At the Field of Dreams site, a long line of RAGBRAI'ers took turns in the batter's box, trying their hands at whacking a softball out of the infield. Every part of the farmstead was lush and green, including the kind of grass I aspire to grow in my lawn. The baseball field is the same as it appeared in the movie.
Near the town of Graf, 34 miles into the ride, came the second highlight of the day and the toughest physical challenge of the week. The terrain changed markedly as we approached the Mississippi River Valley and was highlighted by a 400-foot descent into Graf, followed by a similar climb leaving town. The downhill took me to 45 mph, the highest speed my bicycle computer had ever registered. We had heard rumors of what would come next: Potter's Hill, a steep climb out of the Graf valley. How steep it was, we didn't know, but a rest stop in town was in order. It was here where various groups were relishing the final moments of RAGBRAI, laughing, hydrating, and snapping group photos with inappropriate instructions to smile ("Everybody say...Penis Wrinkle!").
We decided it was our turn to tackle the hill, which appeared just outside of town. The incline began innocently enough, but then steepened quickly and dramatically. I had not shifted into my lowest gear for a very long time and could have used an even lower one. Potter's Hill was a beast, but I powered my way up without stopping. I was humbled by the many strong riders who passed by with seemingly little effort. While RAGBRAI is filled with casual bikers, there are some strong legs in the crowd.
As we approached Dubuque, our plan was to leave the marked route near the Walmart where I hoped my Blazer would be waiting for me. Larry and Chris had finished earlier and were already on their way back to St. Louis, so we had to find the Blazer without them and then drive downtown to locate Old Blue. My phone battery had died just as I was pulling up Larry's number to give to Michelle so she could call or text for directions to the bus. We were on our own now, but I was confident we could find our way. We arrived at a road crossing where I was fairly sure we should leave the route, and the crossroad did indeed take us straight to Walmart. We loaded the bikes and drove towards downtown, where a huge traffic jam was in process. Eventually we found a way around, parked the Blazer in the general vicinity of downtown, and began our search for Old Blue.
The bus was parked near the riverfront, about a mile away, which in the hot July sun was a mile further than we wished. We located the bus but ran into minor problem: The bus was locked and nobody was around. Little did I know that after my phone battery died, Larry and Chris had left a text message with instructions for unlocking the bus. We trudged a mile back to the Blazer, drove it back to the bus and by then the Old Blue group had arrived. We loaded up our gear. Our RAGBRAI was over.
