"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 week, 6 days ago
Why does a remark like that automatically make me think of Wednesday Addams’ reply to the little girl in the first ‘Addams Family’ movie — “Are they made from real girl scouts?”
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Rethink Opportunity on RAGBRAI 48 Symbol for 2021? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 2 weeks, 2 days ago
Considering that we ride from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River, I think a better song choice might have been the Jerry Reed song, “Eastbound and Down” (from the original ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ movie).
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic First RAGBRAI Memories in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month ago
Kelly PM said, “For the duration of the dinner, I left the forlorn Shen Ling on the sidewalk leaning against the restaurant with the chain dragging the ground. I didn’t know how I would get it road worthy for the last day’s ride. Best guess was find a chain breaker and shorten the chain to make a single speed out of it. No matter. It was sto…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Crystal Ball in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Sorry to hear about your dad, Larry, and the best of luck to your daughter. At least (hopefully) she has some of the benefits of youth and resilience working in her favor.
And take care of yourself, too.
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Crystal Ball in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Contraction and transmission rate is spiky, while death rates of those contracting the virus continue to fall sharply. More people are getting this, but fewer are dying from it.
JBoz, I wish I could believe that. However, when you get news like I got yesterday, you realize that if only
person dies and that one person is/was significant to…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Why are fixed-drive bicycles so expensive these days?
Because there’s no freewheel.
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Why should you never ride directly behind a car?
You’ll get exhausted.
Why should you never ride directly in front of a car?
You might get tired.
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 2 months ago
It’s not a bicycle joke, but the reference to the boombox reminded me of the joke that contained the best puns (or the worst, depending on how you feel about them) ever found in a joke.
A man and his wife lived in a condo along the Florida coast. Every day, they would see countless sunbathers, tanners, and people just lying out on their towels…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" started the topic Anybody seen/heard from Michrider lately? in the forum Miscellaneous 2 months, 1 week ago
Saw something elsewhere about how they’ve got a new mayor at Rabbit Hash — a French bulldog, and that got me to wondering about him.
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 2 months, 1 week ago
From my bookshelf:
RAGBRAI — How It Was In The Early Years
by Jim Shooz, T. Shurtz, and P.T. ‘Pith’ Helmutt
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Maquoketa No Longer Hosting in 2021 in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 3 months ago
“When has RAGBRAI ever taken the shortest, most direct route from overnight to overnight? 🙂 ”
The first half of 1978 (my first RAGBRAI) was pretty much a straight line from Sioux City to Storm Lake to Humboldt to Iowa Falls to Vinton (a true 100-mile day, without the need for those sissy loops). Then we dropped south to Mount Vernon, backtracked…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 3 months ago
I was out riding with a friend (while maintaining social distance, of course) when we came to a rise in the road. Suddenly my friend turned around and asked, “Did you say something?”
I said, “No, I didn’t. Why?”
She said, “All of a sudden I heard a voice saying, ‘shift down, shift down,’ and I thought it was you.”
I told her, “No, it wasn’t…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN ON RAGBRAI in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Have we got room/time for one more ‘Soggy Monday’ story?
Too bad, I’m going to tell it anyway!
RAGBRAI IX was going to be my 4th time across Iowa, and after having completed the three previous treks I felt that I was by now an old hand at this and there wasn’t nuthin’ Iowa could throw at me that I couldn’t handle. I’d ridden in rain before and,…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 4 months, 3 weeks ago
I don’t mean to be a tattle-tale, but I know now that when it comes to game shows you must have been a real high roller. Had you decided to play the magnificent marble machine in the video village, or gone on the great treasure hunt instead of turning to cycling it wouldn’t have taken you long to break the bank, and not even Ben Stein’s money…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Hot, sweaty, and tired after finishing a metric century last weekend, I pulled up and went into an establishment that serves …. well, let’s call them ‘adult beverages’. The guy behind the bar asked me that I’d been doing. I told him, “Sitting on my butt for the last six hours.”
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 4 months, 4 weeks ago
No, you know you’re a biking addict when you’re not even concerned about not having a significant other to ‘whoop it up with’ on a Friday night because that would just take away from the time you need to get the bicycle ready for that Saturday morning century anyway.
-“BB”-
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic My friend hit by a truck in the forum Miscellaneous 5 months ago
Is this the incident, Mark?
Bicyclist Injured In Dubuque
Dubuque & Tri-State News August 17, 2020
A Dubuque man was injured after he was struck by a car while riding a bicycle Wednesday night. The incident happened at around 6:50 on Asbury Road. A police report says 53 year old Michael Wagner was riding the bike east on Asbury, when a…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic First RAGBRAI Memories in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 5 months ago
to cyduke:
No, I never got to ride the Oktoberfest 100 … at least not on the day of the event. That is the penalty one must pay for being a member of the club hosting the ride and — depending on which specific year you’re talking about — being either the dude driving the sagwagon, the guy at one of the checkpoints/rest stops, or (in later years…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic First RAGBRAI Memories in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 5 months ago
First of all, let me say that I am a verified and certified old fart. My first RAGBRAI was ‘way back in 1978. I was 23 years old and had been ‘seriously’ cycling since 1972. Living in Wisconsin, I had already heard about RAGBRAI as someone had come to one of our club’s fall century rides wearing a T-shirt from SAGBRAI (the ‘Second Annual Great…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic We all need a good laugh! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 5 months ago
Except that this would be referred to as “40-36-24” …. and a triple chainring like that would result in some pretty danged low gears.
-“BB”-