I  cycled across Iowa last week with RAGBRAI. Sunday, 64 miles from Sioux Center to Cherokee, was one of the best rides I've ever had. The folks along the way were friendly. The hills were rolling and the wind wasn't in our face. It was hot, but not too hot. In fact as the sun came up over the corn field, many of us were already 15 miles toward Cherokee, our ending town for the day. When the temps are in the nineties and higher, it is a very good thing to start as early as possible.


A big part of the adventure of cycling is meeting new people along the way. Of course I do that whether I am cycling or not but cyclists are pretty interesting. At a breakfast stop about 20 miles out I met a philosophy prof from UCLA who was riding. I don't remember how we recognized as pipe smoking, tweed wearing thought thinkers (my BA is in philosophy) but before we knew we were trading quips about Descartes and that pesky Hegel on the edge of an Iowa corn field. Who would have thought? RAGBRAI riders eat whenever and wherever they can. Cornfields, sidewalks, under shade trees...wherever.


Last year I drank a bottle of G2 every hour I was on the road. In addition along the way I drank water and Iowa FFA Blue Lemonade (don't ask, just get a cup if you are lucky enough to find it). Staying hydrated isn't just something your mother told you that can forget as soon as you pedal out the front door. You positively, absolutely, have to do it. If you don't you will experience what I did last week.

Keep rolling on. It feels good.