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05/30/2003 Entry: "Bedford, Iowa (Day 2 of RAGBRAI)"
Heya folks, I managed to get a computer. YAY! A lot has happened these first few days of RAGBRAI, some fun, some very not fun. Currently the other Roadshow members are off eating, and we'll be meeting in the downtown here to juggle shortly. I'll try to fill you all in before I'm needed. I hope you all will excuse my spelling errors. I'm worn out and typing on a small laptop, so I'm definately not at my best right now. Glenwood
The ride into Glenwood from Omaha was fairly uneventful. That night we ate some very good lasanga and pizza thanks to Josh's mom. We met up with Jeff (I hope I got that name right, I'm tired) a Unicycler that Jesse knows attempting to repeat Jesse, George, and Aaron's GURAI (he made it one day), Sam, Clint, and the rest of Team Kamikaze. We are staying with Team Kamikaze during for the duration of the ride and Mark and my girlfriends are riding the bus with them so they can spend time with us this week. Glenwood to Shanindoa (sp?)
This morning was a rather unfortunate one. Mark, Sam (a kamikaze rider), Mike, and I were the last to leave camp. The rest of the roadshow and Team Kamikaze were far ahead of us. We figured we'd catch them, but, that was not to be. Around mile one coming down our first hill Mike went slightly off the road on the left side. No one is really sure what happened after that, but Mike - an experienced rider at this point - ended up sliding down much of the hill at 20 mph on his shoulder. He has severe "road rash" (the slang term for a large skin abrasions caused by close contact with pavement) all over his right shoulder and upper arm. There are also several smaller areas of road rash on other parts of his body. We administered first aid on the scene and treated him for mild shock. An ambulance showed up while I was treating him for shock and said little more than "wow, that's going to hurt." They also stood by while I immobilized the arm and did other such things that I thought were their job. They were a very useless ambulance crew. We later hitched Mike a ride back to the kamikaze camp where he road the bus into the next town. Mike us currently doing just fine. He didn't ride today but he may be riding tomorrow. He is in good spirits and has no permanent injuries. The rest of the day went comparitively well...
The roadshow riders ahead of us took a shortcut bike trail that shaved off many of their miles and was flat. They had a very nice ride. Mark, Sam, and I, not knowing about the trail, road the actual route. Oh well. I became seperated from them around mile 30 when I came across another accident that I stopped and helped at. A girl hadn't been drinking enough water and had blacked out while riding. She had very mild road rash so I walked her to some shade and had her drink two of my water bottles and cleaned the abrasions. This was her first distance riding experience so we had a long talk in the shade about proper hydration while riding (incidentally, yesterday was extremely hot). About an hour later she got back on the bike and, hopefully, finished the day without incident. I'd like to tell you all about the other rider's experiences on the ride as well, but since I was seperated from them I can't. With luck, one of them will do the next update. The Roadshow met up at Team Kamikaze that night and went into town to eat and juggle. We did two shows that went REALLY well. The crowd loved us and we did well in donations. We are definately making a name for ourselves. The night was finalized by us sitting on the top of the bus watching an amazing lighting storm. Shendadoa to Bedford
Todays ride went a lot better, if for no other reason than that it was uneventful medically. Mark, Jesse, and I each brokes spokes, but we're used to that. Jesse, Paul, Mark, and I rode in a lose group, meeting up at towns along the way. We were joined by Norm at Pastafari, the best food vender on RAGBRAI, where we did a small show. The audience wasn't as welcoming as last night, but they still were very nice and we did well on donations again. Not much happened after that. I'm afraid this will have to be the end of my update today. RAGBRAI is a very busy time and I could fill up 20 pages with just my experiences and the people I've met personally, so I've tried to just tell the big events that effect us all. As I said early we'll be doing a few performances in town in about an hour, so wish us luck, and thanks for reading. Please send some good thoughts of healing Mike's way, we'd like to see him back on the bike as soon as possible. ILYQ
Replies: Leave us a note! (6)
It was great to see you guys on Ragbrai. I'm in awe of what you are doing - riding across the country, and I'm also really jealous. I'm sure you will have plenty more stories to tell once you reach the east coast. Good luck to you on the rest of your journey!
Posted by Kalie Brenneman @ 07/28/2003 10:13 PM CST
Hello Atl. Braves fan! I know that you will have a good time the rest of your trip. I'm at Tom's again. We just got done looking at some of your beautiful pictures. They were really cool! It must have been really neat to be a part of the RAGBRI bicycle trip. I'd really like to be there with you. Everyone else that's looked at your pictures, has loved them too. Weather here is hot. I'll be writing to you again soon. In the meantime, have a good bike ride. I miss you. Take care. Dad
Posted by Jack Duggan (Josh's Dad) @ 07/26/2003 08:56 PM CST
I would like to buy you guys breakfast on Sat. I will be near New London at the Mt. Pleasant Christian School booth with Chris Cakes. So you all will have to find me. I only know a few of you so let me know you are with the Roadshow. Stay Safe
Posted by Joshua Sieren @ 07/22/2003 04:58 PM CST
Hey guys! I am still following your journey via my family room. Enjoy the Ragbrai experience! I hope you roadshow guys are spending time teaching Sam (team Kamakaze)how to pass clubs!
Posted by Cheryl @ 07/22/2003 04:23 PM CST
Hey you guys were great in Bedford!! It was fun to watch your show and see the crowd get excited! Best of Luck and Stay Safe! The Unicycle Guy
Posted by James Peters @ 07/22/2003 12:26 PM CST
Joshua, you tell me I have no reason to worry, but right here are enough reasons for me to not stop worrying.
Hope Mike feels better soon! Have fun and be careful and get to Ohio on time :)
Posted by Amy @ 07/21/2003 09:50 PM CST
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