#karrasloop

RAGBRAI day five was a blast in more ways than one. For one, I got to spend the day riding, worshipping and spreading the word about an awesome cause! The second reason why it was a blast is because I got to do the ‘optional’ century loop, or in my case ‘mandatory’ as I like doing the ‘extra’ miles. The third reason why yesterday was so awesome is because I got to ride with some pretty awesome friends while riding the century loop! We started our morning off at a bright and early 6 am like usual. We flew thru Reasner and Linnville, and Sully. When we got to Sully we turned off the regular route and on to the Karras loop. The Karras loop is named after one of the co-Founders of RAGBRAI, John Karras. It is one day a year on each RAGBRAI that makes it a century for the day. When I started doing RAGBRAI I made it optional until I could do a century. Now that I do centuries regularly it’s mandatory for me to do it. I love it. It started as a challenge but then it became easy. When we got to the loop we started at a hard pace. A little too hard, we were dropping guys like flies, so we backed it off to regroup. Once we rode in to the town we got our commemorative patch to mark the occasion. We also got a photo with John Karras, always a highlight no matter how many times I do it. We then rode through a blip on the map and pushed back to the regular route. Once we got back to the route we got water Sully and headed to Mr. Pork chop, we stopped, naturally, and had food and pushed on to the next town of Montezuma. We all checked in to our stops and kept rolling. On to the overnight town of Sigourney. We made a couple more stops for water and popsicles and kept on trucking. It was a fun day had by all, and we got a few more guys for the 200 miler next year. Such an awesome day was had by all. We had a tail to tail crosswind from the northwest at 10-15 mph. It was fun and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

On this day for ragbrai I will be wearing my @breakthecycle200 jersey on the century loop naturally, but not only that. I will be riding with other gentlemen and ladies who are wearing theirs to raise awareness for the cause! #RidingWithHydrocephalus #Asifarmstrong #Ragbrai #karrasloop

We started in Spencer iowa and finished in Algona iowa. Total distance was 106.3 miles, at a pace of 15.8 mph. This day had the longest stretch from town to town that we will face for the week. At twenty-four miles Spencer to Ayrshire was the longest route we will face for the week as far as from town to town goes. The next town was a measly 10.2 from Ayrshire to to Curlew was easy and flew by quickly. I stopped for the tradition of my daily pork chop. Then it was on to the cemetery where I stopped with mom to see if we could be successful in finding our relatives cemetery plot. We were not so we rode on to Mallard. Where I decided to throw the hammer down to West Bend. In West Bend I stopped at the team tent to let them know I was going to start my “optional” century loop. I say “optional” because I do century rides for the heck of it. The century for me is mandatory. So I knocked it out quickly. I rode with a gentleman from Texas who was on his first of what he hoped were many RAGBRAI’s to come. He was blown away by the how awesome the hospitality was. After I completed the loop. I stopped back at the tent and let them know I was pushing on to the overnight town of Algona. I rode in to Algona with one of the guys who I do the Wednesday night shop ride with. And we just kicked it in to high gear. When we started in West Bend I thought we would take it easy. Not the case. We hit it hard. We ride thru Whitehorse which was the last town before Algona. We kept moving. When we got to Algona I got dropped on the long steep uphill. I’m not a climber. I’m a long distance cyclist who can hold 18-20 mph for hours but can not climb hills. So I spun up the hill. Which is how I climb. We got in town at 3:30. When I stopped in Curlew for my pork chop I also got a patch remembering the late Paul Barnhardt. I have stopped at mr. Pork chop for years and they are not just friends. They are family. Mr.pork chop is one of those vendors that, you'd better bring your "A" game of insults, because if you don't...you're not going to last. All in all a good day and an awesome way to honor a RAGBRAI legend. 6:28 was on bike time. I just crushed it.