RAGBRAI day 5

Pulled out of Charles City about 8:30 and the team pulled out as usual at 7:00 a.m. after a quick breakfast of bagels and cream cheese and fruit, coffee and juice. It was a 82 mile day for team Pokey Spokes and about 60 miles for this support team of Bev and I, and that means we arrived at our next stop (Waterloo) in just over an hour. The Mayor of Charles City bid us a good day and we thanked him for his hospitality and use of his yard, showers and electricity and off we went after locking and loading. One thing RAGBRAI has done for Bev and myself is to give us a routine in breaking camp with the motor home. There is so much to do in breaking camp that the repetition has finally made us good and efficient at getting everything done in a timely manor, including hooking up the Jeep. We've really gotten good at getting the Jeep hooked and ready to go in no time flat, as a team we are working very well with each other and learning valuable short cuts to speed up the process. Now mind you there are times and will be in the future that we won't give a shit how long it takes because we just won't be in a hurry, but from this experience we've learned how to get the job done and done fast and correct if we need it to be.

Our Waterloo host family is on vacation in Canada and have graciously let us go ahead and use there home on this stop over. Travis and Debra Young of Waterloo have a nice big house on a private golf course and have allowed to use two bathrooms down stairs and a bed and a whole lot of floor space so the team doesn't have to sleep in the tents tonight. There are T-storms back in the forecast but as has been the case due at night and not during the days ride, we hope that holds true tomorrow also.

We went in town tonight for dinner and had a good Italian meal at a place called the Brown Pot or something like that, didn't sound too Italian but fooled us for sure with some good meals. After dinner RAGBRAI had the Fab Four preforming at the main music venue near the main campground. If you read face book you know that I really enjoyed the show, these guys were very good as far as sound, looks and costumes were concerned, these guys tonight were the Beatles! I'm telling you if you ever get the chance go see them, you won't regret it.

Tomorrow we head to Manchester, Iowa and the next to last leg of the ride. Two short days of about 40 miles each and we hit the Mississippi river in Dubuque, Iowa. Tomorrow we lose Brian from Chicago, he has to be at a wedding Saturday in Chicago and must leave the ride. This was his first RAGBRIA also and he truly enjoyed it and I'm sure wished he could finish the run, but commitments are commitments as we all know. We also had Steve, Christina's boy friend join the ride today for most of a one day ride and it was good having Steve along. After breakfast Steve and Brian will head back home and the rest of the team will head to Manchester and so will Bev and I in the support vehicle. By the way, Waterloo is a larger city and I now can see why RAGBRAI trys to keep it in smaller cities, quite a few teams seem to have got lost on their ways to their camping area's and that held true for a couple of our riders, with 4 and 6 lane roads in towns this size it's hard for the cyclist and the residence to cooperate on the roadways the way they always should. The venue of all the activities was quite far from a lot of the host homes and camp sites made available and hard for those with just their bikes to get back and forth.

One of the best parts of RAGBRAI for Bev and I is when the team finally arrives at the end of the days ride, we have munchies on the table and beer on ice and we sit for 1/2 hour to an hour to hear the stories from the days ride. Things like the site of the day, the sounds of the day, and the food stops of the day all sound very interesting and make for a whole lot of laughs. The things they see and hear and do during the legs of RAGBRAI are at times the makings of book, still not sure I could do it for a week even if I were in bike riding shape, it's a big commitment to make it the entire 7 days and 400 plus miles each year.

Scrambled eggs and toast and oatmeal for those that want it, coffee as usual and then off we go!