As we were preparing to leave our hotel to head home to Florida, we crossed paths with one of the original cyclists of the RAGBRAI from fifty years ago. Her name is Sandra Rigona, aged 81. She didn’t ride this year, but was in town for a family reunion. She shared with us how she would ride causal rides with Des Moines Register feature writer/copy editor John Karras. Over time they built up their mileage to 100 miles when he suggested they ride across the state. It is all history since then. It was such a pleasant surprise to meet Sandra.
I’ve been home for several days since the ride ended and I have had a little time to reflect back. It turns out that I did make the correct decision to skip the ride the last day. The tire stem just needed to be bent back to allow air into the tire. However, at the start of the ride, I wasn’t sure that would work as I had the sealant escape every time I tried to pump. The real problem was with the derailleur hanger; it was bent badly and could have caused a crash if the chain came off and caught while I was riding. My bike shop, Trek of Spring Hill, did get everything corrected. It had to have been bent when the bike was not in my possession during the confusion of the evacuation of tents to the arena shelter.
I arrived home with a cold consisting of lots of sinus congestion. Although I did not have a fever, to be safe, I did home test for Covid and the results came back negative. In retrospect, it was also a good thing that I didn’t ride the last day because my cold could be much worse if I continued to stress my body. Which brings me to the word “stress.” The week of riding was stressful, from the shear number of riders, to the endless hills, the extreme heat and even the total mileage. When I rode C2C, I had a rest day once a week and averaged 65 miles per day. This ride averaged over 71 miles per day with no mid-week rest day. As a friend of mine stated, “it was more of a test than a tour.” That would be a good summation. My absolute favorite part of the ride was the welcoming spirit of all Iowans. I will never forget the young boy who sold me protein balls on Day 5. I was waiting at the top of a hill for Ray to catch back up, and there was this young kid with a cooler full of frozen peanut butter/oatmeal protein balls. I ate one as I waited and told him that he should tell his mom that they were delicious. He said he would and then added “next year I’m selling popsicles!” I just loved his spirit!! Thank you to Iowa for being so welcoming!
The the medal/trophy handed out at the tire dipping site at the end of the ride along the Mississippi River. Because I was unable to ride the last day, my friends Fred and Linda persuaded the staff to give them one for me, Sue and Ellen. It was a wonderful surprise to end the week of riding!
Outside our hotel where we met Sandra Rigona, an original RAGBRAI rider from 1973.
The last memo board from Pork Belly Ventures, the charter that I used for RAGBRAI L. “One L of a Ride!”