Democractic hopeful John Edwards became the first candidate in the 2008 presidential race to declare his intention to ride a bicycle with Lance Armstrong at RAGBRAI.
The US senator from North Carolina, and 2006 VP candidate, said he'll join Armstrong in Hampton on Wednesday on the ride to Cedar Falls, the location of an evening fund-raiser concert for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Sure, Edwards is probably looking for some support in the Iowa caucuses coming up early in 2008. But his wife, Elizabeth, suffers from breast cancer and the couple say they admire Armstrong for surviving cancer and his efforts to call attention to the disease.
Meanwhile, more than 700 youths, aged 20 or younger, showed up to Armstrong's first official public appearance at RAGBRAI. The Des Moines Register reported that the youth-only gathering lasted about an hour, and they asked some pretty good questions, from cycling to Sheryl Crow.
The blogosphere has been humming along the RAGBRAI route. The rolling party across Iowa even comes with his own WiFi centers, where riders can beam their impressions of the ride to the world.
For instance, reading the THEVCBlog, I learn what's important to the riders at this year's RAGBRAI: pie, more pie, sphaghetti dinners and Internet access.
The prevailing winds on the first RAGBRAI day didn't cooperate with RAGBRAI riders on 75-mile ride to Spencer. The MBBC blogger reported a headwind or crosswind 90% of the time. And because this is the flattest RAGBRAI ever, there's no walking on hills. But the blogger says they had to stop to walk through some of the towns because of the congestion.
Tim's RAGBRAI Page tells about the shower facilities at the local fairgrounds:
“$3 bought a satisfying tepid shower in a cow barn at the fairgrounds. Hundreds of people ushered into a yard, drop your drawers, take your towel, walk through, hurry up. Oh well, it felt good anyhow.”
Pat at Pat's Ride Across Iowa talks about learning the value of drafting. A member of Team LiveStrong, he has pictures of Armstrong speaking at the youth conference in Spencer.
But to learn what RAGBRAI is really about, just read the Cedar Falls Courier, the hometown newspaper for the Wednesday night host city. Interviewing local organizers about plans for the 10,000 visitors and the LiveStrong fund-raiser, an entertainment committee member boasted to the newspaper about the refreshments:
“It will be the largest beer garden probably in RAGBRAI history.”
From what I've heard, that's really saying something.
Feeds to RAGBRAI blogs and news posted in the right column at the Feed Zone.
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