Some locals sell food, but you buy from established vendors
Friday, Jul-27 @ 08:07 PM
I was told that locals have something for you to eat or drink every so often on Route. What it turned out to be, was they were selling water or Gatorade, $1 for 16 bottle. Maybe they had cookies or donuts to sell (some did give away) but nothing to sustain you.
A few towns did get their residence together and sell real food. One town had 15 grills from locals going to cook corn, pork-chops, and sausage. Another town made two large grills that cooked about 100 pancakes simultaneously; I didn't see how they cooked the eggs.
But, most of our food came from the same 10 or 15 vendors each day. These vendors would pick a new location on each day's Route to setup; they would put up signs as far as 20 miles away to wet your appitite; and if you got there late in the day, they'd say "sorry, we're out of food." For the most part, they were setup to handle long lines, quick serving, and move you on. One vendor said they had 9000 transactions in one day. I guess that's possible since the head count on Route was around 23,000. (We don't know if they counted us and our trike once or twice.) Back to food for the moment... They say that you gain 5 lbs on this ride with all the food available; I am now inclined to believe this myth as I feel fatter than when I left.
EVERY town had a beer garden and it was always the busiest place. The police would shut them down every few hours just to get the crowd to move on. The beer gardens were allowed to reopen after an hour.
Serena and I opted for the local Library instead. They usually had water, WiFi Internet access, and didn't mind if we slept on the floor for a couple of hours. One time we slept on the pews of the county seat court room. (It wasn't in session; the town had shutdown for Ragbrai to come through.
A few towns did get their residence together and sell real food. One town had 15 grills from locals going to cook corn, pork-chops, and sausage. Another town made two large grills that cooked about 100 pancakes simultaneously; I didn't see how they cooked the eggs.
But, most of our food came from the same 10 or 15 vendors each day. These vendors would pick a new location on each day's Route to setup; they would put up signs as far as 20 miles away to wet your appitite; and if you got there late in the day, they'd say "sorry, we're out of food." For the most part, they were setup to handle long lines, quick serving, and move you on. One vendor said they had 9000 transactions in one day. I guess that's possible since the head count on Route was around 23,000. (We don't know if they counted us and our trike once or twice.) Back to food for the moment... They say that you gain 5 lbs on this ride with all the food available; I am now inclined to believe this myth as I feel fatter than when I left.
EVERY town had a beer garden and it was always the busiest place. The police would shut them down every few hours just to get the crowd to move on. The beer gardens were allowed to reopen after an hour.
Serena and I opted for the local Library instead. They usually had water, WiFi Internet access, and didn't mind if we slept on the floor for a couple of hours. One time we slept on the pews of the county seat court room. (It wasn't in session; the town had shutdown for Ragbrai to come through.