Miscellaneous Missives

This year's RAGBRAI was full of trying to pet a puppy.  It started about three days into the ride when I saw a sign that said pet a puppy.  I pulled off to find there were ponies not puppies. Disappointment set in as I got back on the road.  Later another opportunity to pet a puppy presented itself in the next town.  As I walked to pet the puppy, I was once again disappointed to find out they were dogs and not puppies.  One afternoon at the Iowa Beer Bus and Mr. Pork Chop , I set out to find the kybo (RAGBRAI's term for porta-potty).  On route to the kybo, I passed baby goats.  They were soooo cute and amazing.  I talked to them (and they talked back) going to and returning from the kybo.  Since I refuse to take my phone into the kybo, I wasn't able to take pictures of the babies, but I was able to pet them. In another town, I took my picture next to a hale bale pig and pet baby pigs.  The people with the baby pigs said we ...

Each year I ride across the state of Iowa, I fall in love with it and it's people all over again. Today I'm having RAGBRAI withdrawals; it's a thing.  One would think it would have happened yesterday since it was the first day with no riding and no team members around me all day, but yesterday I spent the day washing RAGBRAI gear and putting it all away.  As I woke up today, I felt a bit more of a struggle than I did yesterday.  For the past 9 days (including 7 days of riding) RAGBRAI has taken up the entirety of the day.  With nothing RAGBRAI today, I'm back to the mundane of grocery shopping, looking at the August calendar, reading...  It's making me a little melancholy, so I decided to finally write my RAGBRAI post. I started to write about each day, but they tend to blend together.  It's really a week of the same thing comradery, laughter, drinking, cycling, and small talk.  We waved at and shouted thanks to community members and officers ke...

Words cannot express my disgust with 45 and his policies.  Lately, I haven't been turning on the news because I know it will be disheartening.  Friday I merely wanted to turn on the Today Show for some background noise while I did my kettlebell and ab work.  It takes about twenty-five minutes.  Orange man was on the screen, so I shut it off to save a kettlebell from flying through my tv. At lunch time, I once again thought I'd turn it on to listen to the local news.  Yep, the ugliest man (inside and out) was once again on the screen, and again, I turned it off.  This time it was to save me from regurgitating my food.  What is with this guy? At least it's summer, and it's not dark and cold outside.  I've been reading and biking to keep myself sane.  A couple days ago, I even brought my totes up, so I could start thinking about packing for RAGBRAI.  At this point, I merely throwing things into the totes. This year I have procured a ...

April's weather was terribly snowy, and my job sucked the life out of during May and June.  It's not an excuse, but it's a real thing.  This means I'm currently 370.94 cycling miles behind where I was at this time last year.  I'll have a thousand miles before RAGBRAI this year, but I won't have the miles I'd like to have to be prepared for seven days of biking across the state of Iowa.  My rides this summer, however, have been glorious.  Today it took us past Minnehaha Falls.  I love Minneapolis and its trails.  Perhaps I needed to take this biking more serious in April, May, and June.

Yesterday I marched with around 7,000 people for immigration rights and keeping families together.  The NEA is having a convention in town, so they joined the march.  It was amazing seeing all of these people come together.  When I returned home, a neighbor talked to me and said he wished that he had marched.  I told him the most important thing anyone could do was to vote, and I really believe this to be true. Friday I picket up my portable speaker that I plan on using while I ride during RAGBRAI.  I was contemplating if I could hook my iPod shuffle to it, so I wouldn't drain the battery on my phone while riding.  Since the shuffle isn't bluetooth, I wasn't able to connect it.  Today while I was looking for my pair of scissors (that someone obviously stole), I found my old iPod (5+ years old???).  I charged it and was delighted that it has bluetooth and connects to my speaker.  It also now has my 2018 cycling playlist.  I'm goin...