Day 2: Harlan to Jefferson

A concert at Christ Lutheran Church in Jefferson. We camped on the church grounds at the end of Day 2.


Jennifer, Sarah and Seth stand next to our campsite in Harlan.

Ames, Iowa -- I'm excited to recap the last couple of days after not having the best internet connection in Jefferson. Let's start with Day 2.

Day 2 -- Harlan to Jefferson

My favorite day of RAGBRAI this year began on an interesting note. Sirens in the Harlan campgrounds at 2:15 am woke us up with a jolt. Storms were approaching again and we had to seek shelter until 3:00 am. We got another 3 hours of sleep after we were able to return to our tents and then got started on the longest day of the ride.

Our first stop of the day was in Kimbleton. We met up with Waldorf alums Tony and Leann Ede at the Lutheran Church. Tony is the pastor of the church and we had a great time talking with him. Plus, the World Famous French Toast at his church was awesome (the signs before the church lived up to their promise)!

After getting a tour of the church, Seth, Tony and I were continuing to talk when a man with a British accent told Tony that he had just had his camera stolen from his bicycle bag. He wondered if Tony had seen it.

When Tony replied that no cameras had been found, the Englishman said he was disappointed that someone would steal a camera on church property. He seemed very upset.

A couple of minutes later the man returned to the church with a grin on his face. He had placed the camera in the other bag on his bicycle. He apologized for making a false assumption, thanked Tony for the wonderful breakfast and said he really enjoyed having music played from the church's speakers in the front lawn.

He also mentioned that, along with his name, he wrote one other word on a poster for RAGBRAI riders to sign: INSPIRED.

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Leaving Kimbleton I noticed a sign that made me understand what Iowa hospitality is all about. Right before a large hill outside of Kimbleton, a sign from Tony's church said: "The biggest hill of the day is coming up -- hope you got enough french toast!"

It wasn't the sign that impressed me -- it was the fact that the people at Tony's church had taken the time to place a sign after their church. The sign after Kimbleton wasn't marketing their event or trying to sell french toast. It was basically a thank you message for stopping in Kimbleton. It wasn't necessary but it was there.

I couldn't think of a word to describe what I thought at the moment but the unthought-of word stayed on the tip of my tongue the whole day.

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The rest of the day was filled with hills. Jennifer, Seth, Jim and I rode with and apart from each other at different points in the day but we all made it to Jefferson safe and sound.

The welcome we received in Jefferson was incredible -- well worth having to survive such a long day on the bike.

Sarah and Jamie had found us the perfect spot for camping at Christ Lutheran Church. Pastor Amy (another Waldorf alum!) welcomed us to the church, hooked us up with a free meal, and introduced us to plenty of very nice people.

We were especially excited to see the Bohnets. Sarah is good friends with Beth (another current Waldorf student) and Beth's parents, Dave and Luann, were wonderful. Their son Jake is also going to Waldorf right now and their other son Neal is a recent graduate.

A concert on the church grounds gave us an opportunity pass out Waldorf t-shirts, bag and tattoos. One kid who we passed a shirt to was interested in cross country and I let him know that Waldorf is considering adding cross country in the near future. He seemed very excited.

Random side note: Chris Fitzgerald '07 joined up with us and ended up riding from Jefferson to Ames with our group.

A long, sunny day on the bike, meeting so many wonderful people from across the world, talking with Pastor Amy and others at Christ Lutheran, and enjoying the concert at the church made for a beautiful day.

As I went to bed that evening, the word that had been on the tip of my tongue all day ran through my head over and over. Interestingly enough, it was a word that I had heard earlier in the day.

INSPIRED.