RAGBRAI 08' - team gloves 04'

Some friends and I decided to bike a day of RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). The problem was the most convenient day for all of us ended up being one of the longest days of biking - nearly 80 miles.
RAGBRAI was in Ames on Tuesday night, so we figured we just jump aboard the next day and join the ride from Ames to Tama.
The night of Ames festivities included a performance by my sister that had bikers stopping from all over. Later that evening we went to the Nada's concert and hung out with all the spandex sporting folk that would soon become our friends the following day.
We figured we could handle it, souped-up our bikes with fancy racks, bought our padded biker shorts, got our camelbaks, we loaded up with granola bars and powder energy drinks.
We took off from West Ames and it was nearly an hour before we got out of Ames, we struggled to find other bikers so we could head in the proper direction. Once we got aboard it still wasn't a cloud in heaven.
We did enjoy the tasty treats of fresh baked and cooked items in the various towns we went through. From scotcharoos to cinnamon rolls to brats and fresh water.
We ended up making it - all 80 miles of it, minus a short-cut as suggested by a team we decided to follow after some drinks in a small town bar. This cut off about 6 miles on the ride.
Luckily we did get to experience most of the fun - wearing spandex and not have people stare, drinking in a small town bar with other people in spandex, going to the restroom in the great outdoors, having butt pain from sitting on a bike seat for so long, going to a random concert, biking through sprinklers, waving to the folks sitting on their lawn chairs, and seeing a sign that said "ONLY 12 more hills till Albion" (boy oh boy was that encouraging!)