I wrote Bill a personal message explaining why we didn't make it to the Emerson Fire House for lunch on Sunday. Our team leader banged on our tent at 5:45 AM. After showering, packing up and getting the kids on the tandems, we were underway at 7:42 AM. To make a long story short which involved a chain coming off everytime my wife went from middle ring to granny ring on those hills, we waited in line for about 45 minutes at one of those roadside repair stands (next to Mama Raphael's breakfast burritos). Got the front derailleur somewhat adjusted for $8 and were underway again. With all the stops, fueling of the kids, butt breaks, hills, getting the stamps at the post offices for the passport and reality of our slow pace, we pulled into Emerson just before 2 PM. Nobody was around at that point, but we did enjoy getting hosed off on the corner by the fire station in the heat. Dang, I even had an orange shirt on (which I think was the color of choice for the online crowd to wear that day to the fire station).

The rest of the week was filled with long days of riding for us on our mountain bike tandems. Usually from about 8 AM to 6, 7 or even 8 PM. The last day had us arriving to dip our front wheels in the Mississippi at about 2 PM. Slow we were, but we made it and enjoyed the week.

I went for my first ride today (one week post RAGBRAI) on a single bike. Amazing how fast I could go and how good it felt following a week of spinning those tandem pedals and toting a kid across the state. My kids won't be old enough to pedal RAGBRAI on their own for a few more years, so my wife and I are stuck with the slow pace and hard work of doing most of the pedal work.

BB