RAGBRAI has arrived!

The Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa came to Ames today. This is the description of the ride that I pulled off their website:

What is RAGBRAI?
RAGBRAI®, The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. Heading into its 36th year, RAGBRAI is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. RAGBRAI is sponsored by The Des Moines Register. The seven-day total mileage for RAGBRAI averages 472 miles while the daily mileage averages 68 miles.

I rode RAGBRAI 3 summers when I was in High School. I have fond memories of my weeks on the bike. Time seems to erase the memories of sore Butt, sore knees, numb hands, sunburn, and dehydration! Today the kids and I sat and watched the riders enter town. I actually had tears in my eyes remembering the good times. (I am getting really sentimental in my old age!) It is amazing to see the riders stream in, we sat for over 2 hours and the riders just kept coming. People of all shapes, ages, and riders from all over the world. Many people do the ride as their annual vacation. I really hope that we can plan this as a family vacation some year, actually, on second thought, maybe the kids should stay with Grandma!