The heat and humidity conspired to challenge us even before the ride began. What should have been a four-hour drive from Des Moines to Rock Rapids, our starting point, ended up taking over six hours due to our van vapor-locking several times along the way. Our chauffeur and personal sag for the week, Cheryl's mother, Juanita, ended up staying in Rock Rapids all day Sunday and waiting 'till Monday morning to have the van checked out. No big problems found, just stay away from the ethanol gas (common in this part of the country) while the temperature and humidity are so high. Juanita rejoined us Monday evening in Algona.

Say hello again to Jack Bricker, our friend from Omaha. Jack and his wife, Katie, had a date later in the week to attend their son's wedding in the far Northwest, so Jack was only able to ride with us the first few days. We only saw Katie the first night when she dropped Jack off and Thursday night when she picked him up to head out West.

Katie did stay the first night. Here she's showing off her "beads" to our team captain, Frank ("Huck") Thompson. Beads were the big, new theme item this year, as you may notice in some of the pictures. As for some of the conversations they provoked; .... Don't ask!

And say hello again to Kevin, our team mate from Des Moines. We caught up with Kevin partying in down town Rock Rapids Sunday evening. Note the bicycles hanging from the street lights in the background. These were decorations hung by the various towns we rode through this year, and not a new way to park your trusty steed when things get crowded.