Bike Ride Report - RAGBRAI Day 3 - Humboldt to Hampton

Here I am after RAGBRAI day 3. It was 70 miles, and overcast pretty much all day, which made it somewhat less hot.



Our camp site in Hampton was in a very serene park next to the river. There were lots of trees and birds in the trees. I wish I had my binoculars.



All the necessities of RAGBRAI were right by the park (shower, food, clothes-washing water) except for Internet access. So I decided to eat the church ladies' baked potato bar and devoted the evening to reading Harry Potter. I'm writing this the next day.

The highlight of Day 3 was Eagle Grove. I've been to Eagle Grove on RAGBRAI before. It is very memorable. They go all out.

*They have a guy in an eagle suit in the tree waving when you ride in to town.



Then there are a bunch of people dressed as clowns handing out balloons. After that, you go through a residential neighborhood where there is a classic car in every driveway. When you get to downtown, they have antique wagons parked on the square:


Then there is the 1960's police car set up as the Mayberry scenario, with people dressed as Andy, Barney, and Aunt Bea, where they grab riders as they pass by and throw them in jail for photographs. This is all going on with a soundboard playing clips from the TV show.

Great as all this stuff is, it was all there last time too. This year they added an Elvis impersonator:



Eagle Grove, Iowa, pop. 3455. Definitely in the very top tier of RAGBRAI towns.

I finally got a picture of the goofiest of all goofy bikes. The trike with a sail on it.




I've passed him on the road twice. Both times with a headwind and the poor guy making about 5 mph with his useless sail.

For food, it was Garden of Eden pasta alfredo on Eagle Grove, and then this fantastic sweet corn that some folks were cooking in their yard about 20 miles later.



I topped it off with an iced mocha about 15 miles from the end. I finished really strong, probably because I've been seriously caffeine-deprived.

You can tell it's election time. Obama is making appearances with the highly annoying and omnipresent Lance Armstrong. Edwards rode with him today. Hillary had her people handing out free water:



Lance Armstrong story: He had a special question and answer session just for children a couple days ago. Invite only. A sweet little girl asked him "Mr. Armstrong, what part of your body was your cancer in?"

ROADKILL REPORT: Vole

Here's the MotionBased page.