Frank Iowa Suddenly Appeared in an Orange T-Shirt on a Bridge over a Blue Iowa River

Famous Frank Iowa, the man who legally changed his name to Frank Iowa and rarely trains before he rides, appeared before me in an orange T-shirt on a bridge over a lovely blue river. I stopped to take a photo of an old bridge further up the river and he motioned me up.

"Frank!" I said. "I knew I'd see you! We always see you!"

After I took his photo and chatted, he asked where Jim was.

"At the park in Harvey," I told him. Harvey's a little tiny town some distance out of Oskaloosa, which is where we stayed last night and where we're staying tonight, too. We couldn't find a place to stay in Knoxville.

Frank trained 20 miles in March, he said. He rode the same day as the Tweed Ride in Iowa City. Frank rode with the other Rogues of the Night and Team Skaa. The weather in Iowa City started out warm and muggy, then it got windy, rainy, and ended with a snowstorm.

The Rogues and Team Skaa never made it out of town, but they got 20 miles under their belts and went to somebody's house for a cookout.

I was sick that day but no longer contagious. I made it to the last bar to join the Tweed Ride festivities.

After too many miles and too many hills I made it back to the little town of Harvey and Peggy's Place. I took a photo of Gordy's Gun Shop in Harvey for our friend Gordy Goldsmith, who just retired from urology. 

My husband Jim used to work with him in the urology ward on 5 SE at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics back in the day when Jim was dating many of the nurses and their bosses too. The young residents wanted to know how he managed to pull that off, him just being an orderly and all.

I haven't seen Gordy on this RAGBRAI yet. I sure hope he hasn't retired from RAGBRAI! Now that he's out of the doctoring business, maybe he could buy out Gordy's Gun Shop. He wouldn't have to change the name, and Peggy's Place is right down the street.