Day Five – RAGBRAI 2008
July 24th, 2008Day 5, Tama to North Liberty can be summed up in one word: rain and wind…wait, that’s 2 words; it’s hard to determine what was worse on this 73 mile slog. Let’s look at the ride up close. Well, it started out with rain in the night, soaking tents and making for an unhappy pack up of gear in the morning. After everything was put away it was time to start the actual ride; oh wait…I didn’t mention that it was between 55-60 degrees. So, beginning in a cold steady rain we left Tama; and then the wind picked up.
Anywhoo, the ride went ok as we went towards the “halfway” town of Belle Plaine, where we met Sherpa, who had procured an awesome spot for us to meet next to the railroad tracks. He was able to get to the spot by moving several road closed signs and pulling the wagon completely across the lane of traffic…well, just look at the photo.
Things got kinda weird in the miles after Belle Plaine.
We all stopped at a Habitat for Humanity cookie stand, after summiting a massive hill, into the wind, with rain spitting out of the sky. As we lounged around, eating chocolate chip cookies, a cry came from right across the road asking if anyone had a cell phone. A woman pulled hers out and it became apparent that somebody was injured; on the other side of the road, a man laid on his side, obviously having collapsed. Quickly others rushed across the street, one of them an ER doc, and the woman with a cell phone called 911. In a matter of minutes as the sound of an ambulance began approach, it became obvious that the man was in serious trouble. The doctor was frantically performing chest compressions while another woman performed mouth to mouth on the man. After the ambulance arrived, we were told that the man had suffered a seizure and had stopped breathing; the ER doctor had resuscitated him and that at the time the ambulance left, the man was alive.
We began to arrive in North Liberty around 4pm after a slogging, and at times leisurely, ride. The word arrived from Matt at around that time that he and Shawn had averted a potentially disastrous wreck. Swerving to avoid another rider, Matt bent his rear rim and gave his rear end a good thump. He was able to purchase a new rim from a local bike shop and finish out the ride without the shame of having to use the Ragbrai sag wagon services to advance him along the route.
So, was today a tough day? Darn right it was. It was a taxing day on the mind and on the body. It was also a great day spent riding, eating, laughing, weezing, and eating. We have finished off our day with an awesome dinner of soft shell tacos, eaten in the front lawn of the Snyder family, people we only met two days ago. Let me tell you, this was a day that had EVERYTHING that Ragbrai has to offer; the good, the bad. The good, almost without exception is the people that are along the route that you meet who are riding, waving, and selling things to you. The bad is mostly the struggle against weather and fatigue.
As I close this blog for the day, I would like to leave it on this note about a conversation that I had with a man from Australia. He is from Cairns, which is in the tropics in the state of Queensland, a place that has weather similar to Hawaii year round (trust me, I’ve been there). I asked him verbatim: “why would you leave such a beautiful place to ride across Iowa (he has done the ride many times)?” And he responded: “I come to Iowa because here, the people are beautiful.”
