Welcome to the home of Team UFFDA, a non-profit, disorganized bunch of 20 or so Norwegians (and one Hollander, but don't let on like you know) whose major purpose is to ride bikes across Iowa.  This activity generally occurs late in July.

OK, I'm a little slow here but I will get some really interesting things put up before RAGBRAI starts - maybe...

And now for something completely different...

24 July 05 - Update - RETIRED NAVY GUY! Krissy met up with the Navy guy again this year. Last year he was mustering out on the last day and rode the last 15 miles in dress whites!?! At least he isn't a Swede. Copies of picture are available, but not Krissy, unless you are rich and have a Corvette.

24 July 05 - WAKE UP CHICKENS! What's the idea here? We all rolled off the floor at 0500 to start the expected hot ride over to Sheldon before the sun was even up. The selected route was one of the most circuitous, leading in all 4 directions. We were treated to a view of the Poverty Acres confinement beef operation. Poverty looks pretty good in Iowa when you can afford a 20 foot high wrought iron gate for the proclamation. With the recent lifting of the ban on Canadian beef imports, we were glad to see they had a small sign on their mailbox encouraging us to eat more Canadian beef. How nice they are helping our neighbors to the north.

WHAT? NO ORANGES? Amazingly enough, this time as we rode through Orange City, we were actually allowed to stop and get of our bikes. In fact, we were welcomed! What a change from the first time we rode through when they tossed us each and orange and told us to keep on riding. There were actually several dining choices, including poffertjes and Dutch Puppies. Poffertjes are quarter-size pancakes. None of us was brave enough to try a Dutch Puppy (woof?).

BEER SLIDE? Due to the extreme heat, Jon and Joyce decided to take advantage of a beer slide on the outskirts of Sheldon. For those that don't know, a beer slide is like a giant Slip-N-Slide for - ahem - grownups. All you need is about 50 feet of plastic sheeting about 4 feet wide, a bunch of bales for the sides, a nice slope, stale beer (or water), and a bunch of people willing to throw themselves down the whole mess, usually ending in a ditch full of stale beer (or water). It usually is adjacent to a large supply of beer, making the sliding part quite entertaining toward the end of the day. Unfortunately, there were no pictures.

23 July 05 - BOMB POPS! The city of LeMars and the great people from Blue Bunny welcomed us to town with FREE BOMB POPS - not just the little bitty ones you can buy at the K for $3 at a Royal's games, but giant ones. We even got to wire up the van for trailer lights and nobody got zapped.

22 July 05 - PIRATES?? Still no word from Cabin Boy - er, I meant Cap'n Boyd - about the appearance of pirates this year. Just in case, you can check out their schedule here.

19 July 05 - HILL CHALLENGE! We have started training for RAGBRAI. Belinda drove the troll out south of Kansas City up to the top of a really big hill. The troll got on his bike and coasted all the way down without even needing to stop once. Belinda met him at the bottom of the hill, and they drove back to the top so she could have a turn. It was lots of fun. RAGBRAI should be a snap.

18 July 05 - IT CHANGED! Krissy wanted a new page, so here it is. The usual sporadic on-the-road updates from RAGBRAI will start Saturday July 23, or maybe the 22nd if a rash of ambition sets in.

You may try to irritate the old troll by sending email to Ole at lutefisk.net