What a week!!

While some were off to Missouri Valley (which redeemed itself from the last RAGBRAI and it's nickname of Missery Valley with beautiful weather, great food and a breathtaking view from our camping spot (and far far above the trains!)) - others were off to California to compete in the Vineman Half Ironman Triathlon.

Kristin Rinderknecht joined a large group from Des Moines as she continues preparation for her first ever ironman distance tri in November. She rocked out in a 5:09:11 finishing 32nd overall in the women's race! Krista Bartholomew shaved an hour off her Wildflower time from this May to finish in 5:39:36! Congratulations to both on a great race - and we'll be following Kristin on her way to becoming an Ironman!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - Dalena Feller stayed in Des Moines as she prepared for the Big Creek Triathlon - hosted by Race Director Jenny Weber - but was able to join in on a day of RAGBRAI on Wednesday (more on that in a minute). turned out to be a good choice as she finished a strong race at Big Creek. Resluts Here

Others in pink were seen trapsing across the state throughout the week - meeting up for Pink Day on Wednesday - leaving Ames and riding to Tama. 13 pink ladies made the ride, joined by some friends and hubbies - making a splash as folks from across the land were impressed by the jerseys and joined in for a smooth paceline! Kim Hopkins recieved lots and lots of compliments on her design and probly could have sold a couple of dozen as the ladies rode from town to town!

Other RAGBRAI moments included Kris Collum making the umpteenth RAGBRAI with her Dad, Tom. (I've (your editor, Dave) known Kris since my first RAGBRAI in 1985 - and she was a veteran then!!) Dee and her family spending a few miles riding on Lance's wheel heading into Ames - and was mentioned as a RAGBRAI highlight by Lance that night - and was drawn into a cartoon by Duffy in Thursday's DSM Register!
Find Waldo (or the Mable Train...)

Wednesday was Pink Day and 13 ladies in pink joined forces for a team ride to Tama - All had fun sharing the work of the pace line, sharing coffee, pie, pork chops.. and an occasional beer! We'll post some pics when I get some!

And finally - highlight - or lowlight - of the week was Joe Schmidt (Joanns hubby) - on Monday, as a large handful of us were doing the Century together, Joe was knocked down as some guy veered across the road in front of him - Joe went down hard and lost lots of skin to the pavement - enough for some stitches in his hand - and landed hard on his shoulder breaking his collar bone in three places - help was quick and Joe was in good hands - but we all hated to send he and Joann off to the hospital and home - and we certainly wish him the best as he heals.

Lastly - and another topic - the Pink Team recieved some major press in the Des Moines Registers "Mom's Magazine" Some great pictures and an accompanying story - we sure wish all the stories and quotes submitted had been told - but you do leave that up to the editor... so stop by the store and pick up a pink copy - and if you have your own personal story - I'd love to publish it here! Mom or not - we'd love to hear what you enjoy about joining a group of like minded women on two wheels!