The RASH Ride June 8, 2013, from Independence > Littleton > Jesup> Independence Was a Good Time!

Jim and I had a wonderful time on the June 8, 2013 RASH Ride out of Independence and back. There were two tours available: a 25-mile loop from Independence and back again, and a 50-mile loop from Independence and back again.

It was a great day. There was a little wind, but it was cloudy and relatively cool. It was an unusually nice day, considering how soggy and cold it's been this spring in eastern Iowa. Almost everyone was friendly, and the bars were hospitable.

A young man made my day by asking me to dance in the Littleton bar. Since my camera didn't record the photo I took of him in Littleton, he posed for a picture with me at Bucketz in Jesup by leaping over a fence on the porch and picking me up in his arms.

"Oh no!" I said. "Please don't pick me up. I'm too heavy!" But he'd already picked me up and I was speaking against his chest.

His friend took a photo of us and sent it to my cell phone because I'd stupidly left a camera chip at home, hooked up to my computer, and forgotten to put it back into my camera. Also, my cell phone takes terrible photos. I've got to learn to be better prepared in the camera department.

If my son can put the photo on my computer, and I think he can, I'll post it as long as I don't look too ridiculous.

Dancing with him was fun. I love to dance and don't have many opportunities to.

We ran into some other great kids having fun. A sweet little thing named Amy Kay, who is our daughter's age, invited us to stop at her group's highway oasis. She offered me a vodka with grapefruit juice and then realized she'd run out. (I can't drink beer; it doesn't agree with me, but Jim had a beer.) So she mixed me a vodka and Sprite in an empty Leinenkuegel can, and it was delicious. Gave me a nice buzz, too.

Team Regulators wasn't there in force, which was a disappointment. I loved the women cops from Cedar Rapids who came last year, partied with us in Independence, and helped me out with an obnoxious drunk in a Jesup bar.

"Is this man bothering you?" one lady cop asked me.

"Yes, he is!" I replied. (Boy was he bothering me, mostly by breaking my eardrums with his loud, repetitious shouts of nonsense words at the table behind us. I couldn't get him to stop.)

She took care of him and I made a speedy exit.

I miss the Cedar Rapids cops. They are a fun-loving group. The Iowa City cops were way too serious. They acted like they were on the job or participating in a purely athletic event, and I couldn't figure out why. I think they did the 50-mile loop, but I'm not sure. 

We've done the 50-mile loop in the past, but it's been too wet and soggy for us to train as much as usual. I've got more miles on my odometer than Bill of Bill's Pizza in Independence, but that's not saying much. He's really busy running his restaurant/bar, and nobody seemed to have a lot of miles in unless they trained inside or rode outside regardless of the weather.

The MelonHeads (Tom Hammer, Dave Bender, Brian & Deb Bentley, and Norm Kasten) and the Rawhide Riders, especially Mike O'Brien, Roger O'Brien, and Mike's girlfriend Rebecca, were in fine form, and we had a great time with them at a long table at Bill's Pizza after the ride.

I recommend the food and spirits at Bill's Pizza. Any kind of pizza and also the ribs are good. I haven't tried everything, but they serve a lot of different kinds of food, including Italian pasta and chicken parmesan. The tilapia was good, but the Sicilian veggies weren't grilled like they were before. The string beans were really fresh and tasty though. So was the bread stick.

We ran into so many nice people we can't wait to go again. We yucked it up with old friends, the MelonHeads and Team Rawhide, and made some nice new friends, too.

Our 25-mile tour was never so easy before. We're shooting for the 50-mile loop next year. I miss our trip to the little town of Rowley, where our kids' former blackbelt taekwondo instructor came from. When he greeted us in Pat's Bar on the outskirts of Independence, I called him "Jarhead," his Marine nickname, but I think he prefers "Jeff" or "Niemeyer."

We always see Jeff on RAGBRAI. I remember years ago we saw his camper with "Team Big" on the side in Indianola, and the kids and I yelled, "Niemeyer!" and heard a strangled "kee-yup!" from inside. That was Jeff, and if he was nursing a headache, his keeyup cost him, but he wanted to let us know he heard us. He's a good guy. 

Yesterday we filled him in on what's going on with the kids since the days when Sarah wore a size 0 doboc, a tiny little girl with black curly hair, who earned a green belt, and Jesse was a blue belt with brown stripes. Mom made it to green belt with blue stripes.

The Stiff Ride is next on our agenda. You can find the ride on BikeIowa.com. It's coming up in two weeks, and the Stiffies have a great new jersey available for sale with a design commemorating the restoration of the Sutliff Bridge in Johnson County.

Just email

dwedemeyer@fontbonne.edu

for a photo of the Team Stiff jersey design. I think they're all sleeveless, and I'm still waiting to hear on the brand name, the sizes available, and the cost.

I'm sure that dwedemeyer, like all of the Stiffies, is a gentleman and a scholar.