Happy Spring!
Hey all of you Mosquitoes out there. I bet you either thought I forgot about you and the team, or you also forgot and can’t believe that RAGBRAI is only 4 ½ months away. That means you need to get on your bike and start riding so you are in shape for this ride. You might want to grab a beer or two while you are at it to help yourself out. I had meant to get this first note to you before the BRR ride in Feb., but I have two little girls that take up most of my time, so I’m only a month late.
First thing I need to say is Go Hawks. You know I always have to say something about them and this year the football team did us proud again, especially by beating ISU on their turf! Anyway, the bus was again a wonderful addition to our tailgates, until they kicked us out of the stadium parking lot for some really stupid reason. We need to think about what we want to do with the bus this fall and whether we should try to get it into the parking lot or change our focus. Again it is really tough for me to get it down there most of the time, so if we are able to get it parked back like the good old days, I will need a lot of help. Let me know what your thoughts are on this area, if you have any, and no I don’t care what Ron and Rich say, because they are ISU grads!
Enough about football and the potential National Championship year of the Hawks, we have a lot to accomplish before then. We have to get across the state on our bikes and have lots of fun. The route is on www.ragbrai.org if you haven’t seen it and I think it is a beauty! There are several things that need to be accomplished by the team before we are ready. I am still looking to get the bus painted (and maybe a little body work, thanks Chris Tyler) this year. I have a pretty good connection I am working on. You original Mosquitoes will remember Jorge, our mentor stud of phlebotomy. He called me out of the blue the other day and owns a body shop somewhere around here and wants to sponsor us. We will see what he can do for us in that aspect. We also need to get some new speakers, since someone stole the ones out of the bus this winter. Klink found this out and was actually pretty pleased since they left the speaker boxes that took him a long time to make and just took our old worn out speakers from within them. I don’t think anything else is missing, but I haven’t checked too closely. That should be all for the bus.
We also need to start working on our new logo. I received some great ones from all of you last year, and hope you have some more great ideas for this year. One of them that we have thrown around is "next man in" which is a take from those great Hawkeye football players. When someone goes down, the next person steps right in and takes their place without missing a beat. Let me know what you can come up with and we will need a picture to go along with it also. Any thoughts on the shirts? Do we still want to do the tie-dyes? I’m open for suggestions! Do we also want to do some more shorts? New ones or the same?
The Mosquito ride needs to be planned. Our usual weekend of the 19th of June is not available because of my brothers wedding. I could go the week before or after. Let me if you have any input here. Looking on www.cibroc.com it looks as if the 26th might be better, it is less crowded. We may want to alter the route a little this year and hit some RAGBRAI towns to the south of Dysart (Elberon and Clutier), to get them prepared and maybe pick up some sponsors. I can’t believe that after this many years, people still pay us to party across the state. Just so you know, I have at least $600 of sponsor money coming in for the team at this point. Let me know what you all can do to help support us. Speaking of rides, the Bud ride in North Liberty is May 22nd, and that is always a great time.
I also would like a head count of potential riders this year for the bus, so I can make sure we have room for new members. I have had several inquires already. Last year, without me, the rider numbers were a little down. Maybe you all thought it wouldn’t be much fun unless I was along??? Hard telling, but I plan to make the whole thing this year, so look out. We also are working on places to stay along the route. Ron has a place somewhere in one of the first couple of towns. I have a place in Marshaltown, and oddly enough, the ride goes right by AXE’s house in Palo. That may be a place to stay, even though it is just shy of Hiawatha, but we will look into this further before any decision is made. Mostly, AXE needs to have a talk with his wife to see what is going to happen.
Congratulations to Ron and Erin on the birth of their child Ian! He was born early in February and all is going well.
I would like the $15 for your yearly dues ASAP. You can mail this to me at my new address! Yes the headquarters have moved. We have much more room for a pre-RAGBRAI party. Last years party was lame and I was very disappointed in the turnout, so that better not happen again this year. You guys need to plan a little better and get this thing rolling. Our new address is 4220 Monarch Ave. Marion, IA 52302. Phone is the same, 319-373-0514, or you can paypal it to me to the e-mail blaine@teammosquito.com
I think that is all for now, so let me know your shirt ideas and if you plan on taking the bus to Onawa. Be sure to check out www.teammosquito.com for all of last year’s awards. Klink finally got them up just before the BRR ride this year. Be good and Ride on! Man I’m getting excited about this!
Blaine McLaughlin
Team Mosquito really cool guy
