RAGBRAI... (Part 5)

DAY 4 (Wednesday) - Hampton to Cedar Falls 72.16 miles
After the usual pack-up routine I was ready to go. A couple of people, Phil, Steve, and Tom, whom I have been chatting with on a daily basis, decided they would get up early and join my ride. I think they got up early because the camp was about 100 yards from some tracks that seemed to be overly active this particular morning. It was an easy shot out of camp down to the route. There was a quick stop at the Kwiki Mart to top off water and load up on Rice Krispie Treats. I swear, these things work wonders for me.

We kept a good pace the whole way into Cedar Falls. Steve, being a retired velodrome racer wasn't allowing any slow pacing. Though he was allowing a slow down in the pass through towns so we could stand and give our butts a much needed rest. When I did BRAN, by this time my butt was no longer hurting. It was as though my brain turned off all the pain receptors because I just wasn't listening to it. Not this time, the pain receptors seemed to have been working overtime this whole ride; however, I ignored it as best I could.

When we were about 10 to 15 miles outside of Cedar Falls, we came across an ice cream cake stand. Personally, I can't understand how someone could consume dairy products after all the pedaling and sweating like a Wyoming hooker on cowboy payday. Just the thought of consuming the stuff was making my stomach feel all funny. But hey, this is RAGBRAI and some people can tolerate it.

As we pulled into Cedar Falls, we were greeted by the local TV and radio stations. We were the first people to ride in. So, yours truly had his first ever TV and radio interview. To top the experience off, the radio station gave me a pair of tickets to the Blues Traveler concert. This was turning out to be a great morning. Little did I know I would soon be embarrassed.

After the interviews, we found our camp ground, it was just about 100 yards West of the Uni-Dome. The luggage trucks hadn't arrived yet, which didn't surprise us. The pangs of hunger was making itself known, so we got the directions to the local HyVee and headed over.

When we were walking into the store, Phil started laughing and asked me if I had some problems with my colon. Not really understanding him, he pointed at my butt. Still not understanding what he was talking about I reached back and rubbed my butt. A slippery, oily substance was felt. When I looked at my hand it was covered in a foamy white substance. My butt was covered in it.

A definite lesson was learned. When you wash your shorts, make sure you have ALL the soap rinsed out of the padding. When it mixes with sweat and riding it foams up quite a bit. It wasn't overly funny at the time, but hey, I know how to laugh at myself. So we sat down for some breakfast and good conversation. Thankfully not much about my foamy butt.

We headed back to camp and the trucks were there. I unpacked and setup the tent. Then it was off to take a shower. The showers were located in the student wellness center of the Uni-Dome. There was also a climbing wall, two pools, and many other things there too. After the shower I found a nice cool corner by the climbing walls and took a nap. I was definitely not the only person who thought of this.

Lunch time saw me riding my bike downtown to a nice little sushi restaurant. I didn't take my journal with me so I can't really remember the name of the place. The sashimi and sushi was very tasty. If I could afford it, this is all I would eat every day, but alas I can't. It was back to camp, and time to hang out under the group canopy and talk some more with others until it was time for the concert.

I was there early enough to get about two rows from the stage. The opening act was The Nadas. They were pretty good, and would hear more of them throughout the night as they would be playing outside in the beer garden later in the evening. Then in between acts, Lance Armstrong came out to give a little speech, then it was time for the Blues Traveler. I have always loved this band and their show was just incredible. An hour and a half of non-stop music that was just plain incredible. Before I knew it, the show was over and it was time to head back to camp. There were still thousands of people milling around outside and having a good time. I headed back to camp in hopes of getting some sleep. It was soon discovered that our campsite was located in "mosquito alley". Luckily enough I had some repellent in the tent, the problem was getting to it in time before I lost too much blood.

It was around 10PM when I finally got settled down to sleep, when I could hear the Nadas take the stage in the beer garden. I was tired enough that it didn't bother me and I was off to some far away land. Not sure if I would get up later than usual or not, but I had a great time this particular day.

Tomorrow...the first bit of rainfall, a comfy library, some good eats, and the usual riding...