RAGBRAI DAY 7!

Fairfield to Fort Madison
63.0 Miles - 2,427 Feet of Climb

There are times in life there are bittersweet moments. Times that you look back on with great memories, sweet conversations, personal victories, treasures times to be with you at a moments notice with crystal clear precision. This was not one of those times. I assure you, it is not.

We were ready to be done, the towns seemed to come and go with little notice and the miles ticked away. We were looking down the road. Looking, counting the hills and reminding ourselves that we never have to do that hill again. We had lunch along the Des Moines River. It was beautiful. We had pizza, which was a very unwise meal choice as it held on a little too long. We traveled through Birmingham, Keosauqua, Bentonsport, Bonaparte, West Point and eventually Fort Madison.


I don't remember much about the day, none of us really did, we were focused on being done. It seemed that was the mentality for everyone along the route. The vendors were fewer, the people seemed to be staying shorter amounts of time and the festive feeling in all the towns seemed dulled. If this was the only day we rode, it would be easy to misunderstand all the fuss because things were really not that exciting.

We rode our bikes down the long hill that lead into town. With a glimpse of the river as we came down, we knew it wouldn't be long before we dipped our tires and headed home. As we were headed through town, we crossed under a foot bridge only to look up and see our family crossing above us at the exact same time!! WHAT LUCK! We weren't going to have to try to figure out where everyone was, coordinate meeting points in a town we were unfamiliar with and we wouldn't have to walk long to get to the car. All very good news indeed.

We walked down the steep rocky embankment and dipped the tires. We were done. DONE,  DONE, DONE!!

After all the miles were calculated, Jessica and I managed to ride 431,  Aaron rode the extra miles and finished at 455.

Now it was time to pack the car, take apart the bikes to fit into the Mini Cooper and head home to our girls, Nana, Angel and our beds.

My only thought as we were dipping our tires was "Thank you Jesus you put the river here and not 20 miles further away!

Thank you Uncle Dennis for your driving and having our home away from home ready for us every night.

Thank you Uncle Kent and Aunt Rhonda for the use of your camper, it was a sight for sore eyes every night.

Thank you Aunt Mary for the squeeky cheese to take home to the family.

Thank you Anna for making jokes and keeping things light.