RAGBRAI XXXIX

I've been holding something back for a handful of months now that I have been super excited about!  I was nervous to blog about it because, although I was fully committed in spirit, I wasn't too sure how committed I would be to the training and I didn't want to look like a complete fool announcing something that I was too lazy to carry into fruition.  But now, since I already have my bike and am maybe shins (not quite knee) deep in training, I can start shouting out loud that I'm doing RAGBRAI in July! Yay! Seriously, I'm obsessively excited and regularly have to stifle yelps of glee when I think about it!

You are probably thinking, 'What the hell is Ragbrai?'  Technically, it stands for Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.  It's annual seven-day bike ride across the state of Iowa beginning on the western edge of the state where riders dip their back tire in the Missouri river, and finish a week later by dipping their front tire in the Mississippi river.  I'm nuts, right?!  We camp at night in eight different overnight towns.  It's kind of like a mini-olympics or something where each city bids to get an overnight stop along the route and there are usually concerts or beer gardens set up for the riders to enjoy at night.  The route is 454 miles long this year.

I'll be participating with the Pedaling for Parkinsons cycling group with one of my old bffers from highschool.  It's her third year riding so at least one of us will know what we are doing.  I couldn't be more hyped up about the challenge of the thing!  It's going to be a beast!

Halfway through my first 30 mile bike ride.