RAGBRAI XLI 2013 - Harlan to Perry, 83 miles and 4,239 feet of climb

Day 2 was Harlan to Kimballton to Elk Horn (home of the Karras loop if you wanted to do the century) to Hamlin to Guthrie Center to Springbrook Lake Park to Yale to Washington Township to Perry.  You get a lot of towns on a long day.

Time to tear down.  I like to show pictures of just how early we were getting up.  Later in the week we got more efficient at packing, so we were on the road even earlier.


When the sun did come up, it was beautiful.  Photographing cyclists heading into a sunrise in the fog and mist, it's difficult to take a bad shot.


I liked this one too.


Here you can follow me into the fog!


And a shorter version for folks who don't have the patience to watch over a minute of video.

Day 2 had a particularly good breakfast not too far outside Harlan.  Pancakes...but with blueberries!  And a decent cup of coffee.  Damn fancy.  Breakfast as it should be on the ride.



Adam carefully cutting up his cakes.  Look at how fresh he looks before doing 83 miles!


Kimballton was the first town of the day.  This is the city mural.  See that girl on the rock, she's an exact replica of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen.  I thought my sister might want to know she doesn't have to go all the way to Denmark to get her Disney Princess fix.


The little mermaid sign as you enter town.  From afar, this sign looks a little mannish.  I had to stop to and take a good long stare to understand what I was looking at.


Here she is.  There's a button to play a little blurb related to the statue built into the wall nearby, but there were too many people to hear, or else it was broke.


They like their murals in Kimballton.  This one was open to signing, so you could geotag where you were from in the US (or in the oceans if you were from abroad).


If you wanted to sign Minnesota, a very deformed Minnesota lacking it's telltale peak, you had to climb a ladder and pose all Inconvenient Truth style.


In case you weren't looking carefully, there's Elliot and E.T. in his basket.  I don't know what it had to do with the Little Mermaid or the signable mural, but it was amusing.


We get around to some more of the important stuff.  Strawberry Rhubarb pie.


Guthrie Center - the midway point for the day.  It was hot by the time we got to Guthrie Center.  We spent a while soaking up the shade and drinking cold things to reset body temperatures.


For example, I had a smoothie.


This is Yale City Hall.  You probably can't read the signs, so I'll zoom in for you...


Ut oh!


In case you're from Yale City and you want to send Adam a ticket, here he is next to his bicycle and the sign.



Adam walking in town


Another video of lots of RAGBRAI-ists.  Hopefully someone will find themselves in a video.