On the road

The bus arrived at 7 am and were all loaded and on the road before 8. This team is one incredibly well oiled machine that may not quite knkw what they have added to their mix but this is truly a great group of people I am riding with this year. Don't get me wrong, riding with Matt, Matt, Chuck & Tom was great but we didn't ride out on an air conditioned bus with a bathroom so Team Cuisine has the edge already.

This day so far has been getting to know everyone and catching up. Even though I am a newbie to this team I have been around them for the last 5 years so I am a familiar face (& sense of humor).  There is a true newbie on the team this year who has never ridden RAGBRAI before and he is doing it in style although I may stretch a few stories a little about rides past to make him think things won't be perfect like they always are.

We are just about to our first town of Rock Valley, a town that was devastated by flooding only a few short weeks ago, for a hero's welcome that will have all the townspeople chanting our name "TEAM CUISINE.  TEAM CUISINE." After we are heralded,  the unloading begins. I have heard the first unload is a lot of work but I am afraid they mean because the newbies do it all.

Tomorrow's ride will take us to my family in Okoboji and will be the only day this week I plan to put my head down and fly (& to me flying is going to average about 15 mph which won't get my wheels off the ground) through the day so I can hang with the wife and kids but the rest of the miles after that, I plan on taking my time to enjoy the corn.