S1 E2: Cycling and Cuisine: A Day in the Life at Ragbrai 52

Foreign.

Hey, hey funky fam.

Welcome back to the outdoor funky podcast your go to show for family friendly outdoor adventure cycling stories and camping life with a twist of funk.

I'm your host, Nicholas Cleave, also known as Mr. Funky Teacher.

I'm out here on a ride of a lifetime during Ragbraai 52, the Epic Bike ride across Iowa that brings thousands, thousands of riders together for community camping and connection.

And yes, of course food, which we'll be talking about here in this episode.

Now to today was day two of this, of this ride here and we cruised through some really interesting towns, great towns.

We left out of Milford, that's where we had camped overnight.

And our first town that we went through was Wahpeton.

And then for the first time ever, Ragbrai did something that's never known.

Out of 52 years, it's never gone to another state during the ride until now.

We actually went up to Browns county or Browns park right over the border in Minnesota.

And so that was pretty exciting.

They kind of in this Browns park area next to this lake, they next to Loon Lake I think it was, they, they set up this Browns park and it was like a, like a mini city for, for all of the thousands of riders.

And then we, the last pass through town we did was Superior, Iowa.

They had some delicious food there and we wrapped up the day in Estherville.

And that's where we're coming to you at with this podcast is in Estreville.

Now this ride, it was a solid day of riding.

The sun was not too hot today.

It was overcast all day, looked like it was going to rain all day, but it didn't.

And it was actually a little bit of a cooler day in the bike ride which is I think quite the treat on the ride.

So the real question at the end of the day two is what's for supper?

That's what today.

Boy, that consumed a lot of our thinking this evening.

So I'm very excited because I'm sitting down post ride, post food with two incredible human beings.

Not just my good friend, my best friend from college, still welcher.

So great to have him here.

Joining us on the podcast, we also have my 16 year old daughter back, Maya Cleave.

She's back with us here.

Both of them we're going to dive into, into talking about not only were we talking about biking, but we're going to talk about some food we had talk about some cravings and some small town Iowa eats.

So whether you are here for the podcast to hear about Some bike touring tips?

Some camp kitchen hacks, or just here for some laughs?

After this 40 mile day, you're in the right place.

So go ahead and say hi to the listeners.

Well, hi there.

That is Mr. Stihl Welcher, the legendary Mr.

Still Welcher.

And we have Maya Cleave.

Hi.

So now we got my writing partners here.

So excited to have them.

Now here's my question for each of you.

What did you eat tonight and how fast did it disappear once that food was put in front of you?

Well, I started off the day with two bananas from the Iowa conservation tent.

Now, is bananas part of your morning?

Usually on Ragbraai, you know, you grab.

Whatever you can eat.

This time it was bananas.

Nice.

So then.

Then, Maya, did you partake in some bananas today too?

Yeah, I had like three.

We bought four bananas.

Two for me, two for my dad.

We ate those, and then we both had, like, two from the conservation.

I have a conservation tent too.

Definitely.

All right, and then let's go from there.

What else did.

What else was on the menu for today and day two of Ragbraai?

Check it.

I was in Superior, Iowa, and they had a grilled cheese sandwich tent.

And I really enjoy their grilled cheese sandwiches.

And when I saw it, I thought, that's what I need to eat.

I selected a premium grilled cheese sandwich with tomato and bacon in addition to the grilled cheese.

Now, still, I have to say, I have to jump on this and say you had mentioned, hey, the grilled cheese is good.

You've had it before.

But you said, hey, you know, I'm gonna get a grilled cheese.

I was a little suspicious.

That's not something you would typically eat on Ragbraai.

What first inspired you to go after the grilled cheese?

I thought, I'm gonna give this shop a chance.

It's really hot outside.

I don't know, is that the best thing for me to eat?

But I'm gonna give it a chance.

And what was on your grilled cheese specifically?

The first time ever?

Sure.

I don't remember.

What was in your grilled cheese today?

Today I had the bacon and tomato.

Was it called the Baconator?

I think it was called, like, CBT cheese, Bacon, tomato.

And it did not disappoint.

And I'm gonna tell you, I was watching Steel eat it.

My daughter and I, we were kind of walking around a little bit, and Steel had gotten this grilled cheese, and it just looks so good.

We walked around and in fact, Maya and I each got one.

Now, Maya, what did you Think about this blt, because you got a.

You just got a simple.

Just a regular old grilled cheese, which you also can't go wrong with.

How did you think it was?

It was good.

My dad and I both got smoothies before and I wasn't sure I was very hungry, but I got it anyways and it was good.

And then we also had Gatorade because we both needed electrolytes.

Yeah, absolutely.

I forgot that we did get those smoothies beforehand.

And we hammered down those smoothies.

You can't go wrong with these delicious smoothies.

Get some quick energy to kind of going in ya.

And then we debated if we were hungry.

But when we saw still eating his grilled cheese, we had to have one.

And so now still after this delicious grilled cheese, which we all.

Maya and I each got a grilled cheese too, based on the inspiration from you.

Then what was it also in store later on in a day for you when it came to delicious food on Ragbraai?

I don't think I'm done with the discussing the grilled cheese sandwich.

See, as you are aware with grilled cheese sandwiches, the bread is toasty and crunchy, and then the cheese is gooey and the bacon is salty.

So it's a crunchy, salty treat, which is perfect for cycling across the great state of Iowa.

Highly recommended.

What was the name of this.

Do you remember the name of this business?

No.

It was say cheese.

Say cheese.

Say cheese.

They're a great group.

I was gonna say you probably took a picture of it.

I did.

I did take a picture of say cheese.

And they were super friendly too.

They were so friendly because I was asking about the different grilled cheeses that they had.

They were so super friendly.

Yeah.

Once you order what you want, they give you a ticket and you take it down to the cook who cooks and grills the grilled cheese sandwich.

It's a very efficient operation.

And I saw a lot of people walking around with those grilled cheeses.

I saw a lot of people enjoying them.

So.

Absolutely.

Is there any final words on a grilled cheese and anything that we want to say about it?

The line goes by super fast.

Yeah, don't let the line scare you.

You see a big old long line going up into the grilled cheese tent.

Don't let us scare you away.

You jump in that line because you'll blink like three times and you'll be up there ordering your delicious grilled cheese sandwich.

It'll be in your hand, it'll be in your mouth, and you'll be have a full belly.

That can fuel you for the next 20 miles.

What do you think Steel peak performance.

Demands a grilled cheese sandwich?

It does.

I don't think it can go wrong.

It's really one of the.

Is it a perfect day eating food for Ragbraai?

I think you got to switch it up occasionally, but it's a go to for sure.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, I, I tell you, you know, thinking on, you know, that that was the last town that before our overnight town, we came into Estherville, and we're in Estherville right now.

And we got the Estreville.

We came.

Came into Estherville.

We.

We were able to set up our tent.

We're actually next to the high school, next to the high school football field.

We are.

We have our tent set up.

It's been a cloudy day all day.

A little bit of a breeze, but it was a shorter ride, only 40 miles.

A little over 40 miles.

It was a nice ride.

But after we got our tent set up, we got our showers done.

We decided, hey, let's go do some exploring.

And the shuttle system wasn't quite where we wanted it to be.

We stood in line for a shuttle for a while.

We ended up.

We're like, hey, you know what?

We're going to be doing some more delicious eating today, and so let's just walk it.

So we walked a little over a mile instead of taking the shuttle, which is okay.

You know, some towns have more efficient shuttle systems than not if you do Ragbraai, you'll see they.

They.

It was a good choice for us to walk, but there was a particular mission that we were on because, you know, some hours had gone by since we had eaten last and it was time to get some more food.

So who.

Maya, you had it in your heart yesterday to get something now, before Maya, you, you talk about it.

What?

Maya, can you talk about what happened yesterday?

We were in this line waiting to go into the church to get a spaghetti meal, and they came out and said they were out of red sauce.

So it was just butter and the noodles.

Now, I don't know about y', all, but that did not sound appetizing to Mr. Steel Welcher.

Still, do you agree with that?

You know, I can make it work, but we wanted something different.

You wanted red sauce with your spaghetti.

That's correct.

So still.

And I appreciated Steel, you know, taking a stand and, and turned to Maya and I and says, that's not going to work for me.

And we walked away.

I also agree with Steel and, and I Agreed, too.

That was the right move.

We ended up going for some Godfather's pizza last night, which was also pretty.

Delicious, except he wouldn't let me get pineapple pizza.

Yeah, let's talk about that for just a minute.

We're going back in time of day here.

I don't know where you all sit on this, but pineapple pizza still.

Where do you stand on pineapple pizza?

It's the best pizza with Canadian bacon.

Maya.

I second that.

Now I'm.

I kind of stand.

I draw a line in the sand here.

I don't believe that pineapple should be warmed up.

It's.

It shouldn't be.

It's.

It's like a crime against humanity when you warm up pineapple and put it on pizza.

I mean, are you animals?

Pineapple pie, pineapple cobbler, pineapple pizza.

Pineapple on a steak, Pineapple and trip kebab.

Fair enough.

Fair.

You make some really great points.

Maybe I'm too close minded to the pineapple on pizza.

You ever take a peach, slice it in half, grill it, put some honey in the dimple where the seed was?

Amazing.

Hot fruit is where it's at.

Maya, do you agree with that?

Where do you.

What are your thoughts?

You have anything to add to that?

No.

No.

So you know what?

Maybe I need to.

Maybe I need to give it a try again if I have a chance to get some pineapple pizza.

Well, Maya wanted me to get pineapple and ham pizza, and I looked at her like she just, like, said a cuss word.

Well, yeah, I wanted him, but more so Canadian bacon or Canadian bacon.

That's what it was.

Canadian bacon and.

And pineapple.

But, you know, maybe I need to keep it more of an open mind of to having that on a pizza.

So, you know, never know where the week will.

Will take us for food.

All right, so back tonight.

Now, it didn't work out last night to get our spaghetti, and we ended up at a Godfather's pizza eating some delicious pizza.

But Maya had on her heart that she wanted pizza or.

I'm sorry, no, she wanted spaghetti again, but she wanted spaghetti with the red sauce.

Now, Steel, how are you feeling about spaghetti tonight?

It was well worth the wait for the spaghetti.

Now, can you talk about where the spaghetti was at, what type of weight we had?

It was like a good 40 minutes, maybe more.

It's church lady spaghetti, though, so it's good.

And it always comes with breadsticks and, like, it's sweet.

So, like, sometimes brownies.

This time we had ice cream.

And like, today they Filled up your entire plate, and it was a good portion size.

Now, talk about the red sauce.

Did you.

Was it just the normal red sauce, or did you have options here?

Yeah, you can.

You can either pick from meat sauce or normal sauce.

And I always get meat sauce because it's the best, especially when church ladies.

Make it, and they made it with love.

Now, Steel, talk about your spaghetti sauce that you chose to go with.

I also opted for the meat in this tomato sauce.

And they didn't skimp in any way.

They were very efficient when they had to switch out the noodles.

It was like seeing a NASCAR race.

Pit stop.

Well oiled machine.

You know, I was really impressed, too.

And we were.

I think, what were we, around 198 to 200.

We came in and I think they had only enough plates for 240 people.

So, I mean, 244 people that they could serve these full plates of spaghetti, too.

So were you getting a little nervous still that the spaghetti wasn't gonna work out?

I was very fearful that after waiting and walking, that they would draw a line, probably separating us.

Maybe Maya would get to have some, but we wouldn't.

But despite the wait, everybody in the line was in great spirits.

It's part of the camaraderie of the Ragbrai.

Yeah, I. I agree as well.

I had very much faith that we were going to get some, so I don't know what he's talking about.

Now.

We had a little laugh because another organization, we won't name the organization, actually jumped in line and tried to poach off some of the spaghetti goers who wanted the church lady spaghetti.

And so we just.

We were kind of watching this, and they came up to us and hey said, we also have spaghetti now.

Still, you had a.

That was a gut check because their plate of spaghetti was cheaper.

But we chose to stay in line to give St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral Church, St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Estherville, Iowa, a go at this spaghetti.

What made you decide that, hey, we should probably stay in line here?

I think it's the sunk time fallacy where we had already committed.

We are waiting in line.

And I believe this other organization was a bit of a distance away.

So they had a lot of moxie, maybe even a lot of gall, trying to siphon away those waiting in line.

But I respect that.

But I was also concerned about the ethics of the situation.

Definitely.

And did Now, Maya, did they get anybody?

Did anybody follow them to.

To their spaghetti dinners?

No, no, not at all.

Nobody Went.

And so, I mean, was that divine intervention?

I don't know.

But I will tell you this.

You know, everybody stood and stayed strong for the church lady spaghetti.

And I think they were.

It turned out to be the right choice.

Some spaghetti patrons would leave while we were waiting in line and tell us that it was worth the wait and that the tables were clearing out and it gave us faith and renewed energy to continue our long sojourn for the spaghetti.

Yeah, I think so.

Maya had mentioned it was.

It was 40 minutes or so.

I almost think it was maybe over an hour by the time it was all said and done and we were up there and we paid.

It sure felt like that.

But.

But once again, you know, we.

It was a shorter day.

We got in early, we had some time, and.

And we decided to go for it.

But I think.

I think 40 minutes to.

To over a little over an hour.

Well worth it, though, because of the amount of portions you got.

You also got some garlic bread.

You also got some ice cream with it.

As Maya mentioned, you had some nice ice water and coffee as an option that you could have as well.

I think it was $12 for.

For the spaghetti dinners.

Just well worth it.

Any final thing you want to say?

Oh, was.

Now.

Now, still, you and I, you know, we've.

We've done rag rye for.

This is our 13th.

It's your 13th year, is it?

Or.

No, it's.

I think it's your 14th year.

It's my 13th year doing ragbraai.

We've done some lasagna dinners, some spaghetti dinners, some meals at churches before.

Sometimes, you know, they can be risky and why can they be risky?

Sometimes we just don't know what you're going to get.

And sometimes, I don't know, it just maybe isn't what you're expecting.

Maybe it's all gone by the time.

You get there where they're scraping the bottom of the barrel, so to speak.

And then you're like, where the red.

Sauce is all gone.

Yeah, that's the thing.

You know, had we decided just to go for it yesterday, I think we would have been highly disappointed and we would not have maybe stood in line to give the church lady spaghetti a chance tonight.

So.

What a treat.

Well, you know, sometimes they're just unaware of the voluminous masses of starving cyclists, and so it's hard to be prepared well for such an endeavor.

But these guys did a very good.

Job and I think they were trying to go through so they could try to let people know where the cutoff Line was at.

I sure wouldn't have wanted to be in.

At the back of the line or closer to the back, where you stay in line for a while, and then you get cut off and get told, hey, sorry, we're all out of spaghetti.

Because they don't want to do that.

They want to.

They want to serve as many people as possible.

And I'm guessing this is a really great fundraiser, but, yes, then they're going to do some really great things with this money that they're going to raise to help their, you know, their church, their community.

It's going to be used for good.

And so it's for a good cause, but still is.

Right.

When you.

When you go through that much volume of food and you're not used to doing that, I mean, you're not a restaurant, right.

And you go through that much, I mean, it can be a little daunting.

But they were calm, were they?

They were calm.

They were focused, and they were.

They were humble and happy.

Would you say so as well?

I absolutely agree with you, Nick.

Anything.

Any final thoughts on the spaghetti meal?

Maya?

They were really nice, and I tell you, Maya, Heck.

Yeah, they were very nice.

And Maya.

Maya stood strong because she told us.

Stealing me, hey, I'd like.

I'd really like to do spaghetti.

And so when we were biking in a town, she was looking for these signs.

Church lady spaghetti.

Church lady spaghetti.

We wanted the church lady spaghetti because we know it's made with love.

I think I like the spaghetti better than the lasagna.

The.

The church lady spaghetti versus the church lady lasagna.

Correct?

Correct.

I think it's juicier.

Yeah.

Well, I think it was.

Oh, and it did.

Were you full afterwards?

Absolutely.

It's a perfect portion.

It sure was.

But, you know, here's the thing.

We weren't done then because we decided to walk two blocks away to kind of where the ragbright festivities were set up, where they're getting a concert stage going.

They got some music going.

They got the bike shop set up, have their vendor stands.

They got a bunch of different street vendors going.

People.

People are walking around.

It's like, is this an outdoor carnival type of feel?

It's very festive, Very.

People are happy.

People are just.

Just enjoying the.

The beautiful evening.

And we decided to walk over to that area because we were so close anyways, and we were looking around because Maya had another mission.

She had something else on her heart that she wanted.

Maya, would you like to talk about what your goal was after that?

My mom and My youngest brother got this certain kind of like, it was almost sherbet ice cream, but it was still like soft serve ice cream on during the Orange City Expo.

And I wanted to wait because there was special flavor of the day because today they had strawberry and every other day they have different, like, fruit flavors instead of strawberry or whatever.

And they change that up every day.

But I wanted strawberry, so I wanted.

To go today, and I think that was the right choice.

It was delicious.

Yeah.

Because when my wife and Maya's brothers, my two sons, dropped us off on Sunday at the Orange City Expo, we walked around the expo together.

They got some ice cream, really enjoyed it.

Maya really wanted to hold out though, for that strawberry ice cream.

And so Maya got strawberry and pineapple ice cream and, and pineapple.

I, I like a good pineapple ice cream.

I, I like when a pineapple's cold.

Of course, she got pineapple ice cream with strawberry.

I got pineapple and strawberry.

It did not disappoint.

Steel also got some, but he got a sample of it.

Yeah.

You know, Steel said he was full of strawberry or full of church lady spaghetti and wasn't so sure he could handle bowl full of ice cream.

But still.

You want to talk about what, what happened with you?

Yeah.

The sweaty spaghetti had filled up my stomach and I was pretty full at that point.

But they offered a sample and it had a very clean finish.

It was quite delicious.

But ultimately I had to explain to the vendor that I just, it wasn't the taste of the spaghetti that I was concerned about, merely the volume that my stomach can accommodate.

You mean the ice cream?

Yes, the amount of ice cream.

Because you're, you're full of spaghetti?

Ultimately.

Yeah, a lot of spaghetti.

A lot of coffee and spaghetti swimming in my stomach.

Yeah.

And I can, I can respect that.

I absolutely can respect that.

So we, we went, it was kind of nice.

We went and sat over not too far from the concert, concert area.

Just kind of hanging out, just enjoying the, the, the beautiful early evening that's setting in right now.

It was wonderful.

But then we weren't done with food then, but we had a moment also.

Maya, do you want to talk about that?

Still got to pet a dog.

It's his favorite thing to do on Ratbrai.

Now, Steel, do you want to talk about your love for the pups, love for the dogs, and your approach to when you see a dog?

Yeah, I enjoy making photo albums of all the junk food that I eat on Ragbrai.

No bicycles, just horrible food that I eat.

And now I'm starting to pet dogs that come up to me, and Nick, being the documentarian that he is, is photographing this, and it's so adorable to pet a dog that you don't know and say hi to the dog.

And.

And I've been actually sending some.

Some pictures to your.

To your wife.

I've been having an opportunity, and so I think she appreciates that too.

Still.

Where.

Where Several times throughout today, I've sent a picture to your wife, and.

And I think she likes that.

Your wife does enjoy getting these puppy pictures where.

Or these dog pictures where you're petting these.

These dogs.

You think she enjoys that as well?

Well, yeah.

It's good to get an update when you're gone for a whole week and you want to know that your loved one is doing okay and having fun petting random animals.

That's right.

That's right.

And.

And you're like the puppy whisperer.

I don't know.

Like.

Well, I. I think you're the dog whisperer because you.

You like these older dogs, it seems like, that are just like.

So I think you like puppies too, but you're enjoying these dogs.

And then Maya.

So you're the dog whisperer, and Maya's the puppy whisper.

I think in yesterday's podcast, we talked about that.

Maya, do you want to just kind of recap here for those who may have forgotten?

Maya, what did you get to do yesterday?

There was a stop, and the lady had puppies to socialize them before they went to their forever home.

So that was a treat yesterday, getting to see those puppies.

Steel's really jealous because he didn't get to see that.

Also, it was really funny because Steel would just stand next to the dogs because he said he doesn't go to them.

They come to him still.

Do you want to talk about why that is your approach?

Yeah.

You got to make eye contact with the dog and then maybe a little whistle to have the dog come towards you.

Then you know that they want to.

Be friends instead of getting your face bit off.

Yeah, that's the goal.

Yeah.

Prevent my face from being bitten off.

Yeah.

Nobody wants their face bit off.

Well, I appreciate that.

You know, I can respect that.

Now, let's.

We're next.

What I want to talk about is we were still.

Weren't done.

We're laughing because we still thought there's still space in our bellies for food.

Yes, that's why.

Definitely why we're laughing.

So what?

Not actually food, but it was actually.

We got a drink and so Maya had something else on her mind.

It was.

Maya called it.

Do you want to talk about still about what Maya had on her mind for what we should get?

Well, I guess she saw a big jug of lemonade somewhere and she wanted to find that same vendor and we were successful.

Fresh squeezed lemonade.

And was it 32oz jug and it was very affordable and you could add all sorts of different fruits to it such as mango or strawberry, maybe even pineapple.

And quite delicious.

Now Maya, what kind did you get?

I got strawberry.

You also got mango.

Just want to talk about this.

So I was volunteering at NHS one day at the market in Sargent Bluff.

Go check it out if you're near that.

But they had these 32 ounce drinks.

Love lemonade.

And one of my friends and one of the people I was helping out too let me take a sip of it and it was really good.

But I didn't have money on me and they were close to closing then, so yeah, I didn't get it.

And then on the first day of.

Well, during the expo in Orange City, I saw that people were carrying them around.

So I was like dad, at some point this week in one of the overnight towns, I want to get one of those lemonades.

So it was a good night for Maya because in the top, to top off what was already in her bellies with the delicious spaghetti, that was kind of her, her idea.

The delicious ice cream, that was her idea.

And then to have this delicious lemonade.

She did, she did good with.

I, I tell you, she, I'm just, I have to applaud her for her, her idea of what her.

What she envisioned for our food this evening.

Say it.

Say I'm right.

You're right, you're right.

You had a great vision of what we should eat still.

What do you think?

Yeah, Maya's right.

Because I would probably stop at the first place I saw, which was probably a Hardee's in today's ending town.

But the lemonade's really good, has two lemon halves in the jug and we were holding these brightly colored large jugs of lemonade and strangers would approach us and ask us where we got that lemonade from.

So it's a big seller.

Visually appealing.

And.

And they were disappointed because they had some lemonade themselves.

But they had their lemonade.

I think they paid the same amount and they were about half the size and I think they only had lemonade as the only flavor.

People came up to seal after that too.

You were talking to somebody?

Oh, I was talking.

Oh, yeah, definitely.

And, and so yeah, we like, we were almost like, we were like a walking billboard with the lemonade.

It made quite the impression on the crowd.

It did.

It definitely did.

I 100% agree with that.

Well, we talked about our food this evening and then after that then we had about a little over a mile walk back to our camp.

We're actually sitting outside next to a.

A football field.

We're not too far from our tents here in our Sioux Land Cyclists campground.

It's a kind of nice little breeze here going on.

Just a really a beautiful chill evening.

But I do want to, I don't want to be done with the food topic.

Thinking about, you know, we've been around for three days now, the expo day.

And then, and then day one yet was yesterday of Ragbraai.

And day two, what would you each say has been your best food so far?

Church lady spaghetti.

Church lady spaghetti.

The best meal so far.

Still, what would you be.

What would you say is yours?

Well, this was as I was driving to Orange City, right across the highway there is a pizza place called Sfumato's and I had some of that.

So you can't beat the fire oven for this type of pizza.

I had the a figure topping with arugula and it was quite gourmet.

And, and this was on the right bright expo.

Your wife and your wife got to partake in this delicious pizza with you as well.

Yeah, you got it, Nick.

Yeah, that's great.

I'm glad.

It was well worth it.

And so, yeah, and that's kind of a famous pizza place kind of in the area that a lot of people know about.

So I think Steel and I were talking and I think I've been.

It's been a couple of years since I've been there, but it is quite a delicious pizza place.

So let me ask you this.

Is it true that everything tastes better after 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 miles biking on the road?

Certainly a glass of water tastes better when you're thirsty and hot.

And what do you think, Maya, after a long ride, does things taste better?

It depends on how your stomach's feeling.

Because sometimes your stomach may just not feel at all and you just want liquids or nothing at all, but.

And sometimes you're just really hungry.

I think that's a great point.

I mean, you gotta know yourself.

You gotta know.

I mean, there's some people who have an iron gut and they can throw anything on it for.

And just.

I mean there's some people who, who do some drinking out Here too.

And that's just not something that I've really chosen to partake in.

I know Steel's not.

Not.

I mean once in a while we'll maybe enjoy a glass, but that's.

Or a can of something.

But most of the time, you know, we're looking for.

For other things that are out here, but we gotta.

You gotta be care.

You got to know your stomach, you got to know yourself because you.

Nobody wants a jacked up stomach out here.

And then you're waiting in line for a big old long porta Potty line for.

For half an hour.

You know, that's just.

That can suck the fun out of it.

So let me ask you this.

Any food regrets today?

I don't know.

I don't know either about that or.

Any food regrets on Ragbry so far?

Oh, no regrets.

We're still early in there.

I do want to make a stop at Mr. Pork Chop, of course, sometime this week.

Tell us about Mr. Pork Chop.

Well, it's a big pork chop on a stick and that's about all.

It's cooked on corn cobs and so it's smoked.

There's a big plume of smoke.

It's on the side of the road.

It's usually around halfway through the route.

And it's a legacy, long standing legacy here on Ragbraai.

And it's quite delicious.

They just cook it up, they stick them in a cooler, they hand it to you in a napkin and you just eat the pork chop and you go along your merry way.

Now, have you had a pork chop?

Mr. Pork Chop on Ragbry before Amaya?

Yes.

Now do you enjoy a Mr. Pork Chop?

Yes.

And they have a really cool bus that's pink like a pig.

And everyone signs their name on that.

Yeah, absolutely.

And we always get a kick out of going back and looking to find our names written on it.

They don't paint it over, they just keep adding names to it.

And so that's kind of a fun little thing.

So yeah, I don't think I have any regrets either of anything I've eaten so far.

I might say the first day we did have Chinese food.

And usually Chinese food does not do anything to my stomach, but maybe it was cuz it was a Chinese buffet instead of normal Chinese.

So it was kind of like sitting out a little bit.

So that was just hard on my stomach.

Yeah, I think, yeah, same here.

You know, and some of that stuff you just kind of got to be careful and know yourself.

All right, so now still, is there any surprises this week so far.

I know it's still early in the week.

We're only day two out of day seven.

Is there any surprises on Ragbrai thus far?

I'd say the biggest surprise would be this beautiful overcast weather, which suits me very well to not get sunburned as much.

And the heat's just dissipating off my body so I can really maintain a fast speed and feel good for the whole day.

So usually it's very hot outside and sunny and I think it's going to warm up into the 80s and maybe almost the 90s over the next few days.

But today's a really nice respite.

Yesterday or overnight?

Yesterday I didn't need a fan.

Usually I have a fan going on, but it was cool enough to get some really good sleep.

So I'm very much enjoying this weather.

And what about you, Maya?

Any surprises?

No, no surprises.

I'm trying to think if I have any surprises.

I think, you know, typical.

The puppies.

The puppies were a surprise for you.

Yeah.

You don't, you don't expect to be driving along and find eight puppies on the side of the road in a little pull off area where you can go and snuggle the puppies.

Snuggle puppies.

What a great.

It'd be a great business idea.

Yeah, you don't expect that.

And once again, it wasn't a business.

They were trying to socialize them just, you know, just for something great to do for the Ragbriers.

Yeah, I'm trying to think.

I think this chillier weather right now, it's a little bit rainier of a Ragbrai than what I'm used to.

I've been very fortunate overall in a Ragbrai with, you know, we've, I've encountered over 12 prior rag.

Bryce.

Once in a while you encounter a day where it rains.

But overall I have not had really any rainy days and in the last two days it's been kind of a little rainy, but not like during a day.

I guess we've been very, very lucky.

So.

Well, any other final, any.

Anything that you want to share here with the podcast listeners here as we wrap up?

The best part of biking is going downhill.

Oh, that's right.

The best part of biking is going downhill.

Maya, you did enjoy going some of those downhills today.

That's right.

What's the best part of Biking for you, Mr. Welcher?

Well, with Ragbrai every year, I wonder if I really want to do it because it's a whole week and but once you get there, it's quite enjoyable.

And it's usually worth it to ride the whole week.

Yeah, 100.

I agree with that.

You misunderstood me.

It's because you don't get it.

You don't have to pedal going downhill.

Oh, that's right.

There you go.

That's right.

You get a little bit of.

A little bit of a break from pedaling, huh?

Absolutely.

Emergency.

Well.

Oh, we.

We should.

We should talk about that steel.

Just reminded about the cleat emergency still.

Do you want to talk about Maya's cleat emergency that we had on the side of the road?

Maya has road cleats which protrude from the shoe and they get worn as you walk.

And there was some difficulty clipping into the pedal.

So Nick had the foresight to buy a backup set of cleats, but we had to change it.

We chose to change it on the side of the road.

Problem is, though, that the.

The screws of the bolts that hold the cleat onto the shoe had been walked on and kind of difficult to.

To remove.

So we had to do some almost like dental work to these bolts to remove the debris and reshape the hex so that we could unscrew them.

But we got them in good order, working order again.

And of note, many cyclists stopped and asked us if we were having difficulty, if we needed help, because it's just a friendly place.

And that does speak to the friendliness of Ragbrar.

If you're thinking about doing ragbrarai.

You know, the biking community as a whole is very welcoming, is very supportive.

And if you come out here with your family and are like, if you worry, hey, I'm gonna break down and what am I gonna do?

And when we were on the side of the road, we had, I don't know, 10, 12 people ask us if we were okay, and multiple people stop, pull over and stop, and kind of look to see what we're doing.

And they would have pitched in too, had we been having trouble.

So that speaks to the biking community.

Indeed.

And there was, you know, oh, before two other things that I want to talk about.

Super excited.

Excited.

Well, not well, going into Minnesota for the first time, I can't remember if I talked about that, but this was a history making day because we went in, into Minnesota today.

The Browns Park, Minnesota, never happened before.

I do think I talked about that, but it was barely exciting for me because it was just something unique when, when, when, you know, there's a lot of tradition with ragbraai and A lot of things.

And just when they throw some, some new things in like that, I think it kind of makes it fun and gets kind of people excited about it.

I think of most people were pretty excited to kind of just pop up into Minnesota just a little bit.

That was exciting.

And then I also just want to give.

We had some Good Samaritans and some first responders that helped a bicyclist who.

He had a medical emergency and fell off of his bike.

I think he, I don't know what he had, but he sounds like he collapsed and they needed to respond.

Saw some news reports that they were able to help him, and hopefully he's in the hospital and getting some help now.

But I appreciate that.

So they really look for, like, if you have any problems, hey, you know, there's so many people who are willing to pitch in and help out in the case of an emergency.

He went to the hospital in Orange City, and then he got flown over to the one in Sioux City.

And he's awake.

And he's awake when.

Because he was, he had no pulse.

He had no pulse.

And we, it was, it happened right before we passed him.

And they were doing CPR on him as we passed, and boy, I, I, I was not so sure.

Maya is, is tied into the fire department, and so she kind of was telling me kind of what they're doing.

So.

Maya, do you want to talk about that more?

Yes.

Oh, yeah.

Right away.

It said on an article that they began CPR right away, and they were.

Which was what you should do when you find someone unconscious.

And they were doing it for 10 minutes until the ambulance arrived.

And thank God.

Thank goodness they started right away.

But we like to see that when, we like to see good outcomes when people, you know, need to help it.

When you get over 20,000 people biking down the road, you're gonna have people, you're gonna have people who might fall off their bike or might have medical emergencies.

That's just the nature of the beast.

It doesn't mean that you need to be afraid, fearful of a ride like this.

You know, we've been pretty lucky overall, where we, you know, we, we've been pretty healthy overall, but you got to be careful.

Anything, I mean, you can, you can walk across the street and get hit by a car if you're not paying attention, you know, So I don't want to discourage any families out there or any, any even solo riders who say, no, Ragbrai is too dangerous.

It's not.

I mean, it's risk with Anything.

And so I would encourage you.

You know, you got to live life.

John Karras, one of the founders of Ragbrai, talked about.

Ragbrai is one of these things.

If someone needs.

The quote is something about if someone needs adventure in your life, Ragbrai can bring some adventure to your life.

The quote is something like that.

And this is a week of adventure, a week of fun.

But there's a lot of safety.

They have a lot of highway patrol out here, a lot of first responders out here.

They have a lot of volunteers out here.

We appreciate all of the work that they're doing.

I have to go beat them in phase 10 now.

Ah, that's right.

Maya's.

Maya is.

Is talking trash.

She thinks she's going to beat us in phase 10.

I think she's on phase nine right now.

I think still.

What do you remember what phase year.

Are you in Phase eight right now?

Yeah.

Phase eight, Phase six.

I can't remember.

I think I'm on.

I think I'm in the phase where you got to get all of the same color now.

So we'll see how that goes here.

I was leading two days ago, and then we got to come back and finish the game.

So we're.

We're looking to see who's gonna win that.

Actually, you were not leading.

I caught up to you.

And then I got two in front of you, and now I'm three ahead of you.

Can you pick up that?

Maya's a little competitive now.

Steel, what's your talking trash?

Do you think you're gonna win?

I'm just happy to participate and learn a new game because you're new to the game.

Phase 10.

And that's where Maya and I had to go after this phase 10 game.

We had to bike to a Dollar Tree in Orange City.

It's okay, yo, though, because Steel and I are a team against my dad.

Yeah, they do.

They use the skip card against me.

Can you imagine that?

They use a skip card and they get me with it, but they'll see when I win the whole game tonight, so.

Well, I tell you what, I. I want to thank you both for sharing some funky food talk with us tonight.

Now, whether you're chasing pie stands across Iowa or grilling dogs in your backyard, food has a way of bringing people together after a day of movement.

Never say that ever again.

I thought that was clever.

Cooking dogs.

Hot dogs.

Not hot dogs.

Not literally dogs.

But if you're tuning in for family tips, outdoor living stories, or just here for the vibes, you're in the right place.

And we're glad you're riding with us.

So go explore.

Be yourself.

Get outside.

Get funky.

Bye, now.

Sam.