[Bruce Day]

RAGBRAI 2014. 450 miles across the northern counties of Iowa, a small town ride. I ride with the USAF team, 125 riders and 12 support personnel. A great time as usual. Only one bad day , a half day when I was caught in a rainstorm with cold and strong winds. Soaked and starting to feel sorry for myself when a woman comes along singing " My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.

We rode through Clear Lake, and who can miss the Surf Ballroom, where the music died in 1959 with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valenzuela, but as you can see the music didn't die and the Winter Dance Party is still held. People come from all over including foreign countries. ZZ Top plays this fall. New groups and old favorites. I sat in a booth for an hour just taking it all in and listening to old time rock and roll.

Small towns and dancing in the streets.

A field full of wildflowers. Overheard a woman " we don't have anything like this in Los Angeles".

A great dinner and relaxing evening in the comfortable Lake Okoboji home of Jeff and Weezie Christie, fellow USAF retirees. Pheasant dinner from birds a mile or so away.

Many miles of Amish communities with horse and buggies and women selling pies and pastries. Did I mention the pies? Cherry, blueberry, raspberry, too hard to choose, so I had them all.

Ice cream made in churns turned by old hit and miss farm engines. When you use 4000 calories per day to power the legs engine, I eat way more than usual.

Watched a custom car maker in a small town with an early 50's lead sled chopped top Olds crammed with a turbocharged Cummins diesel engine. Torque and hard to keep the tires in traction.

So our long day was 105 miles and the short 40 miles. High temp was 86, low daytime was 73. Great weather and I'm looking forward to next year.