As this year winds down, I reflected upon some of the things I did and realized I had started to go green. Yup, I, Mr. corporate executive had made the transformation. This year I heard a lot about things going green; there’s green energy, green buildings, green technology, green industries, and even green investing in green companies.
I didn’t plan out that I was going to go green this year. I wasn’t trying to save the planet or keep the polar ice caps from melting. But when I looked back, I could count several things that came out green. Here are some examples;
- I expanded my garden this year, doubling its size. I planted lot of vegetables and low and behold the green ones produced the best! The yellow ones did ok. The orange ones did so so, and the red ones where a total failure. When I blanched up the green ones to freeze them, they turned even greener. While the garden is gone by, we’re still eating the green ones from the freezer.
- I had a pretty good year day trading in the stock market. Its kind of a hobby and I took about $20K and turned it into $30K. This was not a paper gain, but real green cash I made from buying and selling stocks. It made my wife was green with envy.
- I refurbished one of the upstairs bedrooms and painted the room a light green color. It’s actually a very light paint color called “Summer Eclipse”, but it’s still green.
- I just installed insulating cellular shades in another room. I chose the color Verdi, which I think is Italian for green. They look more like sage, but it’s still green. They’re supposed to save me cash on my heating bill. They also qualify for the Federal energy savings tax credit which means I will send less of my green cash to the government.
- I started shopping at Sam’s club to save even more of my green cash. I also purchased some large re-usable green colored shopping bags to make it easier to lug all my purchases.
- At our home, the ground is now white covered with snow. But shortly, Anne and I are going to Florida for two months where it stays green year round. I could do without a white Christmas and would rather have it be green.
As you can see, I made a pretty good effort at going green. I may not be savings the polar bears and Al Gore may not think much of my efforts, but in a few weeks when I tee up a golf ball and hit it towards the green, it’s going to feel pretty darn good.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
This Old House
We built our home in the late 80's, so it’s not that old. But some poor design, some poor installation, some cheap materials, and some neglect contributed to some much needed repairs. Other than painting, we had not done much on exterior repairs. I targeted the fall of 2009 to put in a very focused effort on doing house repairs. It would be like my own series of “This Old House”.
The work started in mid September right after my last summer camping trip. I put the camper away and put on my tool belt for the next 8 weeks.
Episode 1 – The Window Sills
The biggest problem needing to be addressed was several rotted window sills. The windows we have are a good name brand. They’re all wood with energy efficient sashes and wooden storm inserts. I kept up with the painting, but the exterior sills and trim are made with finger jointed pine vs. solid wood pieces. The fingered jointed wood rotted easily once water got into the joints. Also, the house has very small overhangs and no gutters, which doesn’t allow rain and snow to shed off the roof and away from the house.
I planned to replace three of the sills on my own and hire a contractor to replace seven sills on the 2nd floor. The budget: $1,350. The timeframe: one week
The results – The first contractor I contacted seemed really interested in doing the work and was very familiar with the problems I was having with my brand of windows. He came right over within 2 hours of my call, gave me a rough price per window, and then never showed up or returned any of my calls. Luckily I hadn’t given him any money. The next guy I contacted was a local home improvement contractor who was eager for the work. He was very responsive and could start my work in about a week. He gave me a good estimate for the work (about half of what I estimated it would take), had good references, so we signed a contract for him to repair the seven windows.
My three sills turned into four and I ended up replacing all the trim on the four windows. The contractor finished his seven windows after 3 weeks vs. the 1 week he had estimated. Weather and waiting for materials caused most of his delay. I also help him rebuild a few of the windows that needed more internal repairs. Together, we rebuilt a total of eleven windows.
I also found nine storm windows that had rotted pieces. I bought three new storm windows. I ended up rebuilding six of the storm windows, taking them apart and fabricating new parts in my shop. This saved me about $1,000. I had to replace and/or refinish eight interior window sills and also did this work in the shop.
I also had to replace eleven clapboards. The actual costs: $2,184. The timeframe: three weeks.
Episode 2 – Interior Painting
While taking the windows out of the front guest room for repair, I noticed that the 22 year old paint in the room was really marked up and dingy. So, I took a week-end and repainted the ceiling and walls, giving it a new color, put up some new art work we had laying around, did a major clean-out of the room. The costs: $52. The timeframe: 2 days.
The same thing happened in one of the upstairs bedrooms. While taking the interior trim off the windows, I noticed that the 22 year old wall paper was falling off in several places. Anne and I have been wanting to do over this room for some time. I started pulling off some of the wall paper and couldn't stop. I ended up ripping it all off and took another week-end to paint the ceiling and walls and did another major room cleaning. The costs: $31. The timeframe: 2 days
And the same thing happened in the upstairs bathroom. I decided to scrape, clean, and sand the ceiling and walls to remove mildew and flaking paint. Then applied some new paint. This was a little more involved and took about a week. The costs: $53.
Episode 3 - The Garage
The paint of the garage had been showing signs of peeling fading, and cracking. I also had a section of damaged trim on one of the garage doors from a squirrel attack. (When Anne went to Maine for 4-5 weeks this summer to care for her Mom, I stopped feeding the birds and, coincidently, the squirrels. The squirrels got really pissed and one night knawed away several inches of a 1x5 piece of trim to get into the garage and eat the sunflower seeds.) I really really hate to scrape and paint, so I slowly undertook this work scraping and washing a section at a time when there wasn't something more interesting to do. Over the course of 8 weeks I got it all done. I had all the paint left over from last year when I hired my son, Liam, to paint the house. I enlisted the help of my youngest son, Cavin, who helped with some of the scraping and painting. I had to buy a new trim board, but that was it for expenses. Also, bought more BB's for the BB gun to "deal" with the squirrels.
Episode 4 – The Bay Window (part 1)
The next planned action was to address the rotted wood on the bump-out bay window on the rear of the house. The window had rotted sills, rotted trim, and a rotted sash. This would be the last remaining window in the house that needed repair and the last planned repair.
I sat down with the contractor who did the window sills and we priced out putting a new window in vs. re-builiding the existing one. The re-build was much less expensive. So we signed another contract to take out the bay window unit, re-build it, replace all the rotted trim and support, and put it back in. The budget: $2,300. The timeframe: one week
Before taking the window out, we found some of the window supports were rotted. We also found a major water problem with rain collecting and running behind the clapboards surrounding the window. We found more rotted clapboards, more rotted trim, some rotted structure supports, and rotted shiething.
The source of the water was a rotted clapboard and window sill on the second floor. Also the drip edge on the roof above the window was allowing water from the roof to run down the clapboards vs. falling away from the house. The drip edge on this part of the roof was never installed properly when we built the house. I decided we needed to replace the drip end and put up a gutter on the back of the house to solve the water problem around the bay window. The contractor agreed to do this work for $1,500 and would do it prior to taking out the bay window.
While replacing the drip edge and removing a few courses of shingles, the contractor noticed that the shingles on the dormer roof were very weathered, brittle, and cracked. While they were a 30 year shingle, the low pitch of the dormer roof and poor insulation (addressed earlier this year) allowed snow and ice dams to build up on this section of the roof causing damage to the shingles. Plus they had 22 yrs on them. While we were fixing the drip edge, it made sense to have the contractor replace all the shingles on the dormer. While he was up on the roof, the contractor also noticed that the ridge vents had developed cracks in them, the joints were coming un-done, and they were coming un-nailed. As part of the re-shingling project, I decided to have him replace the ridge vents to avoid a problem. His estimate to do the additional roofing was very high. I challenged his numbers and found he had calculated the shingles wrong and priced them way too high. I called another building supply and got the shingles for a much cheaper price. Saved myself over $600 by challenging his numbers. The cost for this work would be $2,650.
The contractor stripped the dormer roof the next day. He installed a temporary cover on the dormer roof, by just temporarily tacking down some ice and water barrier material that he would use under the shingles. The next day it rained and we didn’t have any leaks until the wind came up in the afternoon and blew off the barrier material he had tacked down. The first sign of trouble was my son coming down stairs and telling me he had water dripping down inside one of his windows. Next we had water coming in his closet and in through the bath room fixtures. I immediately called the contractor, who came right over and put a huge tarp over the dormer. He agreed to dry out and/or replace any wet or damaged insulation. Luckily none of the ceilings or walls were damaged. I was pretty rattled by this and wanted to get the dormer re-shingled asap since we had good weather forecasted for the next 2 days before more rain would arrive. The contractor assured me he could easily finish the roof in the next 2 days. The next day the contractor didn’t show up until 11:40 am and only worked until 2:40 am. I asked if he could finish the roof in the next day and he assured me he could and that he’d be on site first thing with help. Well, the next day came and no contractor showed up. At 10:00 am I called his cell and got no answer. So, I drove to his home, which is about 4 miles away, to see if I could track him down. I found him at home drinking coffee and watching cartoons with his young daughter! Had all I could do to not blow a gaskget. I asked if he was going to work on my roof today and he assured me he would be right over. I told him I was very concerned with his ability to get the job done before the next rain and that I was prepared to file a claim against his insurance policy to dry out my attic and file a claim against his license with the state to get someone else to finish the job, if he didn’t get it done. That was all the spark needed to light a flame under his rear-end. He showed up within the hr with 2 helpers and got most the roof shingling done, working until it was dark out. He showed up early the day and finished all the roofing.
Episode 5 - The Bay Window (part 2)
Now that all the water problems were solved we could focus on the bay window. The plan was to take the complete window unit out and have the contractor rebuild it in his shop. This was suppose to take a couple of days. The window came out on a Tuesday and a temporary cover was put over the rough opening. After a week, I called to see when we could expect the window to be put back in. I got a list of excuses; the contractor's sister had a stroke and was in the hospital, he needed to order a special router bit to rebuild the sash, and there was more rot on the window than he had expected. Ok, so I asked when he would start working on replacing the supports and he assured me he would be onsite the next day and assured me he had all the material for fix the supports. The next day came and no contractor. So I called him and left a message that he needed to show up on the next day or I would initiate action with the state to file a claim against him. That seemed to work as he called back and apologized for not showing up and told me he had just picked up the material to fix the supports (which on the previous day he told me he already had) and would be onsite on Thursday morning. Well, he showed up at 11:00 am the next day and worked till 5:30 pm. He got the support structure fixed and put the bay window unit back in.
He assured me he'd be back the next day to finish the last trim and clapbaord work. Well, Friday came, and while it rained a little in the morning, the contractor was a no show. I called him a left a message that I was leaving for Maine on the next Tuesday morning and would be gone for about a week. Monday came and no contractor, so I called him at 10:00 am and he told me he was on his way over (he lives about 4 miles away). He showed up an hour later and finished most of the window trim, but ran out of material. I helped him out by priming the wood parts and re-insulating the windows. He promised me he would be onsite "first thing" on Tuesday morning to finish everything before I left for Maine. He arrived a little after 10:00 am and did get most of the work done by 12:30 pm. I reluctantly paid him and was glad to be done with him. I ended up sanding, caulking, and puttying the window unit to get it ready for painting (something he should have done).
The total cost for all of this work (that started with the bay window): $6,450. The time frame: four weeks.
Episode 6 - The Summary
What started out to be about 2-3 weeks of work ended up being more like 9 weeks. From a budget perspective, I had planned to spend around $6,000 on the repairs. The actual costs for all the work and materials that I purchased was $8,900. For all that, I got following work done;
- 11 windows rebuilt
- 9 storm windows fixed,
- a new dormer roof,
- new ridge vents,
- a new facia board, drip edge, and gutter on the dormer
- bay window unit re-built,
- 3 rooms cleaned out and repainted
- garage painted and trim fixed.
It felt good to get this all done and knowing that I won't have to deal with it for another 20 years.
I also learned that I could be in the home improvement business, if I wanted. Having learned the basics in high school and from building furniture as a hobby for 30 years, I was fortunate to be able to do alot of the work myself. I also found I do better quality work and have a better work ethic than the local competition. There may be a J Dawg Home Repair Service start up.
The work started in mid September right after my last summer camping trip. I put the camper away and put on my tool belt for the next 8 weeks.
Episode 1 – The Window Sills
The biggest problem needing to be addressed was several rotted window sills. The windows we have are a good name brand. They’re all wood with energy efficient sashes and wooden storm inserts. I kept up with the painting, but the exterior sills and trim are made with finger jointed pine vs. solid wood pieces. The fingered jointed wood rotted easily once water got into the joints. Also, the house has very small overhangs and no gutters, which doesn’t allow rain and snow to shed off the roof and away from the house.
The results – The first contractor I contacted seemed really interested in doing the work and was very familiar with the problems I was having with my brand of windows. He came right over within 2 hours of my call, gave me a rough price per window, and then never showed up or returned any of my calls. Luckily I hadn’t given him any money. The next guy I contacted was a local home improvement contractor who was eager for the work. He was very responsive and could start my work in about a week. He gave me a good estimate for the work (about half of what I estimated it would take), had good references, so we signed a contract for him to repair the seven windows.
My three sills turned into four and I ended up replacing all the trim on the four windows. The contractor finished his seven windows after 3 weeks vs. the 1 week he had estimated. Weather and waiting for materials caused most of his delay. I also help him rebuild a few of the windows that needed more internal repairs. Together, we rebuilt a total of eleven windows.
I also had to replace eleven clapboards. The actual costs: $2,184. The timeframe: three weeks.
Episode 2 – Interior Painting
While taking the windows out of the front guest room for repair, I noticed that the 22 year old paint in the room was really marked up and dingy. So, I took a week-end and repainted the ceiling and walls, giving it a new color, put up some new art work we had laying around, did a major clean-out of the room. The costs: $52. The timeframe: 2 days.
And the same thing happened in the upstairs bathroom. I decided to scrape, clean, and sand the ceiling and walls to remove mildew and flaking paint. Then applied some new paint. This was a little more involved and took about a week. The costs: $53.
Episode 3 - The Garage
The paint of the garage had been showing signs of peeling fading, and cracking. I also had a section of damaged trim on one of the garage doors from a squirrel attack. (When Anne went to Maine for 4-5 weeks this summer to care for her Mom, I stopped feeding the birds and, coincidently, the squirrels. The squirrels got really pissed and one night knawed away several inches of a 1x5 piece of trim to get into the garage and eat the sunflower seeds.) I really really hate to scrape and paint, so I slowly undertook this work scraping and washing a section at a time when there wasn't something more interesting to do. Over the course of 8 weeks I got it all done. I had all the paint left over from last year when I hired my son, Liam, to paint the house. I enlisted the help of my youngest son, Cavin, who helped with some of the scraping and painting. I had to buy a new trim board, but that was it for expenses. Also, bought more BB's for the BB gun to "deal" with the squirrels.
Episode 4 – The Bay Window (part 1)
The next planned action was to address the rotted wood on the bump-out bay window on the rear of the house. The window had rotted sills, rotted trim, and a rotted sash. This would be the last remaining window in the house that needed repair and the last planned repair.
I sat down with the contractor who did the window sills and we priced out putting a new window in vs. re-builiding the existing one. The re-build was much less expensive. So we signed another contract to take out the bay window unit, re-build it, replace all the rotted trim and support, and put it back in. The budget: $2,300. The timeframe: one week
Before taking the window out, we found some of the window supports were rotted. We also found a major water problem with rain collecting and running behind the clapboards surrounding the window. We found more rotted clapboards, more rotted trim, some rotted structure supports, and rotted shiething.
While replacing the drip edge and removing a few courses of shingles, the contractor noticed that the shingles on the dormer roof were very weathered, brittle, and cracked. While they were a 30 year shingle, the low pitch of the dormer roof and poor insulation (addressed earlier this year) allowed snow and ice dams to build up on this section of the roof causing damage to the shingles. Plus they had 22 yrs on them. While we were fixing the drip edge, it made sense to have the contractor replace all the shingles on the dormer. While he was up on the roof, the contractor also noticed that the ridge vents had developed cracks in them, the joints were coming un-done, and they were coming un-nailed. As part of the re-shingling project, I decided to have him replace the ridge vents to avoid a problem. His estimate to do the additional roofing was very high. I challenged his numbers and found he had calculated the shingles wrong and priced them way too high. I called another building supply and got the shingles for a much cheaper price. Saved myself over $600 by challenging his numbers. The cost for this work would be $2,650.
Episode 5 - The Bay Window (part 2)
Now that all the water problems were solved we could focus on the bay window. The plan was to take the complete window unit out and have the contractor rebuild it in his shop. This was suppose to take a couple of days. The window came out on a Tuesday and a temporary cover was put over the rough opening. After a week, I called to see when we could expect the window to be put back in. I got a list of excuses; the contractor's sister had a stroke and was in the hospital, he needed to order a special router bit to rebuild the sash, and there was more rot on the window than he had expected. Ok, so I asked when he would start working on replacing the supports and he assured me he would be onsite the next day and assured me he had all the material for fix the supports. The next day came and no contractor. So I called him and left a message that he needed to show up on the next day or I would initiate action with the state to file a claim against him. That seemed to work as he called back and apologized for not showing up and told me he had just picked up the material to fix the supports (which on the previous day he told me he already had) and would be onsite on Thursday morning. Well, he showed up at 11:00 am the next day and worked till 5:30 pm. He got the support structure fixed and put the bay window unit back in.
The total cost for all of this work (that started with the bay window): $6,450. The time frame: four weeks.
Episode 6 - The Summary
What started out to be about 2-3 weeks of work ended up being more like 9 weeks. From a budget perspective, I had planned to spend around $6,000 on the repairs. The actual costs for all the work and materials that I purchased was $8,900. For all that, I got following work done;
- 11 windows rebuilt
- 9 storm windows fixed,
- a new dormer roof,
- new ridge vents,
- a new facia board, drip edge, and gutter on the dormer
- bay window unit re-built,
- 3 rooms cleaned out and repainted
- garage painted and trim fixed.
It felt good to get this all done and knowing that I won't have to deal with it for another 20 years.
I also learned that I could be in the home improvement business, if I wanted. Having learned the basics in high school and from building furniture as a hobby for 30 years, I was fortunate to be able to do alot of the work myself. I also found I do better quality work and have a better work ethic than the local competition. There may be a J Dawg Home Repair Service start up.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Dancing with Lola
I met her in a club down in old Soho,
Where you drink champagne, and
It tastes just like cherry-cola.
We have a small condo in Maine that we use as a weekend and vacation getaway. It’s right across the harbor from Portland, which has become an eclectic tourist city with waterfront shops, fine restaurants, and a broad offering of art programs. One of the things we both enjoy doing on the week-ends is to see if there’s a club or dance that we can go out to and apply some of our recently acquired ballroom dancing skills. Each time we went to Maine, I had noticed that the a certain ballroom dance studio advertised a dance each Saturday night at their studio in Portland. So this one weekend we go up to Maine and I suggest to Anne that we check out the Saturday night dance at this ballroom studio. We arrive at 8pm and see that the dance is just underway with about 15 –18 people. The dancers display a variety of skills from advanced to beginner, which is perfect for us being at the intermediate stage. We hang our coats up, put on our dancing shoes, go out on the large dance floor and immediately start with a Cha-Cha.
She walked up to me and she asked me to dance,
I ask her name, and
In a dark brown voice she said, Lola.
We dance to a few numbers and Anne says she needs to use the lady’s room. I go to sit down at the far end of the room and before my butt hits the chair a tall blond woman walks up to me and asks if I’d like to dance. She’s wearing a flame red long sleeve stretch top and tight black jeans. Her hair is actually dark underneath blond highlighting. It’s tussled but shoulder length and falling down over her eyes, which sort of obscures her face. I also notice her voice is raspy and a lot lower than I would have expected for a woman. Having taken dancing lessons for the past two years, our instructors encouraged us to dance with different partners when-ever possible to improve our technique (learn to “drive other cars” is what my teacher Roxanna said). A Foxtrot number has just started, which is my least favorite dance, but I answer “Sure” to this woman’s request. We go into dance position (mans right elbow out and right hand around woman’s left should blade, woman left hand rests on mans right bicep, and mans left and woman right hands joined at shoulder height and cocked at the elbows). Before I start to lead the dance, I ask her name and she says in her low raspy voice, “I’m Michelle”.
Well I’m not the world’s most physical guy,
But when she squeezed me tight,
She nearly broke my spine.
We start to Foxtrot, which is a slow, slow, quick, quick pattern called the Magic Step. Through the first patterns of the dance I notice a couple of things about Michelle. She is about 5’ 10” and medium build. She is not quite as supple or delicate as I would expect a woman to be. Not that all woman feel alike, but Michelle’s back, arms, and hands are firm like those of an athlete. I also notice, she’s not graceful but instead a little clumsy. After a couple promenades and turns, I figure she probably doesn’t know the Foxtrot that well so I keep it simple to the basic magic step pattern. After the first turn around the floor, I notice Michelle is getting into the dance. Her dance position starts to change to be more aggressive like a Tango. She juts out my left hand into the air at the 10 o’clock position. We sort of look like John Travolta on the cover of Saturday Night Fever. I also sense that she wants to lead. She moves here right hand up from my bicep to the ball of my shoulder, takes a firm grasp and pulls me closer. I realize that she’s leading me down the dance floor doing long Tango strides to the FoxTrot.
Well I’m not dumb but I can’t understand,
Why she walked like a woman,
But talked like a man.
This just doesn’t feel right. The voice, the build, the obscured face, the dancing style. I start to think - perhaps “Michelle” is not what I think she is. I glance down to her chest. She’s wearing a tight stretch top with a V-neck. Being a little taller than her, I should be able to see maybe some cleavage or at least an outline of her breasts. But there’s no cleavage and no outline. “Michelle’s” chest is flatter than a teenage school boy’s. And that’s when I start to get the sinking feel that something is very wrong. It’s almost the same feeling you get after you realize you just drank from someone else’s glass or when you realize you just stepped in dog shit. Like Archie Bunker used to say when the MeatHead said something that made him uncomfortable; “Ah Jeez”. The woman I’m dancing with is not a woman.
Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man,
But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man, and
So is Lola
All this happened in the two minutes that Anne turned her back on me to go take a leak. I can’t wait for the dance to end. My mind is racing. What will Anne think when she comes out of the lady’s room and doesn’t find me sitting where she left me but instead sees that I’m on the dance floor with this strange blond woman (who’s really not a woman) doing Tango strides to the FoxTrot?
Luckily the dance ends and just as I’m breaking with “Michelle”, Anne appears next to us and says to me, “So there you are. I wondered where you were, then I see you dancing with this blond woman.” I say sheepishly, “ Oh, Hi Anne, this is Michelle”. Anne say’s Hi and Michelle responds in her low raspy voice “Hi Honey. You don’t want to leave this one sitting by himself for very long!”
We break and Anne and I go over and sit down and I tell her what happened. She starts giggling when I tell her I think Michelle is really a guy. I didn’t think it was that funny. I watch Michelle grab her next unknowing partner and step onto the floor. Ray Davies voice enters my head and starts singing a song from the Kinks,
Well that’s the way that I want it to stay, and
I always want it to be that way for my Lola.
Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world
Except for Lola,
Lo-Lo-Lo-Lo Lola.
Where you drink champagne, and
It tastes just like cherry-cola.
We have a small condo in Maine that we use as a weekend and vacation getaway. It’s right across the harbor from Portland, which has become an eclectic tourist city with waterfront shops, fine restaurants, and a broad offering of art programs. One of the things we both enjoy doing on the week-ends is to see if there’s a club or dance that we can go out to and apply some of our recently acquired ballroom dancing skills. Each time we went to Maine, I had noticed that the a certain ballroom dance studio advertised a dance each Saturday night at their studio in Portland. So this one weekend we go up to Maine and I suggest to Anne that we check out the Saturday night dance at this ballroom studio. We arrive at 8pm and see that the dance is just underway with about 15 –18 people. The dancers display a variety of skills from advanced to beginner, which is perfect for us being at the intermediate stage. We hang our coats up, put on our dancing shoes, go out on the large dance floor and immediately start with a Cha-Cha.
She walked up to me and she asked me to dance,
I ask her name, and
In a dark brown voice she said, Lola.
We dance to a few numbers and Anne says she needs to use the lady’s room. I go to sit down at the far end of the room and before my butt hits the chair a tall blond woman walks up to me and asks if I’d like to dance. She’s wearing a flame red long sleeve stretch top and tight black jeans. Her hair is actually dark underneath blond highlighting. It’s tussled but shoulder length and falling down over her eyes, which sort of obscures her face. I also notice her voice is raspy and a lot lower than I would have expected for a woman. Having taken dancing lessons for the past two years, our instructors encouraged us to dance with different partners when-ever possible to improve our technique (learn to “drive other cars” is what my teacher Roxanna said). A Foxtrot number has just started, which is my least favorite dance, but I answer “Sure” to this woman’s request. We go into dance position (mans right elbow out and right hand around woman’s left should blade, woman left hand rests on mans right bicep, and mans left and woman right hands joined at shoulder height and cocked at the elbows). Before I start to lead the dance, I ask her name and she says in her low raspy voice, “I’m Michelle”.
Well I’m not the world’s most physical guy,
But when she squeezed me tight,
She nearly broke my spine.
We start to Foxtrot, which is a slow, slow, quick, quick pattern called the Magic Step. Through the first patterns of the dance I notice a couple of things about Michelle. She is about 5’ 10” and medium build. She is not quite as supple or delicate as I would expect a woman to be. Not that all woman feel alike, but Michelle’s back, arms, and hands are firm like those of an athlete. I also notice, she’s not graceful but instead a little clumsy. After a couple promenades and turns, I figure she probably doesn’t know the Foxtrot that well so I keep it simple to the basic magic step pattern. After the first turn around the floor, I notice Michelle is getting into the dance. Her dance position starts to change to be more aggressive like a Tango. She juts out my left hand into the air at the 10 o’clock position. We sort of look like John Travolta on the cover of Saturday Night Fever. I also sense that she wants to lead. She moves here right hand up from my bicep to the ball of my shoulder, takes a firm grasp and pulls me closer. I realize that she’s leading me down the dance floor doing long Tango strides to the FoxTrot.
Well I’m not dumb but I can’t understand,
Why she walked like a woman,
But talked like a man.
This just doesn’t feel right. The voice, the build, the obscured face, the dancing style. I start to think - perhaps “Michelle” is not what I think she is. I glance down to her chest. She’s wearing a tight stretch top with a V-neck. Being a little taller than her, I should be able to see maybe some cleavage or at least an outline of her breasts. But there’s no cleavage and no outline. “Michelle’s” chest is flatter than a teenage school boy’s. And that’s when I start to get the sinking feel that something is very wrong. It’s almost the same feeling you get after you realize you just drank from someone else’s glass or when you realize you just stepped in dog shit. Like Archie Bunker used to say when the MeatHead said something that made him uncomfortable; “Ah Jeez”. The woman I’m dancing with is not a woman.
Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man,
But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man, and
So is Lola
All this happened in the two minutes that Anne turned her back on me to go take a leak. I can’t wait for the dance to end. My mind is racing. What will Anne think when she comes out of the lady’s room and doesn’t find me sitting where she left me but instead sees that I’m on the dance floor with this strange blond woman (who’s really not a woman) doing Tango strides to the FoxTrot?
Luckily the dance ends and just as I’m breaking with “Michelle”, Anne appears next to us and says to me, “So there you are. I wondered where you were, then I see you dancing with this blond woman.” I say sheepishly, “ Oh, Hi Anne, this is Michelle”. Anne say’s Hi and Michelle responds in her low raspy voice “Hi Honey. You don’t want to leave this one sitting by himself for very long!”
We break and Anne and I go over and sit down and I tell her what happened. She starts giggling when I tell her I think Michelle is really a guy. I didn’t think it was that funny. I watch Michelle grab her next unknowing partner and step onto the floor. Ray Davies voice enters my head and starts singing a song from the Kinks,
Well that’s the way that I want it to stay, and
I always want it to be that way for my Lola.
Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world
Except for Lola,
Lo-Lo-Lo-Lo Lola.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
2006 RAGBRAI Journal
RAGBRAI – Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. This is the largest organized bike ride in the US, typically drawing over 10,000 riders each year. It started over 30 years ago. It’s so large, riders/participants are selected by lottery. For serious bikers, it a right of passage. I rode it in 2006, doing 471 miles on one of the hilliest routes they've ever had. It was the first year that Lance Armstrong also did the ride. It was something that I have always wanted to do but had never attempted. I was really looking forward to the ride. I had trained a lot and was in great shape. It would be a new adventure for me. I went with a group called Pork Belly Ventures (aka the Pork People) run by a brother and sister (Tammy & Pete). They hauled our gear, spec'd out campsites, fed us, and provided nightly entertainment. Below are some of the things I heard, saw, and experienced along the way. Its my collection of mental post cards from the ride.
Saturday, July 22nd Sergeant Bluff
1. As I’m getting off my plane in Omaha one of the pilots see’s my wristband and says to me “RAGBRAI – Yah!”
2. I had pensive thoughts on the bus ride to St. Bluff about what to expect when we arrive. We’re passing a lot of team buses and seeing lots of buses returning south on the highway after dropping off riders. All I can think about is that there’s got to be a ton of people in St Bluff. I hope I can;
a. find our group - driver said he hopes to get us as close as he can (does that mean to the closest town or closest 1000 feet)
b. find my bike (Tammy send she had it)
3. Got to quickly experience the Iowa summer heat for the first time. My first spate of extensive sweating started as I assembled my bike. Sweating would be a constant throughout the week.
4. Finding food became my next priority (it would become by primary goal throughout the week). I ate dinner at the St. Bluff High School with some RAGBRAI veterans (Claude, Mimi, and Veronica). When they asked “So you’re here all by yourself” I answered “No, I’m here with all of you folks!” Yes, all 10,000 of you!
5. I find that RAGRAI is a sort of heaven for old school buses. Ever wondered what becomes of a retired school bus? I found that they go to RAGBRAI were they get reincarnated with fresh paint and cycling racks and turned into cycling team camping buses.
![]()
Sunday, July 23rd Ida Grove
1. Several lady’s in house coats, PJ’s, and slippers met us as we rode out of town, handing us food, and saying goodbye and thanks as we leave their town of St Bluff. It was a really nice gesture. Made me feel really special for being part of the ride.
2. All the instructions in the ride said ride right, but I rode left for most of the day to avoid the slower / erratic riders. To stay safe, I would ride left most of the week unless there was a car-up or a car back.
3. Wow, there really are hills in Iowa! I muscled up all of the hills on Sunday and Monday, By Tuesday and the rest of the week I was in the small ring spinning my way up.
![]()
4. I was really surprised at the way the first town (Anton) had a great welcome and food set-up for us. I would see this in every town; for each one it was like the 4th of July. And I would learn by the end of the week that RAGBRAI is not about the bike riding and the route. It’s about the towns and the people in the towns.
5. Our campsite in Ida Grove was not easy to find. After asking directions (twice) and two rides back to Moorehead park, a volunteer finally told me to ride the bike path until it ended. I did that and then I found the Pork People.
![]()
6. Got my first massage of the week from Sandy at the Iowa School of Massage girls. No reservation needed, just walk up and pay by the minute. Twenty mins is what it took for her to take away the neck and shoulder pain that I got from riding 77 miles.
7. I missed the dinner and the music the Pork People put on at Moorehead Park so I could see the entertainment in Ida Grove. I saw some great swing and blues music by the Board of Directors. But I drank too many beers and would pay for this and the missed dinner the next day.
Monday, July 24th Audubon
1. As we rode out of town, I saw a rainbow one the right side of the road and a thunder storm on the other. All were off in the distance, but it was an awesome view of nature’s demonstration.
2. After 40 miles, we came into a great party at Arcadia. What a celebration for us; food, music on a sunny hill top town. This was one of the best pass thru towns for the whole week.
![]()
3. A hot 14 mile hilly stretch of zig zag roads finally got us into Manning, a German heritage town. Saw some beautiful farms as we rode our way into town. Had home made ice cream and a Maid Right (Iowan name for a sloppy joe) at the edge of town.
4. At mile 53, heard a Iowa State Trooper say at a road junction that there were 3 more big hills and then we’ve got it relatively flat into Audubon.
5. Yes, not too hilly but there were 9.3 hot and windy miles with no vendors, no water, and no nothing into Audubon. Heard later in the week that some Audubon official had not allowed people to sell stuff along the way unless they had paid $1,200 for an official vendor’s license.
6. At this point in the week, my brain started to get a primal focus on getting sustenance. Prevalent thoughts started to be about food and where to find it. Ate my first church dinner at the Catholic Church. Great meal spaghetti dinner for $6.
7. Next activity was to lay on the cool shady grass of the town common for about 90 mins and watch Audubon Idol (local version of American Idol). It was good entertainment and a great rest.
![]()
8. Walked back to the Pork People and laid in my tent and sweated. Fanned myself with a church pamphlet that I picked up at the Catholic Church. It said that if put my faith in God he would be my savior. I just hoped he would save me from sweating all night. I would use it for the next several nights to fan myself.
9. Prayed a thank you to the guy who told the kids in a house next the park to stop the loud drumming that they started at 10:30 pm. or a bunch of angry bikers would be over to take care of them.
Tuesday, July 25th Waukee
1. Awaken at 4:30 am by the Pork People’s generator so they could make coffee. Lesson learned – don’t camp near the Penske trucks.
2. Lots of hills and head winds as we rode out of Audubon.
3. Guthrie Center was a welcome break after 26.5 miles; residents welcoming us with great food and entertainment at 9:00 am. I passed on the beers and bloody mary’s that were being offered.
4. I started to find my RAGBRAI groove on this day. Wake up at 5 am so I can hopefully find Kybos with a short line; pack everything up and get on the road by 6:30 am so I can avoid riding in the extreme heat; start sweating; ride left to avoid getting into a crash; look for the Healthy Farm Boys at about mile 14 for a terrific breakfast burrito; have a snack of pie or sweat corn at the next pass through town; wipe sweat off; look for the pasta man at mile 30-40 for a great lunch; wipe sweat off again; have a snack of pie or sweet corn at the next pass through town(s); wipe more sweat off; look for the pink pig signs and find the Pork People; set up camp, and find a shower; find more food; rest and relax and find a cool spot to minimize sweating; find a church dinner and get in line by 5 pm; rest and relax and find a cool spot to minimize sweating; check out the host town and the entertainment; get in my tent by around 9:30 pm hope and pray to stop sweating; start over again at 5 am.
5. I was really whipped after all the miles, headwinds, heat, and long uphill after Redfield and Adel. I welcomed the kids to spray me with water as we rode into the outskirts of Waukee. It was also nice to be greeted at Waukee by girls giving out lei’s.
6. In Windfield park, I’m one of the first dozen few riders to arrive, but I needed to just get off my feet. I hauled my luggage to a shady spot and just sat in the shade and sweated. It was pouring off me. I unpack a little gear. I must have looked really whipped because another biker came over and offered to help me set up my tent. I was slightly dehydrated and had a little heat exhaustion, but recovered fine after drinking some water and having some food. Some local kids were selling brats, hot dogs, water and Gatorade for a buck. The brat really hit the spot. I heard that one of the kids (Timmy) made $200 selling food and drinks to us.
7. Had the Pork Chop Man for dinner – it was biggest piece of meat I’ve ever eaten. Can’t see how people ate them for breakfast out on the route.
![]()
8. Walked over the Centennial Park to see the entertainment and get food. Had another great massage with the Iowa School of Massage girls. After $20 and 20 mins and my neck / back pain were gone again. Ate more food (pie) and drank more water. Decided to skip the entertainment and turn in early. I wanted to do a good recovery so I would ride well the next day.
9. Had thunder, lighting, and lots of rain that night. The police had come by earlier and said there was a tornado watch out and told us where the local shelter was. It started about 10 pm and lasted until 4 am. How do I know this – I was awake the whole time. I had high ground so I didn’t get any water and only a couple of drips in the tent. My tent handled the wind find. Had everything packed up and ready to go in case I lost the tent. Slept in my biking clothes with a rain coat over me.
Wednesday, July 26th Newton
1. Had a long ride to the first pass thru town (Polk City -26 miles). I found a Kybo and was hastened out by a female rider banging on the door needing to pee. She would be the only rude person that I would encounter all week.
2. Stopped in Elkhardt to get water and have a snack. Had some great sweat corn. I was stopped by a local contractor who was selling well pumps. Don’t know why he thought I needed one or where I would carry it on my bike. It was really hot in Colfax and I could have done without the steep hill climb out of town
3. Newton was hot. Had a shower at Maytag Park and was sweating before I left the shower building. I took the shuttle into town to eat and wait for Lance. Had another great meal at the Methodist Church. Sat with some nice local ladies who had helped with the cooking.![]()
4. Waiting for Lance was hot. I got there at about 6:45 pm and was near the front of the stage. I had to leave at about 7:30 pm as it was shoulder to shoulder with no air movement. I retreated and listened to him from about 300 ft back.
5. Walked back to Maytag Park with Anne Boone. She is the chatterbox from Atlanta that I met 2 yrs ago on Bike Florida. A nice friendly woman, but she talked non stop for the next 45 mins as we walked back to camp. I got in a couple of Yup’s and Really’s, but that was about it.
6. Had my first good night sleep this night. Almost overslept.
Thursday, July 27th Marengo
1. Uneventful ride to Marengo. We were greeted by Cheerleaders as we entered Reasnor. It was a nice touch. It was an easier route today with a general elevation decline.
2. Decided to skip the century loop in Lychville as I had more than enough miles and didn’t need to prove anything to myself. Had a nice stop in Montezuma. Used the Iowa Telecom trailer to send an email to my Dad. Took a quick stop in Brooklyn as it was threatening rain. Had a nice and flat 15 mile segment into Marengo with a slight tail wind. Cranked it up to 26 mph and just cruised into Marengo.
3. Camped in a ball field. It was supposedly the only camp site in town without mud. I chose centerfield as it was the highest ground and rain was in the forecast. Met Lori and Marsha from MO and helped them with their bags. They also chose centerfield as their camp site.
4. This was grill night. It was suggested that we each buy something to grill at the local store and the Pork People would have grills set up for us to use. Decide that since I was on vacation I didn’t want to cook so I ate out at the Catholic Church. Had another great meal.
5. Had my last massage with the Iowa School of Massage girls. Had them work on my legs, which were a little sore from all the riding.
6. Laid in my tent and listened to all the band music from town as I sweated. Fanned myself with my holy pamphlet. I could hear all the music from town fine from my tent even thought it was about 1 mile away.
7. Slept with all the doors, screens, and flaps open on my tent to try and get some air to minimize the sweating.
Friday, July 28th Coralville
1. Rode to Coralville. Short ride. I was caught off guard and accidentally ate breakfast at the faux Farm Boyz. It was probably the single focus on food that tripped me up. It was ok but not as good as the real Farm Boys.
2. Had a nice stop in Holbrook. Small hilltop town with a massive church and only 4-5 houses. It was about ½ mile off the main route and many bikers bypassed it. It was a real treat. Had home made lemonade and a piece of pie. Listened to a local bluegrass band play for us. It was great. I knew every song they played. Had another nice stop at Cosgrove. Pedaled up a steep hill to get there.
![]()
3. As I’m riding the last 5 miles into town and spinning up a hill, I suddenly got a really really sharp pain in the front of my right knee. I instantly knew what it was as I’ve experienced it before. It’s a sprain of a patella muscle (one that holds the knee cap in place). This time is probably from overuse due to all of the hills. But it’s really painful every time I press down on the right pedal. In fact the pain is so great I can put no downward pressure on the right pedal. So I ride the last 5 miles pushing down with my left leg and pulling up with my right. Thank god for clip-in pedals. As soon as I get off the bike, the knee if fine for walking. In fact there’s no pain at all as long as I don’t bend the knee sharply or put pressure on it. I would forget about the knee for the rest of the day, but would be reminded of it the next day as I climb with first hill out of Coralville.
4. Spent the afternoon in the Coraville community pool - me and several hundred other bikers. It felt good to cool off, but too crowded to anything other than stand in place in the water. Took a nap in the shade under an umbrella at the pool. Woke myself up snoring.
5. Got back to the Pork People in time to experience blender night. Had a “couple four” frozen margarita’s which gave me a nice little buzz for the evening.
![]()
6. Ate at the Catholic Church for dinner. Had another great meal for $8.
7. Stayed up for the entertainment and dancing. Saw a great Latin band and several good salsa dancers. Wish I knew how to salsa as it looked fun.
8. The headliner was Jason D. Williams. He was a great honky-tonk piano play from Nashville. Sort of a Marcia Ball on steroids. He played a little bit of everything from country to opera. He was very entertaining.
Saturday, July 29th Muscatine
1. I get packed up as usual and start riding out of town. At the first hill I’m painfully reminded that I have a knee injury. I instantly back off from putting any pressure on the knee and grear way up. It then hits me that I’ve got 50 miles to ride and maybe I should have sagged with the Pork People. I have a slight panic, but it’s too late. The Pork People are 3 miles back and its all up hill, they’re leaving, and I don’t even have their phone number. So, I’ve got to do 50 miles with a bum knee. I’m fine on the flats; it’s just the hills or even a slight incline. So when I came to a hill I instantly shifted into the highest gear, pushed down with my left and pulled up with my right. I was the slowest rider up the hills but I got up all of the hills. This would work well as long as the left knee held out; which it did.
2. Kinda of a solemn day of riding. Not too much chatting on the road. Saw lots of team members riding in pace lines cranking away the miles. Seemed like everyone was looking to get it over with. I took the back way into Muscatine and found the Pork People at the high school at about 9:30 am . I’m like the third person to arrive and the Porker People are just unloading things.
3. I pack my bike up, grab a shower, and shuttle downtown with 3 other guys to get our bikes shipped. Once my bike is with UPS, I focus on a search for food and cold beer. I found some food by the river where all the bikers were dipping their rear tires. Next I find a bar to have a cold beer. I didn’t stay long because the bar is full of cigarette smoke and I need to breathe some clean air. I shuttle back up to the high school and spend the next 2 hrs waiting for our bus back to Omaha.
![]()
4. Had a long boring ride back to Omaha. All were pretty quiet and tired from the ride.
Best Quotes Heard on RARBRAI
“Can we stop for beer?” rider to the bus driver within 3 mins of pulling out of the La Quinta Inn parking lot on the way to St Bluff
“This is totally awesome!” one resident in Sully to another when asked what he thought about all the riders.
“The sports bra was the worst thing that happened to RAGBRAI” one police officer to another in St Bluff.
“I guess because I can” rider responding to my question about why he keeps coming back after doing 17 RABRAI’s.
“Don’t touch the bowl on the left; that’s for the boys to use. Lift the cover up and don’t look down into the hole. Whatever you do, don’t look down into the hole.” Lady in Guthrie Center explaining to her young daughter how to use a Kybo (aka porta john).
Epilogue
The week was great. It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. I’d do it again and will do it again. I can see how people get hooked on it. I asked several people who were RAGBRAI veterans, why they keep coming back. None had a good answer.
Saturday, July 22nd Sergeant Bluff
1. As I’m getting off my plane in Omaha one of the pilots see’s my wristband and says to me “RAGBRAI – Yah!”
2. I had pensive thoughts on the bus ride to St. Bluff about what to expect when we arrive. We’re passing a lot of team buses and seeing lots of buses returning south on the highway after dropping off riders. All I can think about is that there’s got to be a ton of people in St Bluff. I hope I can;
a. find our group - driver said he hopes to get us as close as he can (does that mean to the closest town or closest 1000 feet)
b. find my bike (Tammy send she had it)
3. Got to quickly experience the Iowa summer heat for the first time. My first spate of extensive sweating started as I assembled my bike. Sweating would be a constant throughout the week.
4. Finding food became my next priority (it would become by primary goal throughout the week). I ate dinner at the St. Bluff High School with some RAGBRAI veterans (Claude, Mimi, and Veronica). When they asked “So you’re here all by yourself” I answered “No, I’m here with all of you folks!” Yes, all 10,000 of you!
5. I find that RAGRAI is a sort of heaven for old school buses. Ever wondered what becomes of a retired school bus? I found that they go to RAGBRAI were they get reincarnated with fresh paint and cycling racks and turned into cycling team camping buses.
Sunday, July 23rd Ida Grove
1. Several lady’s in house coats, PJ’s, and slippers met us as we rode out of town, handing us food, and saying goodbye and thanks as we leave their town of St Bluff. It was a really nice gesture. Made me feel really special for being part of the ride.
2. All the instructions in the ride said ride right, but I rode left for most of the day to avoid the slower / erratic riders. To stay safe, I would ride left most of the week unless there was a car-up or a car back.
3. Wow, there really are hills in Iowa! I muscled up all of the hills on Sunday and Monday, By Tuesday and the rest of the week I was in the small ring spinning my way up.
4. I was really surprised at the way the first town (Anton) had a great welcome and food set-up for us. I would see this in every town; for each one it was like the 4th of July. And I would learn by the end of the week that RAGBRAI is not about the bike riding and the route. It’s about the towns and the people in the towns.
5. Our campsite in Ida Grove was not easy to find. After asking directions (twice) and two rides back to Moorehead park, a volunteer finally told me to ride the bike path until it ended. I did that and then I found the Pork People.
6. Got my first massage of the week from Sandy at the Iowa School of Massage girls. No reservation needed, just walk up and pay by the minute. Twenty mins is what it took for her to take away the neck and shoulder pain that I got from riding 77 miles.
7. I missed the dinner and the music the Pork People put on at Moorehead Park so I could see the entertainment in Ida Grove. I saw some great swing and blues music by the Board of Directors. But I drank too many beers and would pay for this and the missed dinner the next day.
Monday, July 24th Audubon
1. As we rode out of town, I saw a rainbow one the right side of the road and a thunder storm on the other. All were off in the distance, but it was an awesome view of nature’s demonstration.
2. After 40 miles, we came into a great party at Arcadia. What a celebration for us; food, music on a sunny hill top town. This was one of the best pass thru towns for the whole week.
3. A hot 14 mile hilly stretch of zig zag roads finally got us into Manning, a German heritage town. Saw some beautiful farms as we rode our way into town. Had home made ice cream and a Maid Right (Iowan name for a sloppy joe) at the edge of town.
4. At mile 53, heard a Iowa State Trooper say at a road junction that there were 3 more big hills and then we’ve got it relatively flat into Audubon.
5. Yes, not too hilly but there were 9.3 hot and windy miles with no vendors, no water, and no nothing into Audubon. Heard later in the week that some Audubon official had not allowed people to sell stuff along the way unless they had paid $1,200 for an official vendor’s license.
6. At this point in the week, my brain started to get a primal focus on getting sustenance. Prevalent thoughts started to be about food and where to find it. Ate my first church dinner at the Catholic Church. Great meal spaghetti dinner for $6.
7. Next activity was to lay on the cool shady grass of the town common for about 90 mins and watch Audubon Idol (local version of American Idol). It was good entertainment and a great rest.
9. Prayed a thank you to the guy who told the kids in a house next the park to stop the loud drumming that they started at 10:30 pm. or a bunch of angry bikers would be over to take care of them.
Tuesday, July 25th Waukee
1. Awaken at 4:30 am by the Pork People’s generator so they could make coffee. Lesson learned – don’t camp near the Penske trucks.
2. Lots of hills and head winds as we rode out of Audubon.
3. Guthrie Center was a welcome break after 26.5 miles; residents welcoming us with great food and entertainment at 9:00 am. I passed on the beers and bloody mary’s that were being offered.
4. I started to find my RAGBRAI groove on this day. Wake up at 5 am so I can hopefully find Kybos with a short line; pack everything up and get on the road by 6:30 am so I can avoid riding in the extreme heat; start sweating; ride left to avoid getting into a crash; look for the Healthy Farm Boys at about mile 14 for a terrific breakfast burrito; have a snack of pie or sweat corn at the next pass through town; wipe sweat off; look for the pasta man at mile 30-40 for a great lunch; wipe sweat off again; have a snack of pie or sweet corn at the next pass through town(s); wipe more sweat off; look for the pink pig signs and find the Pork People; set up camp, and find a shower; find more food; rest and relax and find a cool spot to minimize sweating; find a church dinner and get in line by 5 pm; rest and relax and find a cool spot to minimize sweating; check out the host town and the entertainment; get in my tent by around 9:30 pm hope and pray to stop sweating; start over again at 5 am.
5. I was really whipped after all the miles, headwinds, heat, and long uphill after Redfield and Adel. I welcomed the kids to spray me with water as we rode into the outskirts of Waukee. It was also nice to be greeted at Waukee by girls giving out lei’s.
6. In Windfield park, I’m one of the first dozen few riders to arrive, but I needed to just get off my feet. I hauled my luggage to a shady spot and just sat in the shade and sweated. It was pouring off me. I unpack a little gear. I must have looked really whipped because another biker came over and offered to help me set up my tent. I was slightly dehydrated and had a little heat exhaustion, but recovered fine after drinking some water and having some food. Some local kids were selling brats, hot dogs, water and Gatorade for a buck. The brat really hit the spot. I heard that one of the kids (Timmy) made $200 selling food and drinks to us.
7. Had the Pork Chop Man for dinner – it was biggest piece of meat I’ve ever eaten. Can’t see how people ate them for breakfast out on the route.
8. Walked over the Centennial Park to see the entertainment and get food. Had another great massage with the Iowa School of Massage girls. After $20 and 20 mins and my neck / back pain were gone again. Ate more food (pie) and drank more water. Decided to skip the entertainment and turn in early. I wanted to do a good recovery so I would ride well the next day.
9. Had thunder, lighting, and lots of rain that night. The police had come by earlier and said there was a tornado watch out and told us where the local shelter was. It started about 10 pm and lasted until 4 am. How do I know this – I was awake the whole time. I had high ground so I didn’t get any water and only a couple of drips in the tent. My tent handled the wind find. Had everything packed up and ready to go in case I lost the tent. Slept in my biking clothes with a rain coat over me.
Wednesday, July 26th Newton
1. Had a long ride to the first pass thru town (Polk City -26 miles). I found a Kybo and was hastened out by a female rider banging on the door needing to pee. She would be the only rude person that I would encounter all week.
2. Stopped in Elkhardt to get water and have a snack. Had some great sweat corn. I was stopped by a local contractor who was selling well pumps. Don’t know why he thought I needed one or where I would carry it on my bike. It was really hot in Colfax and I could have done without the steep hill climb out of town
3. Newton was hot. Had a shower at Maytag Park and was sweating before I left the shower building. I took the shuttle into town to eat and wait for Lance. Had another great meal at the Methodist Church. Sat with some nice local ladies who had helped with the cooking.
4. Waiting for Lance was hot. I got there at about 6:45 pm and was near the front of the stage. I had to leave at about 7:30 pm as it was shoulder to shoulder with no air movement. I retreated and listened to him from about 300 ft back.
5. Walked back to Maytag Park with Anne Boone. She is the chatterbox from Atlanta that I met 2 yrs ago on Bike Florida. A nice friendly woman, but she talked non stop for the next 45 mins as we walked back to camp. I got in a couple of Yup’s and Really’s, but that was about it.
6. Had my first good night sleep this night. Almost overslept.
Thursday, July 27th Marengo
1. Uneventful ride to Marengo. We were greeted by Cheerleaders as we entered Reasnor. It was a nice touch. It was an easier route today with a general elevation decline.
2. Decided to skip the century loop in Lychville as I had more than enough miles and didn’t need to prove anything to myself. Had a nice stop in Montezuma. Used the Iowa Telecom trailer to send an email to my Dad. Took a quick stop in Brooklyn as it was threatening rain. Had a nice and flat 15 mile segment into Marengo with a slight tail wind. Cranked it up to 26 mph and just cruised into Marengo.
3. Camped in a ball field. It was supposedly the only camp site in town without mud. I chose centerfield as it was the highest ground and rain was in the forecast. Met Lori and Marsha from MO and helped them with their bags. They also chose centerfield as their camp site.
4. This was grill night. It was suggested that we each buy something to grill at the local store and the Pork People would have grills set up for us to use. Decide that since I was on vacation I didn’t want to cook so I ate out at the Catholic Church. Had another great meal.
5. Had my last massage with the Iowa School of Massage girls. Had them work on my legs, which were a little sore from all the riding.
6. Laid in my tent and listened to all the band music from town as I sweated. Fanned myself with my holy pamphlet. I could hear all the music from town fine from my tent even thought it was about 1 mile away.
7. Slept with all the doors, screens, and flaps open on my tent to try and get some air to minimize the sweating.
Friday, July 28th Coralville
1. Rode to Coralville. Short ride. I was caught off guard and accidentally ate breakfast at the faux Farm Boyz. It was probably the single focus on food that tripped me up. It was ok but not as good as the real Farm Boys.
2. Had a nice stop in Holbrook. Small hilltop town with a massive church and only 4-5 houses. It was about ½ mile off the main route and many bikers bypassed it. It was a real treat. Had home made lemonade and a piece of pie. Listened to a local bluegrass band play for us. It was great. I knew every song they played. Had another nice stop at Cosgrove. Pedaled up a steep hill to get there.
3. As I’m riding the last 5 miles into town and spinning up a hill, I suddenly got a really really sharp pain in the front of my right knee. I instantly knew what it was as I’ve experienced it before. It’s a sprain of a patella muscle (one that holds the knee cap in place). This time is probably from overuse due to all of the hills. But it’s really painful every time I press down on the right pedal. In fact the pain is so great I can put no downward pressure on the right pedal. So I ride the last 5 miles pushing down with my left leg and pulling up with my right. Thank god for clip-in pedals. As soon as I get off the bike, the knee if fine for walking. In fact there’s no pain at all as long as I don’t bend the knee sharply or put pressure on it. I would forget about the knee for the rest of the day, but would be reminded of it the next day as I climb with first hill out of Coralville.
4. Spent the afternoon in the Coraville community pool - me and several hundred other bikers. It felt good to cool off, but too crowded to anything other than stand in place in the water. Took a nap in the shade under an umbrella at the pool. Woke myself up snoring.
5. Got back to the Pork People in time to experience blender night. Had a “couple four” frozen margarita’s which gave me a nice little buzz for the evening.
6. Ate at the Catholic Church for dinner. Had another great meal for $8.
7. Stayed up for the entertainment and dancing. Saw a great Latin band and several good salsa dancers. Wish I knew how to salsa as it looked fun.
8. The headliner was Jason D. Williams. He was a great honky-tonk piano play from Nashville. Sort of a Marcia Ball on steroids. He played a little bit of everything from country to opera. He was very entertaining.
Saturday, July 29th Muscatine
1. I get packed up as usual and start riding out of town. At the first hill I’m painfully reminded that I have a knee injury. I instantly back off from putting any pressure on the knee and grear way up. It then hits me that I’ve got 50 miles to ride and maybe I should have sagged with the Pork People. I have a slight panic, but it’s too late. The Pork People are 3 miles back and its all up hill, they’re leaving, and I don’t even have their phone number. So, I’ve got to do 50 miles with a bum knee. I’m fine on the flats; it’s just the hills or even a slight incline. So when I came to a hill I instantly shifted into the highest gear, pushed down with my left and pulled up with my right. I was the slowest rider up the hills but I got up all of the hills. This would work well as long as the left knee held out; which it did.
2. Kinda of a solemn day of riding. Not too much chatting on the road. Saw lots of team members riding in pace lines cranking away the miles. Seemed like everyone was looking to get it over with. I took the back way into Muscatine and found the Pork People at the high school at about 9:30 am . I’m like the third person to arrive and the Porker People are just unloading things.
3. I pack my bike up, grab a shower, and shuttle downtown with 3 other guys to get our bikes shipped. Once my bike is with UPS, I focus on a search for food and cold beer. I found some food by the river where all the bikers were dipping their rear tires. Next I find a bar to have a cold beer. I didn’t stay long because the bar is full of cigarette smoke and I need to breathe some clean air. I shuttle back up to the high school and spend the next 2 hrs waiting for our bus back to Omaha.
Best Quotes Heard on RARBRAI
“Can we stop for beer?” rider to the bus driver within 3 mins of pulling out of the La Quinta Inn parking lot on the way to St Bluff
“This is totally awesome!” one resident in Sully to another when asked what he thought about all the riders.
“The sports bra was the worst thing that happened to RAGBRAI” one police officer to another in St Bluff.
“I guess because I can” rider responding to my question about why he keeps coming back after doing 17 RABRAI’s.
“Don’t touch the bowl on the left; that’s for the boys to use. Lift the cover up and don’t look down into the hole. Whatever you do, don’t look down into the hole.” Lady in Guthrie Center explaining to her young daughter how to use a Kybo (aka porta john).
Epilogue
The week was great. It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. I’d do it again and will do it again. I can see how people get hooked on it. I asked several people who were RAGBRAI veterans, why they keep coming back. None had a good answer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)