DAYS 6 and 7
Independence to Dyersville AND Dyersville to Dubuque
JULY 24, 2026
Yesterday afternoon I got a text from my fourth cousin, Loni. We have never met but corresponded for seven or eight years. DNA was our connection, which led me to discover my third-great-grandparents. My promise to someday ride RAGBRAI again and meet her – I rode once before in 2012- finally came to fruition. And Loni offered me a cottage on the Mississippi River for tonight. There was one problem. I was supposed to be in Dyersville tonight.
The last two days of RAGBRAI were relatively short, just 42 and 37 miles respectively. We had just ridden something like 60, 60, 60, 70, and 105 miles. So I was ready for another long day. I said “Yes” and simply would combine Days 6 and Day 7 into my final Day 6 ride.
Because our club was staying with two separate charters that were apart from one another, we did not have a group photo of all of us. We had decided on what would be my last day to meet in the Meeting Town, Manchester, which was just 15 miles into the ride. One problem was that due to the short distance, the other riders weren’t leaving as early as I was because I had an 80-mile ride ahead. I was wheels down at 6:57 a.m.
I found a perfect spot to wait, at a stop sign by Walmart. I texted the group and waited. And waited. I was beginning to think that I needed to roll ahead because of my mileage today. I was watching riders go by. Then I saw K—-, the girl we met at the spaghetti dinner in Harlan, go by with her family. They pulled over just ahead, so I went and met them.
I took away lots of memories, but meeting this family from Dallas was my favorite. They had seven people riding, four on two tandems and three riding single bikes. My group was a little jealous that I met K—- and her family on Tuesday, and they did not, and now I met them again. I was happy because I wanted to say goodbye to them. The team photo would have to wait until we got back to Virginia.
I had just two more goals I wanted to accomplish on RAGRBAI. One was getting a pork chop at Mr. Pork Chop. Just ahead, I saw the smoke and moved over. Today only, it was the last day for Mr. Pork Chop, chops were 2 for $20. Normally $13, they were $7 when I got one in 2012. I was in line and asked the gentleman behind me if he was getting just one. He was. I intended to buy him one, pay it forward, but he handed me a $10 bill. Okay, I took it. Got a pork chop for $10.
The other goal was peeing in a cornfield. I did not accomplish that goal.
I rolled out with about eight miles to go before Dyersville. Just as I was going and contemplating the ride ahead, a young man came up on my left. It was Finnegan.
When we met in Perry on Tuesday, I did a double-take in wondering if this was a real interaction or just someone pranking me for his friends. He had said Blue Ridge Parkway when I knew it was Skyline Drive. He said Colombia when I asked about Argentina.
Finn and I started talking. And I really had to lift my pace to keep up with him. We were going 20 mph / 32 kph, and sometimes faster. I maintained the pace for one mile and finally tried to excuse myself because I couldn’t keep going. Finn said, “Grab my wheel.” So I moved behind him and rode in his draft. I sat there for another minute or two before pulling out of his draft and riding beside him again.
Finn told me he was glad I had a memorable name. When he saw me in Perry, he instantly remembered me. He was on a year-long trip from New Jersey to Texas and down to Argentina.
Finn said that when I rode with him, it was his first day of doubt. He had left New Jersey a couple of weeks earlier, but this was the first mountain that he had to ride. As doubt entered his mind, I came along and started talking with him. I rode at the speed of Finn, fully loaded, and for the next 20 miles, to the top of the mountain near Thorton Gap (US 211). He went from doubting he could do this to forgetting the pain and enjoying the ride.
As for Colombia, Finn just ran out of time. He wants to go back to Colombia someday and continue to Argentina, but for now is concentrating on his college studies. The day I saw him on Skyline Drive, he looked like a guy on a bike and not a cyclist. Of course, he was a touring cyclist at that point. Today he was a cyclist. A cyclist that I struggled to keep up with. A young cyclist. We rode together to Dyersville and said goodbye.
In Dyersville, I came to a family sitting in chairs in the street which is where there was shade. I told them I, too, was from a town where they made a movie – “Groundhog Day.” The parents knew the town but not sure their daughter did.
I followed my route to Candy Cane Park, which is where Brancel Bicycle Charters would be camping tonight. And where my gear would be delivered. Actually, it was already there, but there was nothing I could do at that point. I changed my Wahoo route to show tomorrow’s route, from Dyersville to Dubuque.
Having doubled up on the riding today, I knew that I would be riding on open roads the rest of the way and not the closed roads for RAGBARI. But they were mostly back-country roads that were lightly traveled. And this is Iowa, home of “Iowa nice.”
Back at camp, I knew Brancel brought in The Swing Crew to entertain his clients. I saw them in 2012, and they were good. But I wouldn’t miss a night in the tent. I rolled on to Field of Dreams. I thought that I might be missing out on whatever RAGBRAI and Field of Dreams had planned for 20,000 cyclists. I approached the front gate and told them I was with RAGBRAI and even flashed my rider’s wristband. They let me in.
I saw a sign for donation (it did not say a fee) and thought I was given something. It turned out that Field of Dreams is free, but parking a car will cost $20. I was on a somewhat tight schedule because I had to get to Dubuque, drive back to Dyersville to pick up my gear (and shower), then drive back to Dubuque for dinner with my friends.
I saw the field, walked in the outfield, and grabbed a drink at the snack bar. I did not go up to the farmhouse or museum. Some people played in the outfield while others hit.
I headed out to Farley, just six miles away. The roads became very rolling, although most weren’t categorized as climbs. I found Delaney’s Ice Cream Shoppe (Yelp) in Farley and got a strawberry ice cream cone while watching one girl working hard to get ready for tomorrow’s influx of 20,000 riders. Most riders would be coming through between 6:30-9:30 a.m., so I don’t know if they would be serving lots of ice cream or not. It was the only ice cream I bought all week.
After Farley, it was open roads to Dubuque. I would pass through Epworth in four miles and Centralia in another six miles, but with no food trucks, I saw no place or need to stop.
As I entered Dubuque, I started to check the distance remaining. At 16km (my display is in kilometers), there were 10 miles remaining. In another 1.6 km (14.4 remaining), I saw a sign for 10 km remaining. I thought it might be the signs, but it turned out that it was me.
I counted down to Five Miles to go and didn’t see another sign. No problem. I think I was a little ahead of the sign placement crew.
I came to McAleece Park, which is where we checked in seven days ago. I went to the boat ramp and asked a boater to take a photo of me dipping my front tire in the Mississippi River. And with that, I had done it: biked across Iowa beginning with a tire dip in the Missouri River on Saturday and ending with a tire dip in the Mississippi River on Friday, one day earlier than official RAGBRAI.
I did not realize it immediately, but I did not go to the dip site used by RAGBRAI, which probably accounts for being one mile off. I had used a GPX file provided by the organization but may have modified it to go near where I parked and a dip spot where we checked in. The actual dip spot was probably one mile away, but on a Friday afternoon, I would not have wanted to ride that last mile on Kerper Blvd. to get there.
I rode back to the field where I had parked my car. I removed the front wheel, loaded the bike, drove to a gas station to fill up (to avoid buying gas in Illinois), and met someone in the store who also had just finished. Then I drove back to Dysersville. I picked up my gear and used my last shower punch for one last shower.
As I was leaving Dyersville, I saw a guy pushing his bike. I did a U-turn and pulled up beside him. “I will take you and your bike to wherever you want to go.” Todd said, “Sure, would you take me to Farley?” I told him I would; I had ridden through there just a few hours earlier.
It turns out that he was with a group that always follows up the Century Day with a “Liquid Century.” The group consumes 100 drinks, be it water, Gatorade, Cokes, or something harder. The group leaders can’t break camp until all 100 drinks are consumed. And this is why one pushes their bike after only 40 miles. On the flat.
YouTuber Bane summarized RAGBRAI by saying, “If you’re not coming to this event to laugh and have a good time, then you’re at the wrong event.
“If you just want to bike across the state, there are a lot prettier states than Iowa.”
MILES RIDDEN: 79
MILES WITH PWCC: 0
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