Wednesday, August 4, 2010

RAGBRAI 2010 - Day 7: Manchester to Dubuque

First, let me apologize for the tardiness of this post!  I guess life got in the way upon my return...

Our trip from Manchester to Dubuque was short; less than 50 miles.  We rode into Dubuque around 9:45AM and rode for about 10 miles through town.  What a picturesque town with beautiful old buildings, winding streets and hills.  Justin and I rode together for the whole route (much to Justin's chagrin, I'm sure) so we would not waste any time dipping our front wheels in the Mississippi River and getting out of town.

My folks were there waiting to take snap shots as we rode to the river and dipped.  It was by far the shortest and fastest dipping line I've seen in my 4 complete RAGBRAI rides.  Way to go Dubuque!  We dipped and posed, then dad and I loaded up the bikes while Justin and mom went t-shirt shopping.  We found our luggage at The ShuttleGuy drop point and just like that, we were done with our 7 day adventure and thrust back into our 'normal' lives.  I believe that is the hardest thing about RAGBRAI.  One minute you're wearing spandex head to toe without a care in the world, oblivious to any news of the day, and the next minute you're back in the real world.  It feels like there should be a debriefing session to help make the transition.

Due to our expeditious dipping, I was back in Vermillion around 5:30.  Already I am looking forward to RAGBRAI 2011.  The route should be in central Iowa.  My wife has the time off on her calendar, which is great!  This is the first time I've ridden a complete RAGBRAI without Trish along and I really noticed her absence.  I'm looking forward to the anticipation of registration, route announcements, overnight community announcements, pass through town announcements and receiving our rider information packets.  Even though I just completed the ride, I cannot wait until the next one.

RAGBRAI gets in your blood.  It isn't for everybody, but once you find out it is for you, it is hard to imagine a season of riding without including the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, the WORLD'S oldest, largest, longest organized bike ride.

Don't be surprised if I try to recruit you for next year's ride   :-)

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