#ragbrai2013

[teamcicada]

Kathy rode in her first competitive ride today

Kathy - RAGBRAI 2013

Anne and I (Lewis) are not especially driven by competition and even less so in cycling. We are in it for fun, relaxation, travel, and exercise. On the other hand Kathy knows how to enjoy the challenge of competition. She rode in her first competitive ride today -- the cycling leg of the half Ironman event that was held in Raleigh.

[teamcicada]

In consideration of friends down under

Regarding bathroom tissue, my wife and I are hard asses.

We buy economical Scott tissue in bulk from Costco. Each roll in the bulk pack is individually packaged in a somewhat protective paper wrapper. Recently when a roll is down to just the right amount of tissue, it is saved for later and wrapped with the cover from the next roll. I try to save enough tissue for two uses.

Voila... The Ragbrai Roll

I'm sorry mate

The first night of Ragbrai 2013 we camped near a facility that our well-spoken team driver described as equipped with a porcelain toilet. All good but the porcelain toilet proved popular. By the next morning it was out of bathroom tissue.

No problem. I stumbled back to camp and returned with the one partial roll of tissue that was packed for emergencies. I was fine but a young man from Australia was next in line - empty-handed. He arrived here expecting that our restrooms would be fully equipped throughout the ride.

Recognizing that I was carrying tissue away from the throne, he asked to acquire some. Here is the sad part of the story. I only had the one partial roll for the entire week, and so far 100% of toilets in overnight towns were understocked. Not to my credit, I hesitated for a moment before saying yes and offering him the roll. My new acquaintance felt awkward and tried to back out of the request. In end he took a completely insufficient amount of bathroom tissue and felt bad about asking. I felt bad that he did not take more tissue.

Take A Penny Leave A Penny

This year's plan is to pack multiple short rolls and carry one or two on the bike each day. If I need emergency bathroom tissue, somebody behind me needs it too. I intend to unwrap the short roll, use my portion and leave the rest for the next person.

This supply took 1 to 2 months to build up.

[teamcicada]

Detailed photos of making a Ragbrai Roll

Background story here.

[teamcicada]

Toenail maintenance - an early start

Ingrown toenails... yuck! Last year I trimmed my big toenails in close proximity to RAGBRAI and sure enough there were *problems*. Long hours on the bike aggravated an imperfect trim. My left toe (as though there is only one on each foot) was inflamed and barking loudly by the time we reached Knoxville on Wednesday afternoon. It hurt to walk. A trip to the local first aid tent resulted in an instantaneous diagnosis of "this nail has had problems before". The bottom line was that the problem existed before the ride started and there wasn't anything they could do to help. I hoped that they would give me a piece of wood to bite on and just dig the offending nail out, but I do not fault the volunteers for not doing so. The tissue was extremely tender. I probably could not have held still long enough for someone to attack the swollen toe with a sharp instrument. Nor was the tent equipped for much more than spraying bactine on a scrapped knee or wrapping a sprained ankle in an ace bandage. They offered that I could go to an emergency room somewhere, but I declined. The next day I bumped into the University of Iowa Mobile Emergency Treatment Center. It is stationed at each Meet-up Town.

The EMTs gathered around then offered another instantaneous diagnosis of "this nail has had problems before" and another refusal to do anything remotely resembling digging the offending bit of nail out of the inflamed tissue. Blessedly they put petroleum jelly and a bandage on the toe. It was fabulous. Don't ask me why but their bandage worked like magic. By the end of the day's ride it hurt less to walk. By the end of Ragbrai, it barely hurt at all. I guess the petroleum jelly did something to soften the tissue and the bandage provided a little extra padding. On Thursday evening the original bandage was lost while we played on the water slides Edmundsen Park in Oskaloosa. Playing in the pool added therapeutic benefit, I'm pretty sure. This year I got an early start with a preliminary trim last week and set a calendar event to trim my toenails a month before RAGBRAI starts.

[teamcicada]

A Tutu is an accepted fashion meme. They show up in towns and on the road.

[ashcreative-blog]

Grant and I making a #pie & #Gatorade stop on #Ragbrai2013!! #werideforpie #Iowa #cycling

[ashcreative-blog]

I apologize for the tilted video... It's my first go at #instagramvideo! Here's a little snippet of us walking our #bikes in a pass thru town!! :) #Ragbrai2013 #Iowa #teamblackandyellow #cycling

[nprontheroad]

Two weeks after RAGBRAI. Good to be back on the bike. But where are the hills?? Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C.