I'm 58. I was 53 when RAGBRAI came through town. I hosted some riders and had a great time. The next morning, I got up too late to join the early riders, but I hopped on the 10-speed that I'd bought in grad school, and joined the riders for the next 8 miles. At that point there was a breakfast fundraiser in a farm yard, with picnic tables under the trees. The weather was ideal, and the smell of coffee, bacon, and pancakes was in the air. I sat at one of the picnic tables, talked to some riders, and for a few minutes pretended that I wasn't going to turn around and go back home. I bought a recumbent a few weeks later because the 10-speed just killed my back and rear. I started thinking that maybe I could do this. That November I got more serious about fitness, and started walking and strength training at the wellness center. I lost 35 pounds between November and the following July. I did the next RAGBRAI, and have done all of them since then. RAGBRAI is weirdly fun, and training for it keeps me in better shape than I might be otherwise.

I was in junior high during the Cuban missle crisis, and should remember something about it, but I just don't. I was in 8th grade, in study hall when JFK was assasinated. A teacher came in and made the announcement, and it didn't seem real. I was used to doctor shows like Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare where they always saved the patient. I remember being glued to the television for the next 4 days, and seeing Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald, seeing the casket on a horse-drawn casson, and seeing John Jr. salute the casket.

I'm from small-town Iowa, but I remember seeing a water fountain on vacation that was labelled "whites only." Creepy. I started college in 1968, during the middle of the war in Viet Nam, and I remember war protests.

I was in my bedroom, age 13, when I first heard "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on the radio, and I loved that sound. Of course I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, and I wrote all of their names on the cover of my denim-blue 3-ring binder. The first album I bought for myself was "Meet the Beatles." My favorite was Paul, the cute Beatle. Some other students were Beach Boys fans, and some Dave Clark 5, but I was a Beatle fan.

Later on, I also liked the Mamas and the Papas, and then Judy Collins and Joan Baez.