R18 Ride Out: Will I Stay or Will I Go Now?

Hello Beavers, and welcome to another Ragbrai Recap. The recap is going to be a bit more low-key this year, but I hope you will enjoy it. 

So, let's chat about the Ride Out. This year, I thought I was going to do the Ride Out. Pochy wanted to do it because it would be her first Ragby as a single lady, and she's never done it before, and she's a crazy bad-ass to boot. 

Okay. I could mentor a little beaver on her first RideOut, if I could talk Steven into joining us. What's a Ride Out without Steven? So, then, I cooked up in my head the Ultimate Woman Power Healing from Dude-Woes Ride Out Extravaganza. Pochy'd be newly out of a relationship. I'd be recovering from my break up, and Steven, well, being married ain't easy folks. 

Just three gals, right across the state of Iowa. What could go wrong? 

I'll tell you what: other humans. 

First, Steven started making some rumblings that the Mayor might want to come along. We remember my Ride Out with the Mayor from the previous year, yes? 

Second, Pochy's sister decided that she'd elope the night before the Roll Out, and she wanted Poch's to be the officiant. She was willing to do the RideOut, then get her mom to pick her up on Friday in Onawa, then drive her to the wedding at midnight, then she'd get up early to do the RollOut with the team.

With those two strikes, and the fact that I don't particularly love the RideOut, I was pretty much out. I barely want to do the Ride Out if conditions are perfect, let alone a struggle bus Ride Out like this one. So, I dipped. 

But not without a plan. 

Steven, as you know, loves a surprise, maybe more than anyone I know. So, if I wasn't going to the whole Ride Out, well, maybe I could do something. So Pochy and I cooked up a plan, and a big batch of Pudding Shots. Pochy would offer to ride out to Perry on the first day, Wednesday, with Steven and the Mayor, that way she'd get the times of departure. 

I would pack the pudding shots on ice on the Mother Trucker and ride out a bit earlier, then hide in the bushes and jump out when they passed me. 

The morning of, I got ready, iced everything down, and loaded the trucker on to the bike rack. I parked back in the neighborhoods on the other side of the highway from the trailhead, so they wouldn't spot my car. Genius. Then, I hit the trail. 

Good morning Waukee!

I wasn't sure how far to stop, but I didn't want to go as far as Dallas Center. The problem was there were no good places to stop. The trail was either too devoid of bushes and trees to hide behind, or the shoulder was too narrow, or it was just rocks. So I kept riding, finally, on the outskirts of DC, I found a little rugged turn off and pulled in. I tucked the MoTro into the grasses and then laid down with my coffee and my water to relax and enjoy the early morning. 

Majestic AF

A couple people rode by, not the Beavers, and then some ladies walked by and gave me a suspicous look, but no one bothered me and I kept my ears open for the sound of beavers. Before long, I heard their chitter chatter. 

"Good morning Beavers," I like to think that I yelled, and Pochy said something like, "Hark, what is this in the bushes?" 

Found em: And Hunky Taylor was there! 

That Pudding Selfie

They pulled over post-haste and we all had a hearty laugh as I distributed the pudding shots. After we enjoyed a 7:15 breakfast of boozey pudding shots, we hopped on our bikes and rode into Dallas Center. I got to ride with Steven, which is always fun.

Secrets....

We tried to stop at the very fun bar in Minburn, but they weren't open yet. So we finished the shots, dumped the trash and headed on to Perry. In Perry, we made a stop at the bike shop, and then had breakfast at the Hotel Pattee. We ran into a group that was doing the ride out from Iowa City. They were drinking, so we liked them.

Onward

After breakfast, the Mayor, Steven, and Pochy saddled up to ride on. Pochy was going to ride more miles with them, but I didn't want the day to turn into a total drunken waste, so I turned around and headed back towards Des Moines. 

I stopped in Dallas Center and had a beer, and watched massive pack of tiny teenage roadies zoom by and then stop for ice cream. Before long, I was loading the trucker back onto my car, and headed back towards Des Moines. Mini-Ride Out complete. 

Pochy, and also Steven and the Mayor, have their own stories of this day, but you'll have to bug them for those.