July 26th: RAGBRAI Pocahontas – Emmetsburg, 97km, 205m climbed

Today we were up early, 6am, so that John could drive me from Humboldt over to Pocahontas to ride today’s stage of the RAGBRAI to Emmetsburg. This year is the 49th edition of this 8-day event which John has done twice before and convinced me to at least experience one day of it. He was right and it was well worth it. Thousands of people take part, all shapes, sizes and ages in all sorts of clothing on many different types of bikes. The direct route from Pocahontas to Emmetsburg is only 44km but the tour crosses that route to go through different towns where an incredible number of people are offering food, drinks and even a chiropractor is offering his services for people needing help to continue. There were so many bike riders taking part that I was never alone on the road and, when entering the small towns, the mass of people necessitated getting off the bike and walking past all that was on offer. I only stopped when I saw a short queue for a dozen bag of mini donuts with cinnamon and sugar coating, one of my old favourites and good for 50km of pedalling. I arrived in Emmetsburg shortly before 1pm and, like everyone else, was cheered and clapped over the line by local citizens. The whole main street was set up to greet the riders and cater for them. Together with the food and drink stalls there was a multitude of bike servicing stands, bike and clothing retailers and the local pubs and restaurants were in on action as well.

John found me at the Cornerstone Pub sometime in the afternoon and we, a little bit reluctantly, had to leave and continue east to Charles City, Iowa on our way to Oshkosh.