. the support team). That means that I get up with everyone else at 5:30 and then drop them off in the starting town (we stayed about 25 miles away from Jefferson). The trailer has all the equipment, and we have to set up all the bikes, fill the tires, make sure everyone has food, fluids and all their equipment. From there, the riders head toward the route which begins in the center of town join the steady stream of thousands of riders heading east. I jumped in the van [View Full Entry]

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July 22, 2008 (Ames, IA) This is a story from the Ames Tribune describing the concert tonight... RAGBRAI concert, featuring Styx and The Nadas, to benefit flood victims 07/01/2008 The rock band Styx will headline the Ames RAGBRAI CYcling Country entertainment festival, which will benefit victims of the recent floods in Iowa. The concert will also include an appearance by the popular Iowa band The Nadas, who came together as Iowa State University students. The event will be from 5 p.m. to midnight Tuesday, July 22, in the Iowa State Center parking lots. T-shirt and autograph sales will benefit the Embrace [View Full Entry]

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The Team So there are five of us trekking through the Great Plains… 1. Scott Johnson - an anesthesiologist that works at the McGee Eye Center. Porsche afficcionado (races them) and gadget owner of many types (boats, vans, cars, tools…but no planes - yet). 2. Ann Johnson - general dentist that runs and bikes a lot. She and Scott have 2 dogs - a big black lab (Boomer) and a small terrier (Loonie Louie) that are treated better than most kids. She’s still trying to figure out her bike computer. 3. Terry Davis - he tans very well. Terry is the [View Full Entry]

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