Ragbrai Survived.
I posted some pics on Flickr of the Thursday ride of RAGBRAI XXXV. To answer the questions most people seem to be asking me: It was hot, humid, and tiring. My toes and part of my hands are still numb, and my behind is sore in ways that make me more than just physically uncomfortable. I got a crazy amount of sun. I forgot to bring Excedrine, which of course meant I got a migraine 2/3rds of the way through. I didn't see Lance. It took something like 10 hours all told, and ended up being about 70 miles.
I mentally broke down around 6 miles from the end. I don't know if any of you have ever read The Long Walk, but it reminds me a bit of it. At 4 miles out, I was stopping every half mile or so to force Gatorade, as I could no longer balance well enough to drink while biking. I fired off a despairing text message, got an encouraging reply, dug deep, and finished it out.
Beautifully, there were people cheering for me (well, for everyone, but including me) when I rounded the corner into Independence, and a small boy stood by the side of the road with his hand out, and I managed to give him a low five without a) falling over or b) crashing into him.
I am glad I did it. I'm not sure I'll ever do it again, but it's an accomplishment, nonetheless.
I mentally broke down around 6 miles from the end. I don't know if any of you have ever read The Long Walk, but it reminds me a bit of it. At 4 miles out, I was stopping every half mile or so to force Gatorade, as I could no longer balance well enough to drink while biking. I fired off a despairing text message, got an encouraging reply, dug deep, and finished it out.
Beautifully, there were people cheering for me (well, for everyone, but including me) when I rounded the corner into Independence, and a small boy stood by the side of the road with his hand out, and I managed to give him a low five without a) falling over or b) crashing into him.
I am glad I did it. I'm not sure I'll ever do it again, but it's an accomplishment, nonetheless.