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Wednesday July 26, 2006

Day 4 – Waukee to Newton

written by: Papa Delicious

Daily Stats

• Time: 4 hours 12 minutes 45 seconds
• Distance: 66.4 miles
• Average Speed: ~ 16mph

Day 4 was a fast-paced day. Leaving Urbandale at about 8:00 am, we had a fast ride up through Granger, Polk City, up across the interstate to Elkhart, down south to Bondurant where we ate lunch, then on east to Mitchellville. After that was Colfax, with the STEEPEST HILL EVER, leaving town. From there we rolled through Lambs Grove into Newton. The pace was quick today. Due to a moderate wind coming from the south-east, most of the riders were struggling as they pushed into the wind. Team Crazy Delicious, however, banded together to form a draft line with other riders that decisively put us in the fast lane. Riding in a draft line meant that the person up front hauled, while the other members rode behind them resting for the next time they would lead. When the leader tired to the point that they couldn’t lead at top speed, they would drop back to the side, and the next person would step up. Team Crazy Delicious joined with other teams to travel at a record pace. At one point we blazed past Lance Armstrong. He’s not really that fast compared to the fast pace and teamwork of Crazy Delicious. Ok, we actually didn’t see Lance Armstrong out on the road, but that’s what we told lots of people. We did see the back of his head later on though, at the main stage in Newton. He actually waved at us!

Last night was a stormy night, complete with rain, thunder and lightning. Thankfully we had a roof over our head, courtesy of the Nelson’s. We slept well and soundly in comfortable beds.

Today we added the 6th and final member of Team Crazy Delicious today. George \“Shepherd\” Stagg left Ames at 1, and arrived at the Newton Team Crazy Delicious headquarters at Laura Bazal’s parent’s house around 5 o'clock. George has trained well and will bring riding experience and humor to our team effort.

George "Shepherd" Stagg's Message of the Day for his kids:

"Hi Andrew, Amanda, Alicia, and Gabriel!! Well, I made it here safe. I think that I almost got in trouble today. It was too hot and I didn’t have enough water and I started to get goosebumps in the middle of the hot sun! So, I pulled over under a shade tree and rested for a bit. I laid down on the ground for about 15 minutes and just sweated and sweated. I got some more water from a nice farmer and his family. Darren and Sarah helped me out by driving from Newton and picking up my backpack and giving me a Gatorade. So, that was about 5 miles out and it really helped. I love you! Listen to mom! I’ll be home on Saturday night!"

Well-rested after an excellent night at Camp Nelson

The Mile Long Bridge near Polk City gets a thumbs up

Team Crazy Delicious’s sweet new ride.

The GU that fuels us – cheers!

The Dude after GUing

Papa Delicious offers Hassel-half a bite of his delicious sandwich.

Sherpa fulfills all of his duties and still finds time to put in a half day’s worth of work

Hassel-half’s game of RAGBRAI Scrabble

Lance and Team Crazy Delicious (and about 15,000 other people) partied Wednesday night in downtown Newton.

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