Early this evening we took a short bike ride out to Walmart on Duff Ave (the Supercenter, not that piddly little old school Walmart on the north side; that one doesn't even have a McDonalds inside, can you imagine!?). After finishing our shopping we walked over to the bike rack outside where we had locked up and saw another gentleman who was getting ready to ride away on his bike. He paused and then asked if we liked our Bianchi (that's the brand of Amy's bike and she does), and mentioned that he bought his in Colorado but rarely sees them for sale around Ames. Trek seems to be the most popular brand around here, but he was glad to see another Bianchi, which we explained came with us all the way from DC last summer.
I then decided that if this guy had, like us, ridden his bicycle to Walmart, then he must be an avid/crazy cyclist and there was a high likelihood that he'd be doing RAGBRAI. I asked and his very enthusiastic response was something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, it's the thing I look forward to the most every year!" He then related that he had been doing the ride every year with his uncle since sometime in the 90s, and his very first experience was not a good one because he didn't do any training or preparation, but since he started taking appropriate steps to get ready every year he's been having a blast. Last year he met some Australians on the ride and said he had a good time talking with them. I imagine there was also a healthy amount of beer drinking that contributed to their fun.
He approved of our pie-eating practice at Perkins the other night, and mentioned that the food on the ride is awesome, which we of course had heard and are looking forward to experiencing ourselves.
Eight days and counting...
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