I went to school in Wellman, and Kalona. I was hoping that we would be stopping back in these towns. I couldn’t be happier with this leg!

Year 36 and new towns 2, 3 and 4 for the week on this day. Aspinwall, Wellman, Keota, Hills. Fills in a bit more of the map. Lets see if TJ can surprise me with something new on day 7.

I know these roads well. My only concern is HWY22. This road is busy all day, every day. Hopefully some of the traffic will find a different route on this day.

IA-22, is not much fun on any given day, but on ragbrai, i bet it will be fine. What year did Ragbrai last pass through Hills? Mid 90s???? I see we do not hit sand road until after Hills. That makes for a much hiller route, but it does let us grab a brew at The Old 218 Tap.

I imagine Kalona Brewing will be a popular stop. I know I plan on having a beer there.

My dream is complete…Riverside Iowa! The “future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk”. What a great bit of Americana.

Vehicle traffic is discouraged (tho, not banned) from using the Ragbrai route. Most drivers comply with the suggestion of using an alternate route when they realize using Ragbrai route will slow them down. Once in awhile some idiot motorist, thinking he’s doing us a favor, will come flying, opposite direction, at speed with his right wheels on the shoulder, slinging gravel at everybody and onto the roadway. Thankfully doesn’t happen very often.

Christopher Miller: “My dream is complete…Riverside Iowa! The “future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk”. What a great bit of Americana.”

COOL! Thanks for the heads up!

Sort of OT, but three or four years ago, I had to make an emergency trip to Oskaloosa because my mom was dying. I knew RAGBRAI was coming through on 92, but I thought by 6 o’clock it would have been past or mostly past on their way from Sigourney to Washington, riding Iowa Highway 92. However, it rained that day, and probably everyone was running late. Anyway, there was no good alternate route by the time I met RAGBRAI at intersection of the road that goes south out of Wellman and 92. There were probably 40 cars in a line driving about 30-35 going west. Some guy was driving down the middle of the road, toward us, on a bicycle trying to wave all the cars to the side of the road (we already were) and fingering us all. Don’t be that guy.
BTW, that first four or five miles out of Sigourney that we will ride on Friday are kind of steep as is most of the route from Deep River to Sigourney. That will be fun on Thursday, which seems to be will be the most mentally tough day.