Riding to RAGBRAI - Blair, Nebraska to Sergeant Bluff, Iowa

Here is the story of our ride to RAGBRAI, from Blair, Nebraska to Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, the official start town.

Here's Jim and Laura in front of the art at the Super 8 in Blair. It's a brass duck!



There's not much heading north from Blair. We got hungry in 20 miles in Tekemah, and settled for food from the gas station.



The ride was totally flat. It's all floodplain of the Missouri River. Here is Jim and Laura climbing one of the few hills of the day into Decatur, NE.



At Decatur, we crossed into Iowa.



The first town in Iowa is Onawa, which was the start town two years ago. I don't actually remember anything in Onawa from then, except a field with a fence behind it where I camped. But as it happens, there is a bar with decent food. And it had bikes in front of it loaded for touring, so we had to stop here for lunch.



The bikes belonged to a couple from Denver who were also riding to RAGBRAI. They had come over 600 miles with 100 degree heat, the gruelling Sand Hills of Nebraska, and headwinds. They were tougher than us.

While we were eating, a school bus decorated for RAGBRAI turned up. A whole bunch of people got out of the bus with beers in there hand and came into the bar. It seems our Colorado couple were part of the team with the bus. The RAGBRAI party begins.



We rode on to Sergeant Bluff, found the Des Moines Cycle Club site (we are members...) and set up camp. This was a great site, we were really close to showers, two spaghetti dinners, and Kybos with no lines.



Here's the route for today. Flat as could be, but with a wind from the north.