Hey Rudyard Lynch Stop Manipulating My Friends
My Friend Dave You probably have a friend like Dave. Happy-go-lucky, funny, kind and generous Dave. One day a couple of years ago I ran into Dave at the grocery store and he seemed agitated. He was concerned about something that he really wanted to get off his chest. I paused to listen. “Did you know Biden is spending billions of dollars on immigrants, on people who aren’t even from here!” he blurted out. I was surprised he was putting any of his usually happy thoughts into t
Nov 1824 min read
RAGBRAI Nights 0-7: The Hubba Hubba
We sleep in a 4-year old, 3-pound, 2-person MSR Hubba Hubba tent. The photo above is from when the tent was new, at the festival where we were married. At RAGBRAI 2025, there are at least four other Hubba Hubbas in the Out of State camp, so one of the last things we do as we set up is place our bins strategically — as much to keep people from tripping on the guy lines as to help us find the right tent again after a midnight trip to the portos. No one else has a slow moving
Jul 272 min read
RAGBRAI Day 3: So Much Stuff
Ironically, going to Iowa to ride in a big mobile bike party takes a truck, a trailer, and eight tanks of gas. Before leaving home, you acknowledge your anxiety and ambition and you cram all the portables you think you’ll need — mostly food, housing and bedding — into a bike panier and a bin. You truck your gear and your big solar electric recumbent tandem bike to the starting line. Before you abandon the truck, you bequeath it the big sleeve of sardine tins, the extra batter
Jul 272 min read
RAGBRAI Day 2: The People and Their Bikes
In the flow. Again: wake up early. Strike the tent. Breakfast is two hard boiled eggs and coffee. Saddle up and ride ride ride. We are 20,000 bicyclists riding together. All along the highway we converse with our neighbors—something you can’t do as you travel the highway by car. As people pass us we are treated to a steady stream of compliments: “Cool bike!” “Nice ride!” “Are those solar panels?” The Honey Cycle is a recumbent tandem trike with a solar array on top. Typically
Jul 276 min read
