Sights from the road: pup in tow, cross country youngster, team Stop A Lot

GRAETTINGER–It was a short, but sweaty push Monday from Milford/Okoboji to Graettinger with only one stop in Terril.
Per usual the 28-mile stretch, just 12-miles short of the overnight town of Emmetsburg, offered no shortage of spectacles, shenanigans and characters on wheels.
Many of those moments unfold on the road between the obvious party spots in towns. Here’s a few snapshots captured by one RAGBRAI cyclist.

Aaron Edwards

A 12-year-old Wilmington, N.C. boy biking home from Spokane, Wash.
Aaron Edwards is riding RAGBRAI self supported with his mom and dad after starting their cross country traverse on June 14.
Edwards said his bike is weighed down with about 100 pounds of gear: water, food, clothes and camping and cooking supplies. But no one would know it after watching him effortlessly glide up hills before barreling down the other side.

Team Stop A Lot

Riders from Team Stop A Lot stuck close together, in orderly formation with boom blaring, through the heat and hills between Terril and Graettinger.
The team of 20-plus riders, mostly from the Des Moines area, is riding two members short after a scary accident in Okoboji Sunday night, according to one team member.
A rider today said two men on Stop A Lot were hit by a car on the street in Okoboji after dark, resulting in a broken leg for one and neck problems for the other.
Riders on the team said the incident made for a heavy night in Okoboji, but nothing that would stop the crew from pedaling onward across the state.

Velomobile

A small black pup named Chipper enjoyed the breeze along the same route from the back of a velomobile, an enclosed recumbent bicycle with electric motor capabilities.
The rider (or driver?), Brian, said it’s been sheer pedal power since the start of RAGBRAI and he hopes to keep it that way till the end of the week.

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