RAGBRAI is full of minutiae. I’ve forgotten so much already; and I wish I’d had time to take more notes. And more photos. Unfortunately I always had to get moving; and often didn’t have my camera with me. In towns, I’d leave it in the “burrito bag” on my handlebars, because I needed both hands for eating.

I ought to mention the Mile of Silence on the first day of RAGBRAI, when riders pedal in silence to remember cyclists killed on the road during the past year. There was a sign for each person to be remembered. I don’t know how many signs there were; but one was, tragically, for an eight-year old boy.

More and more minutiae keep coming back; but I often don’t remember when they happened. Which day was it that I got the spoke bracelet? Day One? And which town was that?  When did I get the Classic Cheddar and Bacon sandwich? The Classic has four slices of bacon; and there was also the Baconator, with eight slices of bacon!

Which town was it where I saw the Amish horse and buggy? Day Six, I think it was. Incidentally, by that time in RAGBRAI I was getting very tired.

On the first day, we had to go over a set of railroad tacks. A sign warned, “rough tracks”
; but I rolled over them and thought, “You call that rough?”

Doing RAGBRAI  was a chance to be out in Nature, too!