I did my first RAGBRAI at age 52. Like you, I'm from Iowa, and I read about RAGBRAI all my life, and always thought, hmm, someday. Seven years ago (does that work out right?) the town where I lived was a host community, and I hosted a friend and his buddies. I made lasagna for them, opened a bottle of good merlot, and we had a great time. The next morning I joined the late risers and rode my old 10-speed for about 8 miles along the route. The late risers, by the way, tend to have the goofiest things on their helmets, and add other things to their jerseys, like feather boas, etc. I loved the humor aspect of the whole thing. About at the point where I needed to turn around and go back to my real life, I stopped at a farmyard where a nearby church was serving breakfast. Okay, the weather was perfect, the smell of pancakes, coffee, and sausage was in the air, and I sat at a picnic table and pretended I wasn't going to turn around.

I had heard that recumbents are more comfortable, so I did some research and bought one, and put on several miles for the rest of that summer. Around Thanksgiving I decided to get serious about it, and started being more careful about what I ate. (My weight at the time was 169 pounds.) The charter service that operates out of the town where I lived requires everyone to send in their first payment in February, so I held my breath and wrote out a check, knowing that I still had a lot of weight I needed to lose. I lifted weights, and that winter I walked like I was the one who invented walking. That year was a southern route, with plenty of hills. By the time RAGBRAI started, I had lost 35 pounds. That spring and summer, I rode 900 training miles before starting RAGBRAI. Climbing on a recumbent has its challenges, and I wouldn't say it was easy, but I only walked up one hill that year. It was work but by the end of the week, I found myself thinking, "Oh darn, only one more day left."

I've done the last 6 RAGBRAIs. I'm 58 years old now, and I'm signed up for this year's RAGBRAI. It's another southern route, and I wish I could say that I kept all that weight off. Some of it came back, but I think that getting ready for RAGBRAI forces me to get into better shape than I would otherwise. I'll probably lose a few pounds in the next few weeks, and if I have to walk a hill or two, I'll do that. RAGBRAI is a ride, not a race, and nobody cares how long it takes to get to the host town.

By the way, one of those years I saw John and Ann Karras sitting on a park bench in one of the pass-through towns. I had a disposable camera was in my bike bag, so I dashed back to the bike, grabbed the camera, and asked him for permission to take his picture. He was very gracious about it. So, I took a couple of pictures of John, Ann, and a woman on the other side of the bench. Afterward, she turned to him and asked if he was famous. I thought to myself, hell yes, but didn't wait around to explain. Maybe he did.