Day 5: Cedar Falls to Independence- Training Day

Today felt more like a training ride through the Jefferson county countryside than a leg of RAGBRAI. I got out a little bit before 6am and completed my 63 mile ride by about 9:15am. There were not a lot of other riders on the road and many of the pass through towns seemed surprised to see cyclists so early. I felt real good today, with no real problems. Saddle is getting a little sore but that shouldn't be a real problem with two relatively short days left. 360 miles down, 120 to go. I am looking forward to Dyersville tomorrow as I have never seen the Field of Dreams.

The top picture is of me starting my ride to Independence at sunrise. Jack, can you tell I am wearing my Wisconsin Badger cycling jersey? The other picture is of the red hat ladies that I met as I was riding into Independence. Our mom's are red hat ladies, so we thought they would enjoy the picture.

Not much else to report from the road. Did a little laundry today and otherwise just resting and catching up on email. I'll have a longer report for your tomorrow, the eve our our final ride.

I would like to thank Sam for his comments and let him know that I did indeed thank Dallas Clark for beating the Bears in the super bowl! Keep those comments coming.

Best food of the day: Pancakes, eggs and bacon at the R&R Cafe in Independence.

See you down the road.

Pat

Day 4: Hampton to Cedar Falls- Over the Hump!

Today was "hump day" on RAGBRAI. We have now completed 300 miles (only 30 of which have been downwind) with 177 to go. I had a real good ride today. Legs were strong and I "pulled" my group for many miles today. Pulling means riding on front which is tougher than sitting on someones wheel. I'm starting to sound like a real cyclist, aren't I? My saddle, while a little sore, seems in good shape to get to Bellevue. Tomorrow is a short day at only 62 miles. Winds will be light and in our favor most of the way. We don't have a team start so I am on my own. I plan to go out early and be done well before noon,

We had a chance to go to a VIP reception for the LAF. Here is a picture of Denise and I with John Edwards. Nice guy, but a little too far left for me.

The other picture is of me and my out of control riding partners at the Blues Traveler concert.

Special thanks to Annette, Ryan, Jack and Mae for their comments. Annette, I hope your recovery is going well and I look forward to swapping RAGBRAI stories with you soon. Ryan, your emailing me on DAHI time is okay but don't make a habit out of it or you may be without a job in the next few weeks. Jack, check back tomorrow for a cool Badger picture. Mae, I will only ride across China if you ride with me. Starting training those little legs.

It's getting late, so I need to get to bed. I'll be back tomorrow with another update.

Best food of the day: Chicken Salad sandwich at the Peacock Cafe in Ablington...amazing!

See you down the road.

Pat, Dad, Uncle Pat, etc........

Day 3: Humboldt to Hampton- Where's Lance?

Whenever we ride in groups with our Team LIVESTRONG jerseys on we constantly get people along the route asking us "where's Lance?" For some reason, with my helmet and sunglasses on people mistake me for Lance. On Sunday a guy asked me for an autograph. Today, a guy came up to me and thanked me for everything I do with my foundation. Unfortunately, I don't have one. Needless to say, my riding partners get a big kick out of this and now whenever anyone asks "where's Lance?", they just point to me.

The lower picture is of two of my teammates. In the middle is Joe Schneider, a 13 year cancer survivor and a fellow top fundraiser. On the left is John Tuite, another fellow top fundraiser who came all the way from Ireland to ride across Iowa. The other picture is of the Eagle Grove cheerleaders who were hawking breakfast burritos. I promised them a picture on my blog, so here it is girls.

The ride today was good considering how bad I felt when I woke up. Tomorrow we cross the halfway point and it is all downhill from there. Looking forward to being in a real city tomorrow night as rural Iowa is just that, rural.

Best food of the day: A pancake and sausage on a stick.

Thanks to Doug for the comment!

See you down the road

Pat

Day 2- Spencer to Humboldt- Dinner with the Stars

Every night from 6pm to 7pm we have "Happy Hour" at Camp Livestrong. Tonight during happy hour our LAF team leader Chris Brewer asked Denise and I if we would like to join Lance Armstrong and a few of his friends for dinner at the house he was staying at. Needless to say, we were quite excited. When we got to Lance's place we were joined by a few of his friends as well as current Indianapolis Colts and former Hawkeye Dallas Clark and his wife Karen. Lance was great. He is a very funny, down to earth guy who just enjoys hanging out and having a good time. His friends were also great and talking Badger versus Hawkeye trash with Dallas was a blast. We even got to try on his Super Bowl Championship ring. Needless to say, the evening was the highlight of the trip thus far.

The days ride was a tough one. Windy and hot and later in the day I was somwhat uncomfortable in the saddle. I need an easy day tomorrow as I have tried to hang with guys a bit younger and stronger than me thus far, and there is still along way to go to get to Bellevue. The good news is that we have our two longest days (77 and 76 miles) behind us. Tomorrow is ONLY 71 miles and after that, the furthest we ride is 68. The picture is of me arriving in Humboldt. I look better than I feel. Sorry, no Lance pictures yet. Maybe later this week.

Best food of the day: Key Lime Pie

See you down the road

Pat

P.S.- I am still waiting for comments. The more the merrier

Day 1: Rock Rapids to Spencer- Wind Swept Fields

Day 1 was quite a day. The pictures are of me and some of my teammates as we set off on our ride and as you might recognize, Lance Armstrong.

I rode well, felt well, but probably should have realized I have six more days to ride. I certainly was not like the average RAGBRAI rider as I averaged almost 18 MPH. Wind was a problem most of the day as I certainly learned the value of drafting. Tomorrow our team captain says we have to ride as group, draft off each other and go no faster than 15 MPH to conserve energy for later in the week. We also need to stop more often, eat more pie and be better advocates of the LAF. I have no problem with any of that and look forward to an easy day tomorrow (assuming I recover tonight!).

Denise and I had the chance to attend a youth event featuring Lance Armstrong. I had the honor of holding the microphone as the kids asked Lance questions and yes, after the event I got the chance to meet Lance and have a chat. Quite an honor, quite an honor indeed. I'll have a number of chances this week to spend more time with him.

To Kathy, Julia and Diane, I thought about all of you today. There are many survivors riding with us who are a real inspiration. LIVESTRONG and keep up the good fight!

Hi to Ben, Ryan and Tyler. Hi also to the Weaton boys. Hi to all at DAHI. Hi to Sam, Jack, Riley and Mae!

Gotta go and get some sleep. On the road by 7am tomorrow.

Best food of the day: hot mini sugar donuts.

See you down the road.

Pat

Ready to Ride

My training is pretty much complete and I proclaim myself ready to ride. After almost 1300 miles on the road with no problems other than the occassional stiff back, there is nothing to do now except pack. What will I bring for the riding part of the week? Riding jerseys are a must and I will bring four including my Team LIVESTRONG jersey, my RAGBRAI 2007 Jersey and my Team WISCONSIN jersey, all shown here. I'll also have 4 pairs of cycling shorts, 4 pairs of cycling socks, 3 types of various creams to prevent and soothe saddle soreness, 4 water bottles, 2 pair of cycling gloves, 2 helmets, 1 pair of cycling shoes and various spare parts and tools in case they are needed during the ride. This will allow me the luxury of only having to do laundry once!

On the fundraising front I have some exciting news. With your help, we raised over $30,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and their ongoing support of cancer, research and awareness. Your generosity made me the top RAGBRAI/Team LIVESTRONG fundraiser. I am not quite sure just what that means, but rumor has it I will be spending some quality time with Lance himself during the week. I will update you as I learn more.

The Dexter Apache Challenge is in the books and the generous folks at Apache were not only the top per capita donors, but also beat out Dexter in total donations raised. Congratulations all you Badgers (and one Hawkeye). We will be up in August to make good on our bet. Thank you everyone for your extreme generosity. I must say I am just amazed by your support.

This will be my last post until RAGBRAI. Starting Saturday 7/21, I will post everyday with pictures and commentaries on all the days events, activities, high, lows, pains, etc. I encourage you to post a comment when you get a chance. I'll respond to all that I get.

Have a great week and I hope I'll see you down the road.

Pat

Go the Distance

RAGBRAI 2007 stops in Dyersville, Iowa, home of the Field of Dreams and the famous line "go the distance". Today I went the distance as I covered 85 miles in my longest training ride yet. I was on the road by 5:30am and back home by 10:30am. I felt good the whole way and getting out early to beat the heat really helped.

My next two weeks will be lighter training weeks as I want to begin to conserve energy for RAGBRAI week. I may actually do a little more running and a little less riding to give my seat a rest. With 1200 training miles under my belt, I feel ready to go.

Apache has taken a rather commanding lead in the Dexter/Apache fundraising challenge. They pulled even with Dexter last week, gave them a quick stare and then sped past them as Lance Armstrong often did to his competition in the mountains. Will Dexter have a response? With only one week of fundraising left, we'll have to see. Overall, my fundraising campaign has gone extremely well and has exceeded expectations.

Once again, THANKS to all of you who have contributed. For those of you still looking to participate, your donations need to be to me by next Wednesday, July 11th at the latest. You know the process by now, cash or check to me or Dale Sue Glass in Fairfield or to Pam Korth in Wisconsin.

A big thanks to my wife Denise and to Chris Brewer at the LAF who were the first to comment on my website. Chris, I am looking forward to meeting you and perhaps spending some time riding together during RAGBRAI. For those of you who have checked out this site, don't be afraid to hit the comment button and send me a note.

And finally, The Tour De France started today. You can catch all the action on the VS (versus) network (channel 72 on Mediacom in Fairfield). American George Hincapie of Lance Armstrong's former Discovery Channel Team sits in 3rd after the first day. The first day of racing was a 5 mile time trial....one of the few days in July when I'll actually ride further than the Tour riders!!!

See you down the road....

Pat