RAGBRAI XLVII: Day 3, Tuesday, July 23, 2019

After a relaxing nine hours of sleep in my own bed, Tuesday was scheduled to be 39 miles from Winterset to Indianola with the route skirting the southern exurbs/suburbs of the Des Moines area. Most RAGBRAI days have between 15,000-20,000 riders. Because of the short ride and proximity to Des Moines, estimates were for somewhere between 30,000-50,000 riders. I have no idea how many there were except that for the twenty-two miles from Winterset to Cumming were as full of riders as I can remember.  For the ride today, we were joined by Christina, Lindsay's friend and colleague.

Me, Dad, Dick, Christina, and Lindsay.

The most common ride I do in the Des Moines area is from the house to the town of Cumming (population 411). It's home to one of the more well-known bars in the area, the Cumming Tap.  Even though Cumming is very near Des Moines, the Tap is still very much a small town bar, but during the summer it's filled with bicyclists from Des Moines.  Sometimes the service at the Cumming Tap moves with a small town pace, which left Garv and I wondering whether or not they would be prepared.  The Cumming Tap was prepared.  I didn't get a picture or video of it, but they had a beer tent set up and were selling dozens or scores of cans every minute.  I probably spent two hours in Cumming and had a great time!

I'm very proud of the photo below, taken from the patio of the Cumming Tap,  because it captures four of the major aspects of RAGBRAI.

1. Lines.  There are lots of lines on RAGBRAI.  For the bathroom, food, beer, even showers.
2. A gator.  An observation original to me is that one of the reasons that RAGBRAI is so popular is not only the spectacle that it brings to small towns, but also that it provides an opportunity for people to drive their gators, four wheelers, and golf carts all over town because normal ordinances are not in effect when RAGBRAI rolls through.
3. Spot-a-pots.  Corn fields are far superior and never have a line.
4. Beer.  That semi trailer behind the spot-a-pots was refrigerated and full of beer (mostly Busch Light) and whatever those White Claw things are.

I ran into Mr. Brad Poock, a fellow Social Studies Teacher at Centennial in Cumming.

Lindsay and Christina in Cumming.

Dad and I wearing old and new iterations of the University of Okoboji jersey in Cumming.

Beer of the Day
The beer of the day could be nothing other than Busch Light.  I hadn't wanted to have the same beer of the day during the week, but they had a truckload of it. Plus, this is Iowa and or whatever reason, Iowans love Busch Light.  It's not my beer of choice, but when in Rome...

Pie of the Day
Since I had the same kind of beer as I had on Sunday, I figured I'd double up on Apple Pie, though this one was from the Amish Pie Stand.

I wish I had more to report, but from Cumming to Indianola actually thinned out a little and since it was only 17 miles, there isn't anything else left to report.

Enjoying our Amish pie and ice cream