[Leica] Some shots from RAGBRAI

[abridge at gmail.com (Adam Bridge)]

I've just finished up the 2008 RAGBRAI - a ride for about 10,000
intimate friends that begins in western Iowa near the Missouri River
(this time in the town of Missouri Valley about a half-hour north of
Council Bluffs) and finishes on the Mississippi River (this time in Le
Claire).

The riding was quite hilly - I did about 15,000 feet of climbing over
the course of the 370 miles I rode. (I got some sort of gluck and
missed a day and a half of riding.)

I'll start the with image I like the best. This was taken near the end
of the ride on Day Five so people are pretty well spread out. We're
descending toward the towns of Toledo and Tama.

<http://www.adam-bridge.com/Images/WindingRoadHomewardBound.jpg>

And this one as a group of us followed one of the very rare trucks
that needed to share the course with us. Most of the time the lane in
our direction was closed to traffic with on-coming traffic heavily
restricted. But it's an ag economy and goods and services have to be
provided.

<http://www.adam-bridge.com/Images/Trailing.jpg>

This gives the idea of a typical mild hill. The hills in the early
part of the ride were much steeper and more frequent as we cross the
Loess Hills region of Iowa. It also gives a feel for the variety of
folks riding.

<http://www.adam-bridge.com/Images/AnotherHill.jpg>

It was a great ride with decent weather and even abnormally cool
temperatures and humidity. We rode through some of the Iowa areas that
flooded so badly - we're talking a 500 year flood here - and the area
was hard hit both in infrastructure and jobs. The wet spring and
summer has really pushed the corn back which is obvious as I rode.

But the people we met were upbeat and positive. I was honored to have met 
them.

Adam Bridge