Lance's final thoughts

Thanks to all of you that have followed our trip across Iowa. I would like to thank Stuart Rosenberg who has been filling in the blanks. Larry has sent the pictures with a short note and Stuart has done the rest. I had planned to do the writing, however, after a day of riding, it was all I could do to crawl to my sleeping bag, take a nap, get up to hose myself down, eat dinner then go to bed. The first 4 days, I was a wreck, and I think Larry captured that very well. I do have to thank Larry for making this whole thing happen. If it hadn't been for his planning, training, and love of pain, ( mine) I would have never made it.

I should also add that Larry was gracious in sharing all of his growing up experiences as well as all of his family. We had dinners to celebrate both my Birth Day and his mothers 94th B.D. On our last day, we had a typical Midwest Sunday dinner at one of his cousins farm. The Californians were treated to a tour of the farm, a class on corn and soy beans, and an extended explanation of how all of the equipment worked. Fortunately, there was no quiz.

As far as the ride went, I am glad I did it, and glad to get a chance to see Iowa up close. We have a GREAT country, and Middle America is one of the reasons. The people are friendly, helpful, and industrious. I became so attached to the Iowans , that I promised that when I become King of America, I will share a new plant with them called a tree. I will be sure that they are planted every 100 feet along every country road in the state, and in a few years they will produce a novel thing that is called "shade". In other parts of the country, this helps mitigate the heat.

I was also both humbled and impressed with the hills of Iowa. They stack them one on top of the other so when you reach the top, you roll down a short distance, then start up again. ( No, you never come all the way down). The roads go straight up with little break. I suggested a "switch back " to ease the steepness of the climb. No one had heard of this word, so I had to explain it. In the end, they decided they like their roads just the way they are. I guess I will leave that one alone. The food offered along our ride was local and really very good. As soon as I could actually hold anything down, I tried everything I could. Pork on a stick at 8 A.M. sounds a little weird, but it was actually Good. Pies of every kind, homemade ice cream, breakfast burritos, Turkey legs, and Bratwurst were all offered all day long, and there was usually a band there to help you wolf this stuff down. B.T.W. , these bands in every town were really GOOD!!

Finally, as we road into each town the people would welcome us with a friendly wave and a hello, and I was proud to yell back " And hello from California " As you may have noticed, I wore my Calif. shirt every day. ( yes, I did wash it) We got lots of comments, and people were surprised that we came all the way from Calif. to ride in the RAGBRAI. I explained that we had only gone out to get a paper and took a wrong turn, but were glad to be there. Now that I am home, I have time to savor the memories, and they are many. I have never been more proud of our country and the people that make it great. Thanks for following along and if you are interested in a red bike, let me know.

Steve