R15 17 "We Really Should Get Some Miles In"

Sioux City to Leeds

Finally, and with much fanfare and waving, we were off, winding our way through the leafy streets of Sioux City, until, without too much trouble, we found ragby!

Oh, the memories! I had ridden this route out of town my very first ragby, so many years ago. Soon, we were turning and chuffing up a long, low hill, the first of many for the day. I remembered that hill from my first ragby. I had been so daunted back then. 

I wasn't daunted today. And, the climbing didn't feel too bad. I wasn't making any landspeed records, but I was passing some people, and finding that happy climbing place. 

We all knew that the first town was just four miles from the start of the route. Barely 2 miles for us. And, I remember Steven saying something surprising to me as we rolled out, "maybe we should get the first thirty miles in before we start drinking..."

Seemed reasonable, I thought. In the olden days, we didn't start drinking until the halfway point of the day, and with recent years's mishaps and drama, it seemed a good way to start the first day, with some actual bike riding...so you can imagine my surprise when Steven pulled a hard right off the road right in front of the bar in Leeds. 

We needed a break.

The first stop of what would be a very long day. 

7am

The locals were happy to see us. They didn't anticipate a group of riders stopping for Coors Lights and breakfast pizza at 7am just four miles into the route. We passed out stickers, scarfed down food, and generally made mischief. 

Cheers!

I believe this bar was where we had our first on-route power pose. The power pose has a long and slightly boring history, which I will regal with now, because you insist on reading this stupid fucking blog and I am trying to break you of that habit. A friend of mine has some friends, the Olzen boys. The Olzen boys are four sons, all with J-names, Polish brothers from the suburbs of Chicago-hard partying, Old Style drinking, trolling and rolling, dudes, by all accounts. (I had only met one Olzen at the time of this ride). 

The Olzen boys had 2 traditions which I co-opted, because I knew they would be perfect for Team Beaver. The first is the Power Pose, in which one person gets down on one knee in a lunge position, puts a hand behind the head, and swiftly finishes the beer in his or her hand, before spiking it down on the ground. 

Power Posing would grow and evolve over the week, as you will see in the subsequent posts of this blog, but I believe this was the first ever. And the PP would evolve into being a signal of one of two things. Either the poser needed another beer, or it was time for a beaver leaver. 

In this case, the leaver was in order. We still had 74 miles ahead...