Humeston Public Library

This blog is written by a librarian in a small town in south central Iowa. Originally, this blog began as a reader's advisory to highlight some of the great reads available to loan to our library patrons. However, the focus of the blog was too narrow so I have changed the address and now include anything involving our local library on this blog site. Enjoy!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Bikrarian on Day 5 of RAGBRAI

I am riding for the 5th consecutive day on the big ride. It is a wonderful vacation. I love visiting with librarians across the state. So many of the towns we have been through have new buildings or additions on the prior facilities.

Today I get to meet up with my kids so this post is especially short. I'll try to post a longer post on all of my thoughts on the ride when I get back home.

On the road again....

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Beautiful Tuesday Morning for Bikrarian

It is the third day of RAGBRAI and it is a beautiful sunny morning. It will be cool and comfortable for another hour or so and then I'll really be feeling the heat.

Yesterday , we rode from Spencer to Humboldt - the highest mileage day all week. It was WINDY. The winds were from the south and we had 30 m iles straight into it early in the day. By the time I got to the nice town of Humboldt, I was ready to fall over from exhaustion. There was a station of sports massage therapists set up near my camp so I splurged on a 20 minute massage. It felt wonderful - it was worth the $20 price tag. My only dissapointment with Humboldt was that the party and entertainment was just 2 blocks from my campground. We heard music and associated partying until midnight. Now I like a little party too but after and exhausting day of bike riding and the promise of waking up at 4:15 the next day to do it all again that was a little much for my taste. Maybe in Hampton we'll get a quiet campground.

I hope to see "Quadzilla" on the ride but haven't as of yet. Quadzilla is a bicycle built for four often ridden by a family with 2 kids on the middle seats. Makes it sort of tough for them to goof off and get away from the parents - if they don't want to walk to the next town, they had better be ready to ride when mom and dad are.

I am totally enjoying my quest to stop at all of the libraries on by big ride. Only a few have been closed and I missed Rock Rapids and Spencer because I was too darn tired to go find them.

Time to get back on the bike.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

RAGBRAI Begins

I was up at 4:15 Sunday morning the first day of the ride. I didn't intend to get up this early but I needed to use the facilities. By the time I got back from the quarter mile walk to said facilities I was too awake to bother trying to sleep again. I packed up my tent and was on my bike by 5:20. It was sort of dark but there were plenty of bikes ahead of me with lights. It is a beautiful cool morning with a brisk breeze - breeze not wind really.

The first town I arrived in was George. I found the library and was greeted by a very friendly librarian and a volunteer that regularly assists her. I plan to stop at as many libraries as possible this week so I'll end this blog and get back on my bike.

Bikrarian Arrives in Rock Rapids

My bike club from Marshalltown, Iowa arrived in Rock Rapids on Saturday. This seems like it is probably a quiet little town but when 10,000 bike riders and thousands of support people arrived it bacame a bit chaotic.

I didn't get to the library in Rock Rapids. I was busy setting up my tent and getting in the mindset for the big ride. I haven't been on RAGBRAI since 2001 so I worried that some of the things would be tough to adjust to. Putting up my tent was easy, though. I guess once you learn how, it comes back to you - just like riding a bicycle.

I did do the ceremonial tire dip on Saturday as well. Rock Rapids is not on the Missouri, so I settled for a dip in the Rock River. Our bike club also had a social gathering in the evening and I enjoyed recoginzing faces from the last time I rode.

One thing I noticed is that nearly all riders have cell phones. This makes it impossible to call out because the network is always busy. I'll have to try to call Grandma and my kids during the daytime instead of the evening while I ride the ride.

Check back throughout the week to more updates on my vacation

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Bikrarian goes on RAGBRAI

From July 22 to July 28, 2007 I will be a bikrarian. This is not really a word, of course, but it is fitting for a biking librarian. I am riding the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa or RAGBRAI for short. This ride begins in Rock Rapids and ends in Bellvue, Iowa. The trip is nearly 500 miles and includes one day with an optional loop to make the day a 100 mile day. There will be more than 10,000 riders and I am thrilled to be one of them. My plan for the trip is to visit as many libraries as possible and get signatures of as many librarians as I can. It will be fun to meet other like-minded people. Besides, I know I will see plenty of strange people on the ride each day.

For more information on RAGBRAI, click here.

Oh yeah, Lance Armstrong is riding this year, too. I think that is great, but he is not the reason that I am riding. I have been planning on this for almost 2 years. This is my vacation for the year. I am looking forward to a great week and expect to come back completely rested and refreshed.