RAGBRAI LII July 19 - 26, 2025

It's hot out there, and it's going to stay that way.

  • 26 July, 2011
  • RAGBRAI

PATON – Despite this small Iowa town’s fun facts, RAGBRAI riders seemed to have one thought in mind during their stop – shade.

Paton is home to astronaut Loren Shriver, who is on the ride this year. This quaint spot is also the hometown of fictional character Pvt. James Francis Ryan from the 1998 Academy Award winning film Saving Private Ryan.

These tidbits, among more, flashed across the city’s welcome sign. A cut out of Shriver, orange suit and helmet in tow, even waited for riders for a fun photo opportunity, but the only facts the cyclists seemed interested in was the weather and they were in desperate need of a break.

Riders, with their bikes, gathered under shady trees and along buildings for a refreshing break from the hot sun.  Austin Brooker was just one of many fortunate cyclists to find a cool spot.

“You come to a town like this to people watch, sit in the shade and fill up your water,” the 19-year-old, Waukee resident said. “When you’re on the ride you look forward to seeing that next water tower.”

Brooker along with several friends said it’s really important to stop and get out of the sun, especially when temperatures are “pretty hot” like they were today.

“You don’t have fun if you don’t stop. Then this (RAGBRAI) just turns into a workout and that is not what you want,” Brooker said, laughing.

Hot, flushed and sweaty the group of young men said they stopped at least 10 minutes in every town just to cool down and drink some water.

Andy Bernholtz, 23, of Carroll said the truck load that takes cyclists who bail out early for the day was full by 9:30 a.m., to drop riders off in Boone, Tuesday’s overnight town.

“Iowa’s humidity is just too much to bear for some people,” he said.

Indeed it is. One rider passed out and fell off his bike two miles north of Boone. He was taken by air amublance to a Des Moines hospital for head and leg injuries.

But luckily for these boys, they’ve had multiple places to cool off. Just before rolling into Paton, Nate Drees, 19, said the group discovered a rope swing they could hoist onto and then swing into a farmstead’s pond then splash around for a quick cool-off.

Drees said he and his friends among many other RAGBRAI cyclists stopped in for a swing and splash.

“It felt good,” he said, smiling.

Wednesday’s ride won’t come with much relief, temperature wise. Tomorrow,  riders will see mostly cloudy skies, a chance for some isolated storms with highs reaching the mid 90s.  Lucky for them, the path toward Altoona is pretty flat and a bit shorter totalling out at 56 miles with less than 1,500 feet of elevation.

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