RAGBRAI! RAGBRAI! RAGBRAI!
What the hell is RAGBRAI?
Is it the sound of the distant call for "Marley"? Is it the caw in the midnight bed of the Ole Miss? Is it thousands of cyclist peddling for dignity? or beer? or which ever comes first? I must add that in "Team Marley" beer definitely takes priority!!! And I love us for that!!
So for the UnRAGBRAIed folk in the world let me explain. RAGBRAI is the Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. Yes Iowa can be a blast, especially in the last week of July. This amazing phenomena has taken place for the past 33 years, and now consists of tens of thousands of cycling enthusiasts biking from the Missouri River to the Mississippi taking a different route through many a small town every year. I have to specify when I say "enthusiasts" I mean it, the cyclist are for the most part, self declared to teams which form for many a different reasons, with many a different names and uniforms which can resemble more costume than anything else. More details can be better explained at www.RAGBRAI.org
I was blessed with this knowledge by these three people. From left to right Bilthy, me (of course), Cassie, and Belvis "The King". These three people are regulars at my bar
"Radio Perfecto" where just a few times I heard Belvis mention "Team Marley" boy I had no idea what he was talking about. As July approached Belvis asked my fellow bartender Meghan if she wanted to go to Iowa with Bilthy and his sister. I don't think she fully understood why and she quickly disregarded it as drunk talk. A few weeks later I heard that one of our fellow drinkers Texas Jay was going to drive them. I heard this and knew right away, in the words of Tex, "That just ain't gonna happen. Sheeeit!" So a casual comment slipped out of my mouth, that started me on my road, "Well if he flakes I'll go!" Once again I had no clue what I was getting myself into. As I predicted Jay flaked a week before the estimated date of departure. So two days before they left I organized the schedule at work and delivered the news to the crew. "I am driving you all to Iowa!!" They were informed on Wednesday the 20th of July and there we were July 22nd riding in a van on our way!! I was greeted to the van with a semi cold Budweiser and three fabulous grins I would get to know so well over the week. I'd like to say the 22 hour car ride was uneventful but I don't think I can. It was brilliant. Between being briefed on what I had signed up for, was Bilthy's flexing of trivial knowledge, like state slogans (by the way Mississippi is "The Magnolia State"), and our random naming of each other. This is how "Ace" was born inside of me. 22 hours in a car is usually just cause for delirium and believe me we were sleepless with it.
We get there pretty much in solid form. Where we are greeted by "Team Marley", my new family. This is where I had my first encounter with "Uncle" Dave, Dave R., Danny, Ricky, Fiona, Tom, Randy, Denny, The Great Donny Lama, and Mark, among others. Greeted with yet another cold beer I realize that these people are definitely my long lost brothers and sisters, little did I know of RAGBRAI! We met these wonderful folk in Sioux City Iowa 15 miles from the RAGBRAI starting point of Le Mars. After hanging out for a few hours we were on our way. They jumped on there bikes and I found my first SAG. (A SAG is a biker who rides in the van instead of riding) Enter my semi habitual SAGer Randy. And then it begins!!! About a mile later we stopped at this Casey's, a convenient store chain I became quite familiar with throughout the week. The adventure was yet to begin.