Day 7 - Biking Iowa - Reaching the Mississippi

Today required a little more time to pack. You knew this was the last time to use your tent and sleeping gear, so putting it up for a long storage took a little longer. I had taken a small folding chair and it decided to break this morning. Perfect timing, at least it waited til the end of the trip. The heat was already in evidence as I started riding at about 620 AM.

Coralville is a pretty place and pretty soon we started an uphill towards the University of Iowa campus. The sprawling campus is quite pretty with old and modern buildings. Lots of residents were sitting on their porches and yards to cheer us on on the last day. People applauded as we rode by - and not yet 7 AM.

With a ride of around 50 miles, I was hoping on some flat lands for the day and we got a lot less hills. But it was hot. Heat index of over 100. About 20 miles into the ride I started to get really hungry. You could feel a melancholiness in the riders attitudes knowing RAGBRAI 2006 was about to end.

Lots of signs are on the roadway telling you of the next town's offerings. I see a french toast breakfast announced at a Methodist church in West Branch and decide to refuel. The town has lots of trees and a small downtown that clearly is from the late 1800's. As we enter town we are greeted with free coffee and water.

As I pull my bike to the side I am told by a resident to walk a few blocks down a beautiful tree shaded boulevard to see the Herbert Hoover Museum and Library and his birth place. It is quiet, beautiful, and shaded. A real treat to visit.

The line for french toast takes me almost an hour to get through. Meeting riders from Arizona, California, and Kansas in the line and everyone is still rehashing the hills of Day 2.

The ride to the end in Muscatine at the Mississippi River is flat and very hot. My goal is to arrive by 1 PM so that I can get my bike boxed and shipped back and then find our group for the 3 hour bus ride back to Des Moines. The town is pretty large and the riverfront has a giant celebration taking place with lots of carnival rides, food booths, and of course, another beer tent.

Pausing to enjoy the river and to reflect on the 7 days just past, I think of how genuine Iowa is. And I wonder why these riders do this year after year ? Yes, some are serious bike riders, but most are not.

Floridians think of cruise ships and lazy vacations. Iowans sleep on a hard ground, get up every day as the sun is rising, and spend all day riding a bike - for 7 days. The amount of riders that have participated in RAGBRAI for 20 and 30 years is amazing.

There is something about the ride that can get into your blood. Having participated three times now, I am still not quite sure just what it is. You just have to experience it yourself to really know.

Day 6 - Biking Iowa - Big City Change

Riding into Coralville was a difference experience than all of the rest of 2006 RAGBRAI. Yes it was hilly and the heat persisted,
But it was the atmostphere that changed. It was a relatively short ride, only about 50 miles. The last stretch of about 2 miles was
on a soon to be completed interstate approach that gave us plenty of room for travel with no vehicle traffic. No landscaping and one side of
the road still had a long way to go, but it was mostly downhill. Downhills are most enjoyable after the tough hills earlier in the week.

Earlier in the day we had encountered the steepest hill of the trip. The Hill from Hell. 120 feet climb - equivalent to about a 12 floor building - in less than a
half mile. Admittedly, I couldn't ride it and walked probably half the hill along with many other riders. Of course, the hill came up just past another beer garden
stop where I had seen Tammy and New John. That stop was in a very mushy field. While the tent had been quite large (providing plenty of shade) it was the 2 Jello Shot girls
that had gotten my attention. And it seemed that New John and Tammy and I should have one. And a few beers too.

About a mile later when I hit the Hill from Hell, I was wondering if the jello shot and the beers had been a good idea.
Once the hill was done we evened out to a more rolling hill pattern again. Longer coasting and not as strenuous ups. The town of Cosgrove seemed to actually be
the highest point of the days ride.
Cosgrove is one of the smallest towns you can visit. A very beautiful old church with an active youth program. I have several pictures of the inside and
out of the church. Plus I met the Mayor of Cosgrove. The town has a total of about a dozen houses. Temperatures were near 100 by this time so I hung out in the
shade and had another Gatorade and relaxed to some pretty good music from a live band at another beer garden. It also gave me some time to catch up on some phone calls back home.

You could see a large panorama of the ride yet to come and while rolling, it didn't look too steep.

Coralville is on the edge of Iowa City. This is a very progressive city. Lots of chain restaurants which we had not seen for days.
This is also the home of the University of Iowa (we rode through the campus on leaving the next day.) While all of our other stops had been large or small towns, this was a City. The campground area was huge and had a large stage
and tent area and well as a very large pool with waterslide.

Once I found our gear drop and camp area I set things up and headed for the pool. The water felt great, but some rider decided to overcome his odors in the
shower with about 5 gallons of spray Right Guard. Sort of like a mustard gas attack.

I left the pool and headed for the Methodist Church Lasagna dinner, only to find it sold out already.

Hunger had overtaken me and I almost thought I would black out. The energy exertion required for RAGBRAI is tremendous so keeping fueled is pretty important.

Catching a shuttle bus, I headed to get away from the crowds and found myself in front of an Outback Steak house. The secret at Outback is to always eat in the bar
area so that you don't have a long wait. Sure enough- a table - all to myself. A cute University Student - Sandy - was my server and asked what I wanted to drink, to which
I replied - "A pitcher of water". she explained she couldn't bring me a pitcher, but brought me 3 glasses of water, I drank them quickly. 7 large glasses of water in total.
She kept checking on me - I think to see if I was going to explode or something.

When I returned to the RAGBRAI village, it was starting to happen. Lots of food booths, 4 bands, firedancers, and of course, another beer tent.

The locals were out in force. Riders are pretty well exhausted. Today it was more heat than the ride itself.

Day 5 - Biking Iowa - The Scenery & People

The ride today was near 80 miles and fortunately not so hilly. As I take pictures when I stop, that is usually in towns. So today I decided to take a few more to show you some of Iowa's countryside. Starting riding abou 6 AM so a few will have some nice mist still rising from fields.

While it was a long day, it stayed overcast most of the day, keeping temperatures in the high 80's, maybe low 90's later in the day. Not so bad in comparison.

Met Josie and Natalie from Marengo where we are staying the night. They are sophomores at two different colleges. They have known each other a long time and have grown up in this town of less than 5,000. I asked them if they ever wanted to live anywhere else ? They said they were happy here. Small town or not.

I saw a building in a small town for sale. It had two commercial spaces on the bottom floor and one loft space on the top. They all needed to be built out with walls, electrical, and more. However, the total cost was less than $45,000. Total square footage of over 10,000. And a basement.



Not quite Tampa prices, huh ?

Day 5 - Biking Across Iowa - Unique Words/Terms

Several phrases/words are uniqe to Iowa:

RUMBLES - those are the cuts in the road that cause rumbles to your cars as you approach an intersection.

KYBOS - from the name of a company that supplied portable toilets. Looking for a toilet ? Where are the kybos ?

MAID RITE - or MAID RIGHT - or TAVERNS - these sandwiches are usually called sloppy joes in Florida.

More bike team names: Team Bastards, Barking Spyders, Spam, Huff n Puff, - more coming

Day 4 - Biking Iowa - Lance Speaks

In Newton Iowa, Lance Armstrong with the wife of Iowa Governor Vilsack at his side called for the end of cancer by declaring war on the disease that kills thousands. Speaking to almost 20,000 RAGBRAI bike riders and Newton residents, he received cheers from enthusiastic fans, but it was his serious tone about his personal war with cancer and as he said "we have 9/11's every three days" with the amount of people killed by cancer.

He acknowledged his public hearing with Senator Harkin on Friday as the start of a significant effort by him to put pressure on the 2008 Presidential Candidates as a result of Iowa's prominence in the Presidential Selection process.

TV crews were eagerly catching his every word, and TAMPAGOLD.com will have his entire speech available for our readers by early next week.



It was clearly a love fest from his bike riding fans but it was mostly his personal challenge to make increasing funding for research for cancer solutions through the Iowa caucuses a significant issue in the elections that was the message of the day.

It was not missed by the many riders that had seen Lance ride with this part of the day, that he would ride again on Day 5 - and he did. Additionally, he promised to be at next year's RAGBRAI as a rider too.

Lance Armstrong for President ? While that does not seem to be the plan, the speech and tone of his priority to increased funding to eliminate cancer almost sounded like it.

Day 4 - Biking Iowa - Lance Arrives

Just as I had entered Mitchellville, I heard a commotion behind me. Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaghey were riding in with a large contingent of other riders. The streets were lined with well wishers from town and of course, from RAGBRAI. It happened so fast I was unprepared for a picture. Will have to do better later tonight. The excitement has been building for the day in anticipation of his arrival.

It has been a long day, fortunattely with less hills, but lots of heat. Clearly in the low-mid 90's. The Town of Bondurant turned out a young girls dance team to put on a show of modern dance. Lots of fun.

So far today I have had: half an ear of corn, a small bowl of pasta salad, one beef jerky, one breakfast burrio, two cups of coffee, one beer, one lemonade and lots of water. Still about 20 miles to go for the day. But with the land being more flat my speed is picking up. That is a good thing.

Supposed to be a foam party here. Lots of fun, will try to have a beer there before I hit the road again.

Day 3 - Biking Iowa - late at night

It started as a few rain drops when I arrived in Waukekee. About 15,000 were at a large outdoor beer and music venue when the rain started to pick up. The best band was just setting up - the Nadas - when it started to rain a little harder. Since I had a half mile walk back to the tent, i decided to head back. Good Thing !

If you have ever heard Tampa/Zephyrhills called the Lightning capital of the US, that is bunk . The lightning and intensity of rain that started about 10 and went almost all night was incredible. Loud speakers announced approaching storm fronts and suggested evacuating to the high school buildings where we were camping. I hung in with the tent.

Rain probably totalled about 5 inches. Wind gusts of over 40 mph. My tent leaked at rapid rates. It is a dome tent, but it leaned about 30 degrees. It seemed to never quit. I finally just fell asleep in my wet sleeping bag. The thunder and lightning seemed just feet away. Incredible.

As intense as it all was, the Iowan riders actually got up and were on the road earlier than normal. About 6 AM.

Am in Granger now at the Assumption Church. 30 computers and all internet connected. Getting closer to heaven.

I hope to post again tonight, but if not, it will be due to drying out gear and to the planned speech by Lance later today.

See you soon.

Day 3 - Biking Iowa

Yesterday was such a bear of a day that it spilled over to today. The hills continued today until about noon and a head wind kicked in too. But as the day wore on the hills became more tame and gentle.

A hundred or more riders gave up today due to yesterdays efforts. I moaned and groaned and thought I might too. But as the day wore on I got better. Of course, taking two naps on soft grass in the shade helped me make it through the day.

Guthrie Center welcomed us with a park loaded with music, beer garden, and lots of food vendors. PLUS a large swimming pool that had a big slide that helped to cool me off. Event met a guy with the same last name as mine from North Carolina, we might be relatives.

Many of the riders particpate as teams. They have taken old school buses and rigged them with showers, platforms, beer kegs, bunks and more. RAGBRAI is serious in Iowa.

Some of the team names are most enjoyable. The Black Sheep, The Whiners, Team Gourmet (Eating Our Way Across Iowa), and lots more I will give as I go. The buses and team shirts add a lot of comradrerie.

I thought I was pretty slow today until I notice that 3 from the Army Team were going at the same pace as me. Not sure how many they have participating, but the Air Force has just over 100.

Seemed to be watermelon everywhere today. Great ! Food and drink at the same time.
Met a husband and wife yesterday that had a daughter that raised the Number One Sheep at the Iowa State Fair, they got the use of a new livestock trailer from Featherlite for a year. Today, I stopped at a farm for breakfast with a lot of sheep. Stopping for any meal is a task. Getting on and off the road, plus lines of at least 100.

We arrived in Redfield where the streets were filled with partiers. Redfield is a nice place on the Raccoon River and has a nice paved bike trail. Quite a few of us took a diversionary route to Waukekee on the trail. It saved some hills and was pretty shady. Shade has been scarce on the trip, what a pleasant find.

Waukekee had at least 20 people to greet us with a banner and matching shirts. Considering they had to stand there for over 6 hours as all the riders came in, that is asking a lot. This booming town has construction happening everywhere. I asked someone why that was happening and they didn't know. I am guessing it is their convenience to DesMoines.

A recent national survey I read said that most Americans have only two people they can actually talk to. Down from 3 a few years ago. Iowans have porches and lawn chairs on their shaded, soft grassed yards. Friends stop in and they talk for awhile. What a great premise, huh ?

Started gently raining as soon as I got to town, hopefully it will not be a harbinger of tomorrow. Will post more when possible.

Biking Iowa Day 2 continued

It has been a dy of struggle and of meeting people. Met a girl from Eastern Iowa. She had two words on the back of her legs: Blue Bush. I figured it must be a political commentary - wrong. She is with Team Whiner and it seems that on the first night she drank a few too many beers and then decided to paint her toenails blue. She spilled the entire bottle in her lap. You can figure out the rest.

John got into camp about 11:30, havent seen him yet. I am at a special Iowa Telecom Trailer for communications. Bunches of us trying to get emails etc. I think due to all of these connections it is not letting me upload to the website pictures, so will have to add when I return.

The Arcadia Hospital had made over 100 pies for sale to riders just outside of town. Choices included rhubarb, pecan, apple, cherry, and blueberry. I had a slice of blue berry and pedaled on down the road.

There were two good beer gardens today, one in Arcadia and one in Manning. Shade has been scarce as temperatures are in the low 90's, so the beer gardens with shade are doing the most business. I would guess Arcadia has about 500 residents. Our 10,000 plus riders helped the to buy a new fire truck as we did in Manning also.

I had a Gatorade to support the American Cancer Society, a rootbeer float to help a High School football team, and lots more over the day. Two farmers were talking a lot about the new ethanol plants that are in the area and more being built. As a major corn area, the building is on.

Yesterday stayed very hot all day, I spent a lot of that time at the Ice Skating rink, tryig to get cool.



Most of the people that live here were born here. One of many differences between Iowa and Florida. While the state is growing, it is a very slow growth. You do not see much new construction. In Audobon now, a good sized town. We are outside aways and I still need to finish setting up my tent, take a shower, eat and go to town for the festivities.

More coming tomorrow, I hope.

Day 2 Biking Iowa

It is about 4 here in Manning Iowa. I am running late on the day. The hills have been treacherous for us flat Florida riders plus we have had a significant headwine.. Think I pulled a groin muscle, but still have about 15 miles to go today, so will be bolting pretty quickly. Will try to upload pictures later tonight. but even Cell phones are spotty here. The ride has been highlighted today with extremely friendly towns. Welcoming committees and these towns go all out.

Top speed yesterday for me was 33 mph, never could beat it today, but will keep trying.
Beer and rock and roll seems to help the groin muscles.

John made it in yesterday at 9:30 AM, I got there at about 1:30. We are on different rides - he missed the girls and the bloody marys at the Fireside Steak House and today he has missed the big beer garden in Manning, I am sure he is already at the end stop.

We ate Ida Grove out of food. Only a few places still had food remaing around 730 PM last night. More to come soon. Anyone want to ride next year ? We now have pictures on TAMPAGOLD with more coming when I can upload.

Biking Iowa - First Day of Riding

After a serious street party, I headed back to camp to sleep for the ride. Good thing. About 4 I woke up to cold weathe.
It was about 60 degrees and my light blanket was not enough. What a great thing. About 6 the sky started to lighten and
some other riders started to stir - of course John was one. I heard him say something to Gwen and Paul about how I was out beer drinking last night, but not to worry about me, I was used to this routine.
When I got moving a short time later, his tent and gear and John were gone. I was packed and on the road about 6:15. The sun started to appear over a hill a few minutes later. It is about five and I haven't seen him all day.

The ride today was pretty tough due to the hills. (Can't practice those in Tampa very well) We did 54 miles, our shortest
day of the 7 day trip. Along the way I met Jake and his sister Payton. They weren't getting along today. Arriving in Ashton was a big deal. It was first real time all the riders came together- all ten plus thousand of us.Along the way were some great people. The kids were pretty unsure of what to think. I met Jason and Payton selling Gatorade. They were a selling team but

The town was ready for us. I found the Fireside Steak House and their "friendly" staff. Picture links at Tampagold.com. Nothing like a bloody mary at 9:30. I also met Courtney and Benson. Benson was pretty excited about all the bikes, but
was pretty shy about having his picture taken. Courtney is a nurse in Sioux City and her husband a contractor. She lives about 15 minutes outside of Ashton and works in Sioux City. I asked if she would ever move from Iowa. She talked about Washington state. But she
wanted to stay in a small town with a few acres of land. I asked if she would trade for my place in SOHO, she said she probably couldn't afford it but preferred her two acres and the country.

Along the next stretches of the road hills came hard and fast. Lots of folks walking their bikes up them. Not me (so far anyway). I ran in to Mr. Pork Chop, a RAGBRAI institution. For the 7 days of the ride his big pink bus moves grills and more and starts cooking huge pork
chops for $6. At some point on RAGBRAI you will have one, you can't avoid it. He has been doing this for 25 years now.



Other than some muscle pains, I have been doing well on the ride, until arrivng in Battle Creek. I stopped for a moment to check gear just as I was entering town. All was fine. Then I realized a block later that I had a flat. Fortunately it was in town.
Bike crews were everywhere to help and I found one that replaced the tube for me in 45 minutes for $10. Not bad. Gave me just enough time to visit the firestation where they were selling beer to raise funds for a new firetruck. While it had been cool last night, the temperatures were now in the low 90's and the town had set up a sprinkler for every one to
ride through as they were leaving town. Just as I was leaving I ran into New John, Tom, and Tammy. They had just gotten to town and were searching for a beer. I went to check on my bike repair, it was ready early, so off I went -riding through the sprinkler on my way out of Battle Creek.
The last 7 miles were and easy trip. Along the way I met Doug from Cincinnatti. He had been in Tampa recently to help his daughter start school at USF and I met the Chases from Fanning Springs. They have done the ride several times and now had their niece with them from California. They also had an RV so we talked rving for awhile as we rode towards Ida Grove.

It has been realy hot for the last few miles. The Des Moines Cycling Club did their usual great work and had bright yellow signs along the way to direct you to the campsites. Getting their about 1, I thought a nap would be great, but it was too hot to do that. So I rode around the town for awhile and found the coolest place in town The Ice Skate Palace. Cold beer, drinks, and food. And Cheap.
With limited WIFI access I decided to write this while in the coolness and then will upload a little later from a travelling communications trailer.

The evening festivities will start soon, but I have no idea when I will be able to send again. Lots of corn in Iowa, not many computers and internet. When I ask about WIFI I get blank stares. Not any Starbucks around here, however, there is the Gramaco Trolley Company. They built the electric trolley cars serving Channelside and Ybor.
Til next time.

Biking Iowa- Sergeant Bluf

SATURDAY NIGHT. After a four hour bus trip we arrived in Sergeant Bluff, just east of the Nebraska line. It looks like a town of about 5,000. All of the schools are now loaded with tents and bikes and riders. We met a nice couple, Gwen and Paul from Stuart, Iowa. He is a CAD engineer and she is a teacher.
I probably forgot the exact years, but he has been on 26 Ragbrais and she 17. Not much happens in Stuart. They used to have a beautiful Catholic church, but an arsonist burnt it down and apparently it has been decided not to rebuild. Our bus was full of riders from California, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, and of couse, mostly Iowa. We had a self appointed cheerleader - Chantal from Missouri. She is bubbly and cheerful. Good for aching muscles and dragging bikers.
The entire town of Sergeant Bluff is embracing the riders: spaghetti dinners and more supporting churches, Boy Scouts, Prom night, football teams, and lots more. All of them are packed. We are sitting at a bar/restaurant called Aggies that has a big sign up - FREE WIFI. But it seems it is not working. The owner Cathy Bishop has helped us get it going and I am finally able to post. you will see her picture in a nice yellow shirt.
It is a definitely a slower paced lifestyle here than Tampa and one that could grown on you. Guess that is part of why I am back for the third time and John for his seventh. Plus the organization that has grown after 34 years makes everything pretty easy for
the riders. Most Iowa towns have a large square and Sargeant Bluff is no exception. The center of town today is loaded with tv and radio crews to get the news coverage for the start of the ride and the downtown core blocks has been temporarily equipped with a large stage and music going on from 3 in the afternoon until about midnight


It is about 6:30 now and the airconditioning feels good. Probably hit over 80 today. The town is filing up with buses and people. The excitement is building for tomorrow morning's start. There appears to be only one other bar in town Eddies Lounge. It is quite old and we have some pictures from there. Bottle beers were only two bucks. More coming soon. I hope.

Biking Iowa - Des Moines - Nice People

It is Saturday morning about 9 AM and there are now about 30 of us getting bikes and gear loaded for the week. More are due to arrive soon.
My hotel is supposed to have WIFI, but I think they forgot to plug it in and no one seems to know much about it.
Had hoped to have this online this morning, but Iowa is not exactly the tech capital of the US. Corn, hogs, insurance, nice people.
The best thing about Iowa is the genuiness of the people. As a rule, people don't get much friendlier than this.
However, when I arrived at the Des Moines airport and tagged up with John from Charlotte, we attempted to get a cab
ride for our bikes and gear and us to our hotel. 15 minutes away. Des Moines airport is not a very busy place.
The cab drivers wanted nothing to do with us and our bikes and gear. No van shuttles here. About the time we are thinking
of renting a car, a local comes over and asks us where are going ? With the bikes and the magnitude of RAGBRAI, he knows
we are here for the ride. We tell him and he says he has a truck and when he picks up a friend that is due to arrive he
will be happy to drop us off, gear and all. The travel day has not gone as planned. Apparently bad weather in the MidWest on Thursday
screwed up all the air traffic in the country, so all planes are arriving late.
While waiting for his friends to arrive another local offers us a ride as well. Turns out "New" John (not be confused with John from Charlotte)
who is dressed in t-shirt and shorts with an older long bed pickup - is a city attorney and will be riding the entire trip too and is meeting
a riding partner from Mississippi - Tom- getting off another delayed flight.

We load our stuff in his truck and off we go. The termperature is a perfect 76 degrees or so. I quicly volunteer to ride in the back of the
pickup truck as a tribute to my old days as a kid. We find ourselves in downtown Des Moines where we are introduced to
New Johns wife Tammy. Tom is left there and New John takes us to the hotel a few miles out of town. Des Moines has around 300,000 residents and
has more big insurance companies than you can imagine. It is also the site of the state
It is a beautiful building that I wish I had time to visit. Pictures are post

I select to keep riding in the badk of the truck. (I think I need a big eared dog to hang his head over the rail an suck in the clean air).
Once at the hotel. New John suggests we go back to town to check out the "night life" and the baseball game. He volunteers to drive us back and even accomodates me
with a quick stop at Compusa for some gear I forgot. New John is downright proud of being computer unaware. he says he doesn't
need it and that is part of what his secrretary does.

Dropping us off at an Italian restaurant, we say goodbye to a new found friend and hope we see him on the ride. It is about 530 Iowas time by now. The restaurant is pretty good and they
I have to ask a stupid question: Do you know where is WIFI in town ? No one seems to have any idea of what I am talking about.
We walk a couple of blocks to Principal Park (as in Principal Insurance) and are trying to decide whether to get the general admission seats for the ball game at $6 or should we be crazy and spring for
$10 for reserved seats when a nice guy and his about 12 year old son offer us free tickets that he just happens to have - general admission, but that leaves money for
beer. Thc Iowa Cubs and the Memphis Redbirds are just finishing the first game of a double header. The stadium is very nice and clean and pretty full. About 6:30 by now.



Iowa has beautiful, soft grass. Not anything like tough and rough Florida grass. The ball field is really pretty. The crowd is there for the socialness of it. They really
do not seem to be into the game and when the call for cheering on the team happens, it is met with a lot of silence. However, about every three rounds a Chevy pickup truck drives around the field with
a cannon that shoots t-shirts into the crowd and everyone goes wild. About 5 innings was enough, so we decide to walk the 4 blocks or so to downtown. Quite a few clubs, restaurants, and bars are looking to get busy. But not yet. Now about 9 pm.

All of a sudden I see the look. A guy who looks like he might be a geek. I politely ask him if he knows where there is a WIFI hot spot and he does.
I get directed to the Java House. A really cool and large coffee house that seems to cater to college students. Some young lady from California is playing an accoustic guitar. Sure enought WIFI, now I can catch the emails from the past 10 hours.
We hang there til after 10 and then wander to a Renaissance hotel that has a lobby bar that has about 25 young professionals. There is really a genuineness to Iowans that you pick up on right away.

Taking a cab back to our hotel, our driver was born in Iowa. He moved to Texas for 7 years, but had to come back. I stayed at the same hotel as this year several years ago, but he informs me that it used to have
a Playboy club in it. He would sneak in when he was 14. But it closed. (There used to be one in St. Petersburg, but it closed too.

I apologize in advance for any typos etc during these posts, but trying to read screens, get connected in tight spaces and more are going to make getting this to you tough. But it will happen as available.



We are guests of the Des Moines cycling Club. Two large Uhaul trucks are being loaded with bikes and gear. And a bus or two or due to arrive soon for the 4 hour ride to Iowa's western border. Hopefully by about 4 today my tent will be up, my bike assembled, and
I will take my first bike ride in Iowa for 2006's RAGBRAI. It is starting to become fun now.

Biking Across Iowa- At the Airport

Well things never go quite as planned. After a frantic day getting ready to go that included new advertisers, new sponsors for a super new promotion in September, an appearance on Media Talk, a great discussion with my good friend Tommy Duncan with Sticks of Fire, a great chat with Wayne Garcia of the Weekly Planet, and some high powered vodka at Whiskey Park and 717 South, it all comes down to the airport where my flight to Chicago is about an hour late forcing me to take a later flight to Des Moines.

Checking a bicycle along with camping gear, three cell phones, lots of camera and computer gear and other stuff has to make the day of all the security guys. Fortunately their was a super efficient curbside checkin for American Airlines that made the task a pleasure.

But now while on the run, I have alerted others I am meeting that are flying in from most everywhere that I will run late. Seems like they are all running late too. Must not be such a great day for flying.

As we all took our shoes off for the security screening I had to ask one of the attendants "see many holy socks ?" She just replied with "you wouldn't believe what we see." Probably says it all.

Of course, at the last minute all kinds of clients need stuff.
Tampa Marketing Company is now doing so many web projects, direct mail projects, print projects and more that it is really getting exciting to see where we are going - AND YOU AIN'T SEEN ANYTHING YET.

The refeshing feeling of a 7 day, almost 500 mile bike ride is going to be great. BUT look out when I get back. I will be wired for action. Lots of events happening in late July and August. But I have to admit, my thoughts keep going back to the Armory project because it is going to have such an impact on SOHO and West Tampa. The recomendation from the committee to the City Council could come on Wednesday, July 26, but I think it could get delayed for another meeting.

I know I have been harping on this for awhile, but I hope when you saw the super article from the cover of the Weekly Planet that you will know I am not crying "wolf".

By late Sunday or Monday, probably when I hit the 100 mile mark on this trip and star up some hill that looks like Everest, I will really be into RAGBRAI. But for now I am still thinking of you all and the work that remains that I am leaving behind.

RAGBRAI - Biking Across Iowa - First in a Series

For 34 years, the Des Moines Register (Iowa's largest daily newspaper) has sponsored RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). Starting on the west side of the state and ending seven days later one the east side of Iowa, this almost 500 mile ride is not for the weak. Averaging about 70 miles a day is a good ride - but doing it seven days in a row is the real challenge.

Over 10 years ago, a reporter with the St. Pete Times, Milo Geylin, told me about the ride as he was offloading his gear after the week's adventure. The details of over 10,000 riders (not racers) pedaling through the cornfields sounded like fun. Milo later went to the Wall Street Journal but has since left them for parts unknown.

Iowa is known for corn, hogs, and political caucuses. So almost every day we will have corn on the cob, bbq pork, and some presidential contender riding for an hour or two. Iowa should be known for the watermelons too. In the middle of the heat, the ice cold flavor is a treat.

This will be my third RAGBRAI ride. In middle America, people seem to lead much more simple lives than in Tampa. Rural living is a back to basics approach to life. The ride this year will have about 15,000 participants. They start and stop at the same location each day. Riders come from around the world and include riders of every age, size, and shape. A couple of riders will die along the way. The heat, the physical stress, and just the odds of 15,000 spending a week together.

The logistics of such a ride are part of what I enjoy watching the most. One of the towns we will be staying in has only 2,500 residents. For almost 24 hours, they town will grow almost 10 fold. That means feeding, showering, bathrooms, beer, and sleeping for a lot of people.

As in a past year, I will be riding with the Des Moines Cycling Club. They help make things easy. Flying into the center of the state, they provide us with a bus ride and trucks for gear to the starting point and will carry our tents and gear everyday for a week. They will also provide the base of comradrie for the week.

On my first ride in 2003, I was fortunate to meet another rider just as I was getting off the plane. I knew no one on the ride and no one in Iowa. John Huston was arriving from Charlotte, NC and saw my fumbling with bike and gear and helped me out. My $300 bike is transported in a cardboard box, his $1000+ bike is disassembled and transported in a series of crates that probably cost $300. We have become good friends, but god knows why. John is a VERY serious bike rider. He rides 100 miles in a day without any hesitation. By the time I reach the end spot for the day, he will have wandered the town, seen a movie (if available) or who knows what. John is there for the ride. I am there for the experience - farm stories, beer gardens, hog farms, wet t-shirt contests, and more.

My last ride was in 2004 at which time I met former Tour de France winner Greg Lemond. He has not had a lot of kind words for subsequent winner Lance Armstrong. This year, Lance has said he will be riding a few days on the trip. He also plans to meet with Iowans to encourage them to quiz presidential contenders about their commitment to cancer research funding. Maybe I will get a chance to meet him. John and his girlfriend from Canada were on that ride too.

RAGBRAI goes through various small towns that are eager to welcome us. For a brief few hours, a town of 100 people will have the chance to reap the benefits of our thousands of riders by selling gatorade, sandwiches, pies or more. In one town I bought $5 in drawing tickets to have a chance to win a beautiful homemade quilt. High School majorettes put on shows. A Goats and Floats display gave riders a chance to pet a goat and have a rootbeer float in the middle of a hot day. Bands play. One very small town was trying to raise funds for playground equipment and for firefighting equipment by selling egg and sausage biscuits, coffee, juice, and more. They raised almost $100,000 in less than 5 hours.

Each night will feature beer gardens, live music, church cookouts or pasta dinners, and in many cases - fireworks. A very big deal for towns with less than 10,000 residents.

RAGBRAI begins in Sergeant Bluff on July 23 and ends July 29 in Muscatine. Along the way, there are overnight stops in Ida Grove, Audubon, Waukee, Newton, Marengo and Coralville. I will be keeping you in touch with the ride and try to give you a little taste of middle America along the way.

I have been riding as often as possible to get ready for the ride. Knowing that for a week you are physically pushing yourself to the max is pretty challenging. The towns are small and the jamming of people makes for some tough arrangements, but we will be trying to give you a look at this event as best we can. Maybe next year you will come with us.

Watch for pictures to be posted and a continued report from the road here at this blog.

Get more info about RAGBRAI here. http://www.ragbrai.org