Third-best thing about RAGBRAI

The third-most amusing part of RAGBRAI was the scenery. Not the natural landscape, though that was nicer than non-Midwesterners likely would expect, but rather the humans.

If only I'd written this post a few weeks ago, I likely could have filled it with the innuendo-laden team names I saw, but I can say this with certainty: "Beaver" was a very popular word on jerseys.

And if I had better balance and reflexes, I could've snapped some photos of the tricked-out helmets, my favorite being the team that glued tiny outhouses to their helmets.

There were stuffed animals decorating all parts of bikes and bikers; there were colorful wigs; there were Viking helmets ... so much to see beyond spandex! (Like the cross-dressing crowd Friday just past Hedrick.)

Here are some sights I did capture for posterity:

As a cat owner, I approve of and envy this setup. As soon as my cat goes through two tubs of litter like this, the Shrimp will definitely be sporting similar panniers.

This weird cart benefited a charity — can't remember which, if I ever even knew — and it was powered by a hand crank. First the driver was whizzing around the Pella town square by himself; then he picked up a passenger; and then he rose to his team's challenge and added a dumbbell. A great show to accompany our lunch. 

"Tuck a buck," says the brief-clad gentleman's back. My teammates told me to tuck the buck instead of taking the photograph, but I declined.

A member of this team sat next to me at the First Street Grille in Keosauqua, and when I saw him stamping other people, I naturally wanted in on the action.