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Thursday July 27, 2006

Day 5 - Newton to Marengo

written by: The Dude

Daily Stats (Mark & Jordan / Darren & George)

• Distance: 74.5 miles / 90 miles
• Average Speed: 17.5mph / 17.2mph
• Time: 4 hours 18 minutes / 5 hours 8 minutes

Today’s ride was a great ride. We started the day with an excellent breakfast prepared by Pat and Laura Bazal, consisting of bacon, cheesy eggs, French toast, OJ, coffee, milk…it was good. We left the hospitality of the Bazal family in Newton and headed eastward towards Marengo, covering close to 80 miles. But, there was a slight difference in today’s ride…there was an optional loop that people could take that would add an additional 17 miles and bring their ride total to close to 100 miles. This option was chosen by \“Baby Butt\” (Bruce), \“Papa Delicious\” (Darren), and new team addition \“Shepherd\” (George). The weather remained cool (then heated up significantly later) into the late morning, with only one complaint: it was extremely humid. The ride was not very hilly and there was virtually no wind to fight, which allowed \“Hassel-Half\” (Mark) and \“The Dude\” (Jordan) to maintain a record setting average speed of 17.5 miles per hour for the day.

This trip also had the added bonus of the most holy of all bikers riding on it…yes, Lance Armstrong himself rode this leg of RAGBRAI. Riding through crowds with an almost angelic presence, this man among boys, this legend among mortals, bestowed his aura on Iowa. Some may remember the pope coming to Iowa in the early 80s; I would imagine that his visit paled in comparison to the tremendous honor of having a sports celebrity visit. His visit elicited a variety of responses from the Crazy Delicious team: \“Papa D’s\” reaction could best be compared to watching school girls swoon over the Beatles landing at JFK back in the 60s; George was much more skeptical, reasoning that Lance probably has his sights set on a future in politics and was coming to Iowa to put out the feelers on a future bid for national office. Lance’s visit has brought a clarity and vision to the members of team Crazy Delicious. This push across Iowa is not just about having fun with close friends, or making new friends, or enjoying the various communities across the state, or paying 2 dollars for a little bottle of Gatorade™; perhaps it can also be about using a highly visible event, in a politically key state, as a springboard from which celebrity worship can be transformed into a legitimate political career…God bless the United States.

Team Crazy Delicious and "Newton Support Crew", Bazal Family (and Shadow in the foreground)

Shepherd brushed his teeth this morning...notice the shine!

Festivities in Montezuma and lots of chairs...

Baby Butt breathes deep after conquering the century loop

Papa Delicious and Shepherd in Brooklyn, Iowa

Lance is in that big group somewhere!

Ironic?

Halfway pit-stop in Montezuma at the local Church of Christ

On Thursday there was no wind and plenty of humidity

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