RAGBRAI Report - Day 0 - “click-click-click-click-click”

I am doing RAGBRAI (The (Des Moines) Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) with Joey and a couple other guys from church.  It is a week long event.  I hope to blog each day internet access allowing! Here is the first installment.

July 20, 2013 – 

I remember being a kid and riding roller coasters.  While I was excited standing in line, there were those moments of anticipation mixed with terror as the cars headed up the first incline – “click-click-click-click-click”.  I was suddenly aware that I was stuck on this thing and whether I wanted to get off or not, I couldn’t.  Sure I had seen maybe hundreds of others go up the same ramp and return a couple minutes later seemingly no worse for the experience.  Some even looked like they had enjoyed it!  But in just a few seconds it was my turn to over that first hump and into who knows what.  And even if I wanted to get off, I couldn’t!

That’s about as close a story as I can tell to reflect my feelings as we boarded Gene and Sandi Loeffelholz’s RV and headed from Dubuque to Council Bluffs to camp out in anticipation of the first day of RAGBRAI.  Once that RV left Dubuque, there was no turning back.  “click-click-click-click-click”  

Six hours later we arrived and set up camp.  Our current crew consists of Joey and I, Pastor Tim Bees, Gene and Sandi and their son, Rick, who is a PE teacher, swim coach and triathlete – a veritable fitness machine.  Gene and Sandi have been doing RAGBRAI for 20 years and Rick has done several.  Rick was the one who talked Tim into really doing it this year instead of just talking about it.  Tim had a serious heart issue several years ago and has been seeking motivation to stay healthy.  RAGBRAI seems to fit the call!  He has talked about doing RAGBRAI for a couple of years now. 

There are a lot of people here.  There’s a full carnival of food vendors, bike shops, and assorted other businesses and organizations.  The most puzzling one to me was the University of Iowa Archaeology Department.  At their tent you could get a nice temporary tattoo of an arrowhead (properly called a “projectile point” of course!).

In addition to the carnival, there are all kinds of people, bikes and activities.  Plenty of eating and drinking going on – I can see already why they say that no one loses weight on RAGBRAI!  One lady a few RVs down from us is spinning wool.  We have seen people from Utah, North Carolina, Idaho and Texas among others.  There will be close to 20,000 riding through the week. 

So with the gently sound of clicking in my ears, we are about to ride down to the river and do the ceremonial dipping of the back wheels in the Missouri River.  Tomorrow, we go over the hump!  I hope it’s mostly downhill.

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us!”  - Hebrews 12:1c