Error messages plus a busy week mean I have no patience. On to other things….

Approx. 5 minutes ago

Student: Can you look something up for me?

Me: What would that be?

Student: Gothic tinkerbell.

Me: No.

The past two evenings have been spent out on trail runs, placing books out on the PMC course. Not the easiest task, but fun in its way. I ran a high ridge out and back, a few miles of trail that I expect all of the riders to hit on Saturday, and conditions could not be better. Fall colors are out in force, in their subtle and surprising Arizona way. Scrub oak and various bushes I can’t name, tacky trail, and an excellent subset on the way back. Combined with the forecast for Saturday, I am very excited about the stories for the race.

T-day plans continue to sit in flux. Anyone interested and/or planning a riding trip? My will is very maleable in this respect right now, and I’m hungry for some action and quality social time around the fire.

And most importantly: RAGBRAI!

The (Des Moines) Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Mobile party, group ride, festival, non-sense, fun ride. Now that my parents are road bikers, and my mom likes to set goals to engender motivation, M and I are planning on going next year.

And so should you. It’s much more fun in a group. Logistically, many Iowa bike shops run a tour deal, where they provide transport from the shop to the start town and back from the finish line, as well as hauling your stuff and staking out a campsite (typically on the grounds of the local high school) from day to day and providing sag if needed.

Missing from the above photo are the 36″ unicycles, tandems with trail-a-bikes, recumbants of all concievable stripes, and (in 2005) a lady in her late 70’s on a trike (who rode the whole thing). Yes there is stupid, revisiting late-adolescence drunkeness, wet t-shirt contests (supposedly), and vicious headwinds. There are also roadside pork chops and homemade cinnamon rolls.

7/20-8/2008.