The day just didn’t start promising. I didn’t sleep well on the arena floor. I never slept well in the gymnasiums on C2C either, so I was not surprised. I got up plenty early, even had a coffee. Moved my bags back near my collapsed tent for pick up. Met up with Janet, Fred and Linda to ride out. When I went to fill my tires, I realized my back tire stem was bent and I was only losing more air. Because I have tubeless tires, I really needed a mechanic to replace the stem. Unfortunately today was the only day without a mechanic on site. I figured that I would just ride to the first town on route and see if I could get it fixed. It would have been tough on a low tire, but not impossible. Then Fred says “your chain is off.” Well, it was more than off, it was stuck. Fred & Linda got it back on, but it made noise in every gear I tried. I think it got damaged/out of alignment when everyone had to shelter indoors and bikes were leaned one on top of each other. So, I told them to just go and I went back. I got my bike loaded onto a truck to the end town, but there was no room on the bus. Ellen did have a reserved bus spot, so she went to the end and came back to get Sue and I. Sue shuttled for a whole different reason. I called Trek of Spring Hill to see if I made the right decision and they agreed it was better to be safe if the derailleur had become bent. It reminded me of C2C when I had to go to a bike shop with a bent derailleur. That mechanic, a former cyclocross champion of Scotland, told me I could have had a horrible crash if it had locked up on a hill. I do not want a crash or to get hurt. I am disappointed I couldn’t finish out the ride on my bike, but I think I made the right decision. My goal was to complete 475 miles of the 500 miles of RAGBRAI 50; I only did 419 miles but I feel good about making that many miles in the extreme heat and an unplanned mechanical problem. I updated when I saw the others at the end of the route.
This was my tent after the wind and subsequent rain collapsed it last night.
The arena that was a designated indoor sleep area for those who chose that option. It became the shelter for many of the rest of us when our tents collapsed.
The “tent city” area as it is being disassembled for the last time of RAGBRAI 50.
UPS trailer waiting to be loaded with bikes being shipped “home.”
Our rag tag group after everyone made it in the last day