I had way to much fun at RAGBRAI to make this web site while I was actually there. Or to keep track of what towns I took the pictures in. So here I would like to present, without rhyme or reason, some random but interesting pictures from RAGBRAI.
This is the entry to Lake View. I don't think they put this up just for RAGBRAI. I suspect this is art.
It's nice when a small town shows civic pride by building a big fancy courthouse. Especially if it's pink.
Martha is everywhere, whether she likes it or not.
One day of RAGBRAI is "Century Day". There is an optional loop you can take so that you get to go 100 miles instead of 75 miles. The optional loop this year took us to the town of Woolstock, where they served us pie. This picture shows half of Woolstock.
This picture shows the other half of Woolstock. Note the grain elevator. I think you could fit all the other buildings in town inside the grain elevator.
The towns in Iowa make bids to get on the route, which changes each year. I understand that it's pretty much mandatory that there be a beer garden, and I think live music is a big plus. I'm wondering, though, if they neglected to mention that the live music was an "oom-pah" band.
Pork is big in Iowa. If your going to barbeque, you'd better paint the cooker up like a pig.
But nothing tops Mr. Pork Chop, whose cooker is a school bus painted up like a pig. Mr. Pork Chop is a guy in his 60s who looks like he's lived on pork chops his whole life. Every day his bus is parked by the side of the road 30 miles or so from the start. He sits there bellowing "POOOORRRRK CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP" at the cyclists as they ride by. You give Mr. Pork Chop $6, and his daughter hands you a nice fat steaming hot pork chop from a cooler, wrapped in a paper towel. I visited Mr. Pork Chop for breakfast 4 of 7 days. I gained 5 pounds.
This is one of the two evil dirt road sections we had to deal with. My bike can't do this. I visited grandma the whole way and went about 5 mph. It was horrible.
Here is our entire Baltimore contingent posing in our Joe's Mount Washington Bike Shop shirts at the entrance to Marshalltown. Marshalltown tried hard. They had a job fair! They sent me an invitation! I couldn't imagine what I would do in Iowa, so I checked it out. The most high-tech thing they have is a plant that makes plastic injection moldings. Good grief.
However, Marshalltown also had a water slide shaped like the Titanic!
These guys were playing on the street, and I can't remember the town or their
name. Old Scratch something or other I think. They were incredibly good! Iowa is
where Classic Rock refuses to die and go away. These guys were playing traditional
jazz! The closest thing to them I can think of is the Squirrel Nut Zippers. I think
they were in high school, too.