71.2 miles, 1892 ft of climb

Iowa map, Coralville to Davenport routeIowa map close up, Coralville to Davenport route

The last day went quick, so not many pictures were taken. It was basically all downhill. We had another Thai meal in Davenport to celebrate then drove home. After 500 miles in 7 days on the bike, we were home in 2 and half hours. Thank you, internal combustion engine.

Me facing the camera with late 19th Century buildings behind, one with a colorful mural that reads Eulenspiegel Puppets
West Liberty (pop 3858) The Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Co
Numerous cyclist filling the main street of a turn of the century small town main street.
West Liberty (pop 3858), main street
Numerous cyclist filling the main street of a turn of the century small town main street.
The USAF riders helped out with fixing flats for people on the course. A big reason I rode the Surly was I could do any needed emergency maintenance myself. I’m still not comfortable fixing a flat on my relatively new Cannondale road bike with disc brakes. Next time…
Numerous cyclists of different shapes and sizes on the street with a mural on he side of a corner building behind.
Despite the numerous conversations overheard during the week, there’s no one way to ride RAGBRAI..
Me and Nitya looking at the camera with the Mississippi River behind.
Muscatine (pop 23,797) lunch break. Nitya and I on the Mississippi. Many people dipped their front tire here. It was a good idea for the river to river aspect since the tire dip in Davenport turned out to be absurd.
Me looking at the camera while riding the bike, other cyclists are behind and to my left.
One last road action shot before it’s all over.
Action shot from the bike with numerous cyclists no the road riding towards an industrial facility that has a conveyor over the road.
Continental Cement of Davenport. Providers of cement for the Panama Canal, Empire State Building, and the new Minnesota Vikings Stadium.
Me and Nitya looking posing for the camera below an electronic sign that says "The City of Davenport"
Davenport. The line to dip your tire in the river looked an hour. We did this instead. The woman on the left and the picture taker are a family we camped next to on Day 1 in Storm Lake and just happened to run into them again. The faces are a result of posing/waiting 5 minutes for a certain slide that never rotated back around on the board. This is the best of the lot.

Day 1 – Sioux City to Storm Lake (72.2 miles, 3592 ft of climb)

Day 2 – Storm Lake to Carroll (57.3 miles, 1778 ft of climb)

Day 3 – Carroll to Ames (86.1 miles, 1564 ft of climb)

Day 4 – Ames to Des Moines (54.5 miles, 1242 ft of climb)

Day 5 – Des Moines to Tama-Toledo (88.9 miles, 4218 ft of climb)

Day 6 – Tama-Toledo to Coralville (80.6 miles, 2881 ft of climb)

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Contact CBA for custom guided rides through Chicago’s neighborhoods and for gift certificates for the cyclists in your life. Also, have a look at The Map, where you can plan your own ride, run, or walk around Chicago.