RAGBRAI: reporting from Maquoketa

Top 3 list of things I like to do on RAGBRAI:

3. Draft behind someone who's a good rider into a head wind doing, say, about 20mph.
2. Pass people going uphill at about 15mph.
1. Pass people going downhill as fast as possible (up to 40mph today).

Another good thing: I was feeling so strong toward the end of the 87 miles we rode yesterday, that I persuaded Al to ride 13 more so we'd get in a hundred mile day!

That made things really sore this morning. And we started in rain. Then we had this crazy 3 miles of what was supposed to be gravel that got turned into mud. Then my pedal was breaking again, so I limped into the lunch stop in Olin.

But the afternoon was really nice. The sun came out enough. It was mild and breezy. And I felt less sore and stronger. I rode hard this afternoon, downhill and up, because I could. It was a joyful kind of thing, kickin' it. It was like 75 miles today. I feel like I could do another (fairly flat) 25.

I've had a lot of bike/equipment/needed repair problems, but I'll tell you more about that later. The good thing about them is, they came at pretty decent times. I never got stuck on the side of the road.

Less than 60 miles to go tomorrow to Clinton. If there are no major problems we'll be there before noon. It's been a good ride. It's an accomplishment that I'm proud of. Now to keep this level of fitness up...