July 20, 2015

Day 123: Sioux City (RAGBRAI Registration etc)

So at approximately 10pm last night I retired to my tent. At 11.15pm the Tornado Sirens sounded. For a few minutes I debated whether to get dressed and move my body to the severe weather shelter. As the wind was increasing and I could hear the thunder and see the flashes of lightning through my tent I erred on the side of caution. Just as I got to the doors the heavens opened. Through the windows I could see a few tents taking to the air! Mine appeared to be okay.

By midnight things had calmed down and the storm was moving away. So we returned to our tents. Fortunately the Helleberg Akto stood up to the test well, others were less fortunate. A good side effect of the storm was that the temperature dropped dramatically. Sleep was quick to engulf me, no doubt the hour, 108 mile ride and temperature all aided in accomplishing this.

This morning, it was wall-to-wall blue skies and sunshine, with temperatures rising fast. So after changing the oil of the Rohloff hub it was RAGBRAI Registration, blog updating and acclimatising to being amongst some 10,000 or so cyclists of various kinds.