RAGBRAI XXXV

Cedar Falls is on the RAGBRAI ("Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa") route this year, with Hudson road being the main avenue. This morning as the bikers were leaving, I walked across the field behind our house to watch the steady stream of riders. Approximately 20,000 people stayed here last night! Not all of them ride bikes though--there are the support teams with rental trucks for spare bikes, tents, and gear. Yesterday afternoon, Alice and I rode our bikes over to her elementary school, and the junior high which had been designated as the "Quiet Camp" (as opposed to the green space around the UNI-Dome which included all the food vendors, a beer garden and rock bands, which we could still hear as we went to bed).
The early arrivees took the shady spots.
And rested wherever they could.

Many riders camped in the yards of volunteer homes throughout the city. A neighbor had a bus parked in their driveway last night, and the bus had a railing around the top for the extra bikes for the team staying there. Many of the riders are in teams with matching outfits.

Some of the riders had tiny trailors with a boom box on to provide music and entertainment as they sweat through 50-60 miles of up and down miles to the next overnight stop. For Iowa, contrary to popular opinioin, is NOT flat.

They used the showers at the junior high, and many went swimming. Alice talked me into swimming as well (we've been going every day and she didn't want to break the habit) and I was amazed at how many of the riders were my age or older. They all had the tell-tale tan/sunburn lines from their biker shorts.

There was such a festive air, and such a camaraderie, it made me think that this would be a fun thing to do--if it weren't held at the end of July when it's so hot and humid!