THANK YOU ALL....

It is a hot and humid evening in Davenport and we are just sitting in a dirt lot waiting for sundown so we can go to sleep after a long day / week. RAGBRAI was definitely fun and we fully realize that we just luckily ended up with just about the best weather someone could hope for in Iowa in the month of July. We had about 10 – 15 miles of rain yesterday and about 10 miles of heat today at the end of the ride but other than that we had nice overcast mornings and pretty blue skies in the afternoons with temperatures barely in the mid-80’s. All in all it was a great ride and I enjoyed practically every mile of it…yes, there were some hills that were not my friend, but the downhills that followed gave a chance to recover, if not just slightly.

DAY SEVEN

This morning at 6:00AM we left from a suburb of Iowa City and took a quick trip through the University of Iowa campus. Who knew that “America Needs Farmers U” was in the middle of a large city? (And I added another football stadium to the list of stadiums that are located in an area that is not nearly as pretty as Clemson’s). We then headed out into the countryside and passed thru several towns on the way to Davenport, which is this years ending city. The highlight was seeing the kids set up as a human foosball table in one town and picking up my “#EarnedIt” t-shirt from the BackPocket Brewing company. Once we arrived in Davenport we dipped our tires in the Mississippi at about 11:30 and then headed back to the RV to begin packing to head home. We enjoyed a great dinner of bigass hamburgers and wandered through the street fair before turning in for the evening to end our week of RAGBRAI.

THANKS

It has been a long journey to get here…starting with listening to a guy talk about his cross-country trip on his bike to sitting here watching the sunset over the Iowa skyline and it is one that I have enjoyed. Lots of people have played a role in getting me here and I would like to take a minute to acknowledge and thank them. First and foremost I would like to thank Wendy for being such a great supporter of this effort. Up until last week I had ridden about 2,000 miles on my new bike and several hundred on my old one and she was with me for nearly every one of those miles. She was the first person to take me out on ‘long’ rides (about 10 miles) and took it upon herself to harass, encourage, harangue and otherwise ‘make’ me ride when I could not even ride those first 10 miles. She was with me for my first organized ride, my first 62 mile ride and my first 100 mile ride. She created the ride schedule for this spring and summer and made me stick to my own training schedule once I committed to it. During the ride this week she sent me encouraging texts almost every day at the times when I needed them most and they were a big help. She does not like it when I call her “coach” but she is as good a coach as I have ever had coach me.  Thank you Wendy.

My friend Scott played his usual role of supporter and encourager during this process too. He has been riding for quite a few years and was excited to hear that I had started last year. When I brought up the idea of riding in RAGBRAI this year he did not hesitate to agree to come with me and he did a great job of making sure I was riding enough so that I would succeed and also putting together the group of people that we traveled with to Iowa. Thank you Scott (and Angela).

The women (and men) of the “Monday Night Ladies Ride” were gracious enough to let me ride with them every Monday since last summer. Having a group of people to help and encourage me has been a big benefit and made a great impact on my ability to ride in a group. Thanks “Ladies”.

ECVelo Monday Night "Ladies Ride"

My friend Sam has encouraged me to “get back on your bike” for years and I am glad he never gave up on that encouragement. He was the chief advisor on my bike selection and has been my ‘go to guy’ for advice on bike issues. Along with Sam, my cousin Mark, my friends Steve and Mitch have always been great friends and they were huge supporters of me in this effort and great training partners as were all of my “Clemson Friends”. Thanks Guys.

My “Greenville Friends” Rob & Anne along with the rest of the “NoTen” crowd were great supporters and encouragers and provided training help and Iowa knowledge whenever it was needed. Thanks Pirates.

I truly missed my old friends and bike riders Bob and Scott on this ride along with “Iowa Brad”. I tried to get them to ride with us for various reasons but they all had to miss out on the fun. Maybe one day we can ride together somewhere. I hope to see you all on the road soon.

Scores of others have encouraged and helped me along the way. There have been great supporters through the marvels of FaceBook and other social media and “my masseuses ” Anna and Dora have done a great job keeping me in shape and helping me understand any aches and pains that I have had. Thanks to you ALL.
I am sure I left out and/or overlooked several people in this list and I am sorry if I did. But please know that I appreciate every kind word of encouragement and advice along the way and hope that I can somehow repay you all in the future. 

 SIGNING OFF

SO, that’s about it for this adventure and this blog…. I have enjoyed writing it and sharing the story with you over the last several months and I hope that you all enjoyed reading it and joining in the adventure. Thanks to all of you! ! ! Now, as Queen once said: “Get on your bike and ride.”