The Last RAGBRAI Post?

Maybe, maybe not...

Here's Tom from the Roadside Boys

And here I am playing behind Teresa and John of the Buck Hollow Band.

Another picture of John. He knows A LOT of songs in the key of G ! What a guy!!!

Here's Jim

This is Ed

I forgot her name. If I remember it, I'll edit this caption.

Alternate Ragbrai Entertainment

While sometimes entertained by others while on RAGBRAI

I met up with Tom H. of the Roadside Boys this evening and we played in a courtyard for beer.

Our fans had to wait to get in to hear us...

... and there were bikes strewn about along the roadside.

I had some time to check out some local stuff

This actually looked like an educational stop!

it was fun for all ages!

It's hard to get the facts straight but for what it's worth:

1) We had plenty of beer to drink

2) The bikes and people were not waiting to hear us

3) I can't find the picture of the actual jail cell!

4) I don't have a clue what was going on in the last two pictures!

the Bluffs

In the heartland:

There was no need for this!

but organic shapes persist.

and mechanized food distribution right next door...,

big heads are in charge at all times!

and there are places to drop your money easy as pie!

The locals say the corn crop is the best they've seen in years! It's all that early rain that did it! I suspect that all those wind turbines have stirred up the weather patterns and are actually doing more than just generating electricity. It's the 'butterfly effect' in a grand scale!

Bike Expo!

Lots of bike related gear at the RAGBRAI expo:

Dude! Those are thongs! Back away!

Butt'r? What the heck is that?

RAGBRAI bike shops are the best!

A word from our sponsor!

Is this a binding contract?

Iowa Ribfest!

Vegetarians beware!

Willingham's is here!

and the Cowboys from Fort Worth

and Chicago, of course!

Australian? Put another rib on the barbie?

Texas, OK, another Texas BBQ!

and yet another Texas BBQ and winner of the 2009 Naper-vile ribfest!

What, they never heard of Kansas City ribs? And why did they compete in Naper-vile ? In any event, a whole lot of ribs was et.

Bananas!

Here's the set-up:

It's about bananas

So there's this guy. He's eating a banana. He's dressed as a banana. And he's riding a bike that is a banana! And it's a Chiquita banana!

Here's another from past years. It's a Chiquita also!

It's ALL about the RAGBRAI !!!

The next week of posts are going to be only about the RAGBRAI

On the Peanut Butter Jam Website

I ride a bike in the RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) and I carry a banjo on my back the entire route. I sometimes will stop and play a few notes on occasion. Here is a collection of photos of me that people have taken and posted on the internet. The one above is from the Peanut Butter Jam in 2008.

I think this was in 2007 , maybe Manchester, Iowa?

This was something like the last town on the last day of the ride and I probably spent two hours in this town greeting the other riders as they came into town.

Next to a drier bin in Stout, Iowa, 2007

There was this corn drier at the corner of the route that provided some shade and a good place to play as the mass of bikes passed through.

On stage in Humbolt, Iowa 2006

The bank of Iowa booked us (The Roadside Boys) for early morning entertainment in Humbolt.

On the side of the road in Humbolt, 2006

We found someone's front yard and just started playing stuff. In the black box is a melodion (accordion) that came in handy when a rider asked if we could do a polka.

On stage in Clarion, Iowa, 2006

This was another Roadside Boys gig where we had a great time drinking beer and jamming with the local talent.

Someplace in Iowa, 2005

This was near a rest stop. I found this picture by searching "Ragbrai Banjo" on Google. It's in Iowa, but I don't know where exactly.

Maybe in Malcom, Iowa, 2006

The local fire department placed a water hose out to spray into the street to help cool off the riders on this 98 degree day. A rider took this picture of me playing under the stream of water and posted it with the title "Water Music".

Crystal Lake, Iowa, 2005

This photo was taken by a news reporter in a town that bordered Crystal lake. The two women sitting next to me were members of the C.U.B.S (see next picture below).

Someplace in Iowa, 2005

I remember this guy who took this photo. He asked all sorts of questions. The jersey I have on celebrates the 10th year of the club known as C.U.B.S., or the Chicago Urban Bicycling Society. It was a bike club I joined in 2005.

A cornfield in Iowa, 2005

This is me with Lee, the president of the Tall Dogs Club. Lee asked if I could play some banjo tunes while he relieved himself in the cornfield out back. He said it was the highlight of the ride.

An intersection in Iowa, 2005

I felt that the volunteers who were out in the sun all day directing traffic needed some entertainment too, so I took some time to welcome them and their hard work.

Fenton, Iowa, 2005

This is a picture of me with some veteran members of the C.U.B.S. I think I grabbed this from their website.

Crystal Lake, Iowa, 2005

This picture was taken by a Register photographer. It clearly shows the "Ragbrai" logo on the head of my banjo.

I should be in Iowa tonight. I have no idea what I'll find on the road for the coming week, but I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Ride to Work and Work to Ride

at the Work Day Breakfast Stations in Fort Collins:
There were about 30 breakfast stations located all around the city. I thought it would be fun to ride to as many as I could between 6:30 and 9:30 am. It was sort of a preview for the RAGBRAI next month.

Of Note:

1)The lines at New Belgium were too long so I didn't go in. The word on the street is to get there early!

2) I got a free T-shirt at Recycled Cycles station.

3) The In-Situ and Tastebuds Epicurean Cafe had the best coffee!

4) The homeless in Old Town chowed down at the Oak Street Plaza Station.

5) I went way out of the way to make it to the Center for Disease Control sponsored station;

A Roadside Boy visits FC

Hey! Is that not Tom and his guitar?

It's Tom from the 'Roadside Boys' Band !

Not to be confused with this Tom from the Edgar Rice Band. It's entirely another Tom who also plays guitar and plays in a band that I occasionally inject banjo licks from time to time.

Here are Tom and me and Tom's brother John on the roadside in 2005!

We get together once a year on the highly religious feast of Ragbrai to eat pork chops and pie while we entertain 10,000+ bike riders. This year Ragbrai begins on the night of July 18 with music from the Barenaked Ladies. Then someplace on someone's farm or near a grain elevator or next to a cornfield, if you're lucky, and you're riding a bike through Iowa, you might hear the Roadside Boys entertaining YOU! It could happen.

The RAGBRAI banjo

The old banjo needs an update:

Here it is with some fellow school teachers at RAGBRAI XXXV

Here are some more recent pictures

Detail of broken tail piece

I was at Avo's bluegrass jam last night when the old banjo began to cry out for help. This particular banjo was made from an old pressure cooker and a furniture leg. It was played for many years, exposed to all kinds of weather, stored in a car trunk during the winter months, and it never, ever had it's own protective case.
Last night while at the Avo's jam, certain structural abnormalities of the tail piece were noted during the playing of the instrument. The banjo quickly lost tune and it became apparent that the banjo could no longer hold tension on the strings.

The tail piece, which was probably 35 years old, decided to fold!

Team Whatever!: Archive # 1032

The Olympics are over! & we didn't get invited to attend the DNC!

There's work to do around the house, so here's some pictures of some RAGBRAI Team buses!

Alice! Who the hell is Alice?

Hey, It looks like I had some video of Mike McAbee!

Ice Cream!

RAGBRAI is over, but I still have over 5GB of photos and movies to look though. Also, right now we have been busy doing a few things around the house. So, the heck with bandwith, I'm going to post a few things this week in video format. 

I think I stopped at Beekman's home made ice cream maybe four or five times to have a root beer float.   The ice cream makers are powered by antique gas engines. There's even a 95 year-old man that hangs around the ice cream truck to fix the engines when they break down!

Le Claire, Iowa

Two Hobos together in one picture! Here I am with Mr. Rick Gage, otherwise known as Iowa Blackie! Mr. Gage remembers the exact day he jumped on his first ore car at the age of 14, and the very moment he gave his life to the rails. He was given the name Iowa Blackie by a group of hobos in 1984, at a hobo "circus" in Minneapolis. We exchanged a number of banjo jokes and went on our way!

Today we are biking through these fine towns:
Tipton
Bennett
New Liberty
Maysville
Eldridge
Argo
Le Claire