RAGBRAI 39 - Day 1 (Glenwood to Atlantic)

Slept great last night....except that I woke up at 3:45AM because somebody next to me was packing up their tent already.  Most "normal" people wait until at least 5AM.  :)

I was reminded this morning about one of the reasons why I like RAGBRAI....there's something really beautiful about Iowa...strange though that may seem.  No majestic mountains, or a great ocean view, but it has a beauty all it's own.  Could be the occasional whiff of manure reminds me of home in Illinois too.  :)

Seemed to me today that people were starting out in a hurry.  Or maybe I'm just slower than I used to be.  It wasn't a very long day today....I clocked 60 miles on the odometer...but it was hilly.  We had almost 4300 feet of climb today, so it was one long hill after another.  Up one side real slow, down the other side real fast, and repeat about 60 times.

When we got to Atlantic and thought it was finally over....the OOS campsite was up the at the top of the steepest hill in town.  The OOS workers put signs up that lead the riders in to the campsite at each town, and at every turn I'm thinking....must be close, must be close...and then I look up and there's this huge hill coming up and now I'm thinking...please be before the hill, please be before the hill.  Every rider in my group who talked about it said the same thing.  It was like the proverbial straw...the ultimate irony...OF COURSE our campsite has to be up at the top of that hill.  Where else would it be.

I got in to Atlantic about 2ish and was surprised to see that I was earlier than most.  In fact, there were still people straggling in at 8PM.  I think the humidity got to a lot of people.  There are quite a few in the group from places that really don't have to deal with it like we mid-westerners do.  California, New Mexico and Arizona.  There were a lot of complaints about the heat.  It was definitely hot, but I didn't think it was terrible.  Not as bad as last week when I was riding in Missouri.  Could be because it's been so stinkin' hot in Illinois this summer that I'm accustomed to it.

I forgot my camera again....duh.  But I did have the phone and took some photos with that.  Some of them turned out pretty decent.  I'll post the link to them at the bottom and promise to have the real camera with me tomorrow.

Here's a few photos...
https://picasaweb.google.com/techminer/RAGBRAI39

Here's the route info...
http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/42946928

Well....short post because I want to get some sleep.  My legs are wore out from today, and tomorrow is supposed to be more hilly.  After Carroll (tomorrow) we get to the pancake part of Iowa....and I'll probably miss having a couple hills to break the monotony.

Matt