RAGBRAI Day 3 - Winterset to Indianola

It was a super easy day. Only 40 miles. Max and I blasted it out and were into Indianola by 11:00, ahead of the crowds. So we had lunch at a sit-down restaurant in the center of town. Wynn's Steak and Pizza. That's not two things you usually put together in a restaurant, but it worked and it was delicious. We went for the steak side of the menu.

RAGBRAI riders, here in the middle of flyover America, have a special sense of fashion. I think this guy here wins the RAGBRAI fashion award for the day.

Full kit from a couple years ago - check.
Mardi Gras beads - check.
Bike socks that look like corn - check.

While we were waiting at the light he scooted up to the Primal Wear truck next to us and was hitting on the woman in the passenger seat because he knew she would be impressed with his socks that look like corn.











I know how to dress fashionably.

You want your beer to match your bike jersey.

There were a lot of cornfields today. Here is our break at Medicine Man for Max's pickle and my free pickle juice shot.

We are camped at what has to be one of the most beautiful camp sites ever in RAGBRAI. It's an arboretum with many flower beds.

Since we were in so early we spent the afternoon at the municipal swimming pool. Every town in Iowa has a nice pool.

Our campsite was so lovely neither Max nor I had any ambition to go anywhere. So we hung out and read books. The entertainment for the evening was hot air balloons floating overhead.

My friend Jim arrived, he was tied up in Baltimore for a couple days. We went out to dinner at another sit-down restaurant, which was a mile in the other direction from the town center, and was off the radar for RAGBRAI. Electrolytes were replenished.

I also had my first sighting of a presidential campaign.

Mayor Pete had a stand set up and he was giving away free bottles of water. That lady with the Clean Energy Now sign was crashing their party I think. I declined the free bottle of water. I told them in past RAGBRAI's in campaign years, the candidates gave away bottles of water with their names and pictures on them, which make nice souvenirs. A regular old bottle of water from Hyvee just isn't special.

Then the Clean Energy Now lady jumps into the discussion and starts to talk about global warming and hands me a piece of paper with 10 THINGS I CAN DO NOW.  Thing number one is stop eating tasty delicious steaks like the one I just had for dinner. (She knew better than to say no pork chops in Iowa I bet.) I told her she made me feel bad. Farther down the list was no plastic water bottles. I pointed this out to the Buttigieg team, and then they felt bad.

Her list did have ride your bike instead of driving on it, which is something we can all agree on.

Here is the Strava track for the day.