Hidey-Ho Mosquitoes,
How about that, only a month until we take off on our trek across this great state of Iowa. Since the time is approaching quickly, we have a lot of work to get done here before we are ready to take off. I think that maybe I should get on my bike a little more, but probably won't have the time. I hope you will all wait for me!
The first thing to let you know about is that the Mosquito ride went great. We had quite a few of the team members wimp out on us, and you all know who you are. The smaller than expected turnout didn't hamper us at all. It looks like Jay Beaver found his calling in life, as he was behind the bar serving us at most of our stops. He did so well, nobody cared, but I don't think that they paid him. The Towlertons were great hosts, as expected, and they even provided the best weather possible for us to ride in. The whole team is very grateful for the hospitality they provided. Thank you very much! The down side is that they are not going to be able to drive the bus this year for RAGBRAI. Yes, that means that we are working feverishly to try to find someone to drive us. Other than that, everything else is coming along nicely
We ended up doing pretty good on the sponsors this year. After the last set of notes, we had several of them come our way. Here they are: Dental Touch Associates, McJulie Enterprises, Woody's (we will visit this bar on RAGBRAI), CLC (nursing home in Ankeny), Jay J. Jensen DDS in Ankeny, Waucoma Campground, Bailey Recognition Products, Blairs Ferry Vision, Linn County Anesthesiologists (helped repair Klink), There may be a couple of others, but we are waiting to hear from them this week.
As far as the RAGBRAI thing is concerned, we will be leaving from our house in Marion on Saturday July 22nd at 10:00am. As most of you know RAGBRAI actually starts on Sunday, but for Team Mosquito it starts on Friday night at our house. Of course we are having the annual Friday Mosquito party. It is a great time and a great way to get to know the newcomers and to get into the flow of the week. We have plenty of room for all of you to sleep here and we have a lot of room to put up tents if needed. It is also time to pay the last set of dues for RAGBRAI. We will need another $50 from everybody for the full week. That makes the total $110 for the year. Please get that to me promptly. I would love for you to get that to me before you see me on Friday night. It is kind of a pain for me to take care of this the day we leave for Council Bluffs. I also would like for you to let me know if you are going to be riding the bus to Council Bluffs, whether you have told me before or not, so I have an idea of what I need to plan for and so that we can get a head count before we take off on Saturday morning. If you need a map on how to get to my place, let me know. I can e-mail it or send it the old fashion way. We should have enough parking for everyone around here, so don't worry about that. If you have any questions about what to bring, please call me (319-373-0514), and don't forget a pair of boxer shorts to wear on boxer day! Other things to bring on RAGBRAI are, a helmet, tent, sleeping bag, money, bike lights for the front and back (most of us usually ride in the evenings), sunblock, and a great attitude. I guess that is all for now, so I'll see you all on Friday night July 21st!
Team Mosquito Captain
Blaine McLaughlin
