A beautiful ride to Ames

There are three four-letter words that bikers complain about: wind, heat, hill. The ride today had almost none of the above. It was a gorgeous day for a bike ride.
By way of comparison: Monday's ride was 82.9 miles with 5,239 feet of climb. Today: A mere 56.8 miles and 1,377 feet of climb. There was one big, long hill heading into Boone, but that's several dozen fewer than we climbed on Monday. And again, neither of us walked. Woo-hoo! The terrain was flat, the temperature was cool and there was little wind, though it picked up as we rode. We were heading into a head wind for most of the last 20-mile stretch, but got a break when the route turned about five miles from Ames.
It was cool when we started, soon after 6:30, with the sun climbing in the sky and mist rising above the dewy corn fields and road-side grass. We were in Ames by soon after noon.
We're writing this early, because our room isn't ready, but we were able to access an office center at a hotel. The last few posts were from town libraries, which stayed open late in honor of RAGBRAI. If you get short posts in coming days, it will be because we couldn't get to a motel computer or library and Carol had to peck out a message on her phone.
Seen and heard on the route: We have a boring team name (just Carol's name), because we registered late and the Register's RAGBRAI office staff didn't bother with anything cute. But team names, and equivalent costumes, are a big part of the ride. There's the Team Flamingo, for example, which wears pink feathers down the backs of their jerseys. We saw a guy with the Starship Enterprise atop his helmet, and two guys with yellow banana suits (the end was built up from their heads, tapering down to their shoulders and extending to their waists, so they really looked more like half a banana). There are lots of riders on tandems (often parents with children riding behind them), but today we saw the first bike with three riders.
Seen on a menu:
Water: $1
Gatorade: $1.50
Homemade pie, slice: $1.50
Portapotty: Priceless (And Carol would add: A clean one, even more priceless!)
About our accommodations: Yes, we're staying in hotels, and not feeling a darn bit guilty about it, either. It's the once concession we're making to age. The vast majority of riders camp in small tents at fairgrounds, parks, high school campuses, etc. Some riders make arrangements to stay in private homes. And a few lucky people fill up the hotels quickly in small-town Iowa. This is one place where the Register connection helps. Carol booked most of the rooms with the block reserved for Register staffers working on RAGBRAI.
Ames is home to Iowa State University, and the main food and entertainment stages are on the campus. So we'll head over there this evening for the benefit concert featuring Styx and benefiting Iowa's flood victims.
-- Carol and Linda