R15 31 Into the Deep and a Fall 1

Day 2 

In the morning, we began our first camp break down: shuffling in and out of the bathroom, packing bags, filling jerseys, trying to cram rain jackets into jersey pockets.

And, of course, in the pre-dawn dim, I saw that my pack towel, brand new, had been blown into the pit where I had hung it to dry the night before. So, in a moment of massive stupidity, not telling anyone where I was going, I climbed over the raining and began the slowly, creeping down the ladder into the pit. There was all manner of debris down there and I didn't want to get too close of a look. I had a quick consideration of rats (eep!) so I snatched the towel, slung it over my shoulders, and began the climb back out. The tricky part was getting through the bars at the top without losing my grip and falling into the pit. Thankfully, panting and shaking, I managed to extricate myself from the bars. 

Whew. 

People in bike clothes climbing into building mechanical pits. 

Then, finally, we were off, riding out of Storm Lake under a gloomy sky. 

It was a lovely ride into Newell. Cloudy and cool with long, flat stretches, and lots of peaceful riding. The grayness was keeping ragby rather subdued. And it didn't seem long before we were riding into Powell under even grayer skies. 

Sometimes when beavers are in love...

I look like I just evacuated an nuclear disaster

We met just before the big turn into town, and stood around as the beavers gathered. Steven and I took some funny pictures and then kind of hung around on the side of the road in a beaver-daze. 

So nice to find a real bathroom

While we were waiting a couple on a tandem pulled up about 15 feet from us, in the muddy gravel on the side of the road, and then, without warning, the bike toppled over. The wife, in the stoker position, was dumped fully and completely into that brown-gray puddle water. Her husband leaped into action, pulling the massive bike off of her, helping her untangle her legs from the steal, and getting herself into an upright position. 

Tandem problems.

She turned to us and said, "I need a towel and a new husband." 

This is why ragbrai breaks up marriages.

Zing!