RAGBRAI XLVII: Day 7, Saturday, July 27, 2019

The last day! RAGBRAI usually travels from west to east and ends at the Mississippi River. This day was different in that there was a good chunk in which we pedaled west.  And of course there was a pretty strong wind out of the southwest so most of the 62 or so miles was into a headwind and proved to be the toughest day of riding.

Since this was the first time I've done a Day 7, I learned an important lesson.  First, most riders leave very early.  We departed at our usual 8:30 or 9:00 and usually that's about the peak of riders.  On this day, however, we were amongst the last riders since most groups get up extra early so that they can finish up earlier.  So if I ever do a Day 7 again, I'll be sure that we leave at 7:30....
I'll finish this blog with some highlights of the day.

Kevin, Susan, Lindsay, Jessica, Bryan, Me, Dad, Dick, and Brenden

Highlight #1: Mr. Pork Chop
In the picture below, I'm holding a pork chop that I bought at the Mr. Pork Chop stand.  Mr. Pork Chop is the most famous vendor on RAGBRAI, having sold pork chops since the 1980s.  The original Mr. Pork Chop, Paul Bernhard of Bancroft, died in 2016 and his son took it over. Usually there are massively long lines, but one of the benefits of a late start was that there were no lines at all.

I'm really not sure why I didn't get my picture taken with the iconic pink Mr. Pork Chop bus in the background...

Here's a random picture of the bus that I found on the internet.

Highlight #2: Joan's House
Jessica's grandmother, Joan, lived right on the route and her house was right on the Mississippi River, just outside of Montrose.  More importantly, she made pies!

Bryan and I on Joan's dock

Brenden, Bryan, and I standing knee deep in the Mississippi River.

Using the dock to help me trudge through the mud.

Still trudging through the mud.

After I got hosed off, it was time for the pie of the day...Joan's homemade blueberry!

Delicious!

Highlight #3: River Road

Most of RAGBRAI is fields and small towns, but occasionally there are some parts of the ride that don't look very much like Iowa.  The ride along River Road was very cool with lots of tree canopy and the river to the left (though I didn't get a good pic of it while riding.)  River Road was also very hilly, adding one last challenge to the day.

Where are the corn fields?  Also don't ride and take pics!

One last group picture in Rand Park, on the outskirts of Keokuk, after conquering River Road.  The locals said it was all down hill from here...and it was!

Highlight #4: Keokuk's monuments
The first monument is dedicated to the town's namesake, Chief Keokuk, a Sauk chief who lived in the early 1800s and was generally conciliatory toward the United States, as opposed to fellow Sauk chief, Black Hawk.  There's a reason there was a Black Hawk war and not a Keokuk War. Chief Keokuk never lived in Keokuk, but Iowa place names often aren't named for Indians from that particular area, such as Cherokee or Pocahontas.

At the base of the Chief Keokuk monument, shortly before finishing the ride.

The second monument was dedicated to Major General Samuel Curtis. He moved to Keokuk in the 1850s and was elected mayor, became Iowa's first Republican member of Congress elected in 1856 (the Republican party began in 1854), and became a major general for the Union army known for his victories at Pea Ridge, Arkansas in 1862 and the Battle of Westport (in what is now Kansas City) in 1864.

This monument was particularly important to me because I wrote a few pages about it in my article published in the Annals of Iowa called "Memorializing Soldiers or Celebrating Westward Expansion: Civil War Commemmoration in Keokuk and Sioux City, 1868-1938."  To read the bit about General Curtis, see pp. 312-313.

General Curtis astride his horse and I astride my bicycle, shortly after finishing the ride.

Highlight #5: The Tire Dip!
To quote myself from an Instagram post: "We did it, Sis!" Officially it was 427 miles across the state, but my bike had 460 miles. It was immense feeling of satisfaction!

Doing the traditional tire dip to officially wrap up RAGBRAI!

Highlight #6: Fish Fry at Kent and Jean Dobson's (Jessica's Parents)

We had spent the previous night at the Dobson's where they grilled up burgers and had a huge spread for our group, another RAGBRAI group, and their relatives.  It was some great hospitality!

The final night the menu was a fish fry and I more than indulged myself (as usual).  I love fish fries! And without having to pedal the next day, I wasn't concerned with consuming massive amounts of fried food.

Thanks Kent and Jean for hosting!

Kent, I'll eat it as long as you keep frying it!

Highlight #7: Beer of the Day: Miller Lite
What a great way to wrap up RAGBRAI with a cold (or perhaps warm--that's the beauty of Miller Lite, it tastes good warm as well) Miller Lite.  Then amazingly, Mom, Dad, Lindsay, I packed up in the pickup, departed Keokuk at 8 PM and crisscrossed the state arriving in Okoboji at about 2 AM.

Highlight #8: Riding an Entire RAGBRAI
It's pretty awesome to know that I rode an entire RAGBRAI, sitting on a bicycle for 7 or 8 hours a day for an entire week.  Even as we drove from Keokuk to Okoboji, I knew that I wanted to do more RAGBRAIs.  That flame was diminished in October with the split between two rides, and I don't know what my (or RAGBRAI's) status will be for 2020.  

One reason I want to do another RAGBRAI is that I realized in doing this blog and looking at pictures that my goal was for this RAGBRAI was to complete the ride so I didn't spend as much time in some the towns as I normally would have.  One of the things that makes RAGBRAI unique is all that it going on in the small towns.  I didn't do too much of that because I was much more focused on riding.  When I do a RAGBRAI again, I want to capture more of what make RAGBRAI what it is.