I’m not doing Ragbrai this year. Now that the weather is finally perfect here in the PNW for cycling, it’s really hitting me hard. I’m going to miss everything about it, including the frantic need to train. Because of my demanding publishing schedule this spring, it’s for the best I’m not going anyway, because I just don’t have time to ride my bike for 2-5 hours on any given day. I will continue to not have time for that until next December.
I’m feeling another Top Ten list coming on. It’s like a recurring rash.
Top Ten Things I’ll Miss About Ragbrai This Year
- Disassembling my bike and wedging it into its box.
- So much corn. Everywhere and in everything, prepared every way imaginable.
- So much bacon. Everywhere and in everything, prepared every way imaginable.
- Pitching my tent in 50mph winds.
- Riding my bike against the wind. In sleet. In July.
- Riding my bike in 105 degree heat. Plus humidity. The next day.
- The pure joy of discovering a genuine toilet during a week where kybos (porta-potties) are the norm.
- Holding my tent up through a midnight thunderstorm, complete with a tornado warning.
- The random coincidence of chatting with someone I have an unexpected connection to after meeting by virtue of riding at the same pace for a minute or so.
- Packing up my bike, saying goodbye, and getting that first good night’s sleep after the madness.
Hopefully, I’ll see you in 2017, Ragbrai. Until then, I may mysteriously pop up in Iowa around that time on my way to points farther east as I tour the midwest, doing conventions. Here’s also hoping I can still lose some of my hibernation weight despite not cycling much this spring.