RAGBRAI 2016 Day 5, Centerville to Ottumwa, 50.7 Miles

After the hundred miles yesterday, I think everyone was happy to has a much shorter day to Ottumwa. Plus for the first time we had normal winds from the NW so we could hope for a tail wind near the finish. We started early, with fog still hanging near Rathbun Dam.  

The day passed pretty quickly although a few river hills slowed us down. We had the best pie and ice cream in a church basement in the last town, and suddenly we were done at 11 in the morning?!?  

This gave us lots of time for napping, as the cooler temps and winds meant our tent under shade trees felt heavenly. 

I must say that the weather on RAGBRAI this year might be as good as it's ever been. Temps in the 80s, no mosquitos, no strong winds, barely a sprinkle of rain, and not unbearably humid. Except for the Saturday before it started of course.  I think most RAGBRAIs are hotter, windier, rainier, buggier, and more humid.  And longer. Although not aways hillier. 

Anyway, the weather still seemed really hot but it could have been much much worse. We got lucky again.  As long as it doesn't rain all day tomorrow!  We'll see. 

The camping area in town tonight was a huge park and I think fit most of all the riders. The showers lines were long though, leading to lots of hose showers out on the lawn!

At the expo, Jim and I tried some Marine pull-ups and won a free T-shirt!

With only 2 days left it feels like we are getting there. Our legs are a little sore but after 350 miles I guess that's allowed :)

Here's some interesting facts about todays route from the official RAGBRAI Pre-Ride back in June:
http://ragbrai.com/2016/06/09/ragbrai-route-inspection-pre-ride-day-5-centerville-to-ottumwa/

Thursday’s Route:
Centerville to Rathbun – 5.7 miles
Rathbun to Moravia (Meeting) – 10.2 miles
Moravia to Unionville – 9.6 miles
Unionville to Blakesburg – 12.5 miles
Blakesburg to Ottumwa– 13.6 miles

Total Mileage – 50.7 milesTotal Feet of Climb – 1,999