Test of Blogger app

This is a test of the Blogger iPhone app. I haven't used this in a while, so it's worth a test drive. We shall see if I can use it while in China. 

China

This is the first of a group of posts about my cycling trip to China in August 2016

So China was on my list of places to visit, but then fell off, solely in regards to the extreme environmental damage they are doing (or more accurately, allowing to be done) to their own country; I felt maybe it would not be pleasant. Then someone I had connected with via CrazyGuyOnABike emailed me to ask if I was still interested in touring there. BAM.  Sold.
I created a whole Blogspot page dedicated to the preparations, in order to leave the posts to cover the journey.
I will be taking my Bike Friday folding bike, since the tour will be a loop (I will need to leave my bike case behind in Beijing), front and back panniers. Still, if I have time, I may investigate if I can purchase a bike on my way back, since Giant bikes are made in China and Beijing has a huge Giant bike store.  It took a little finagling, but I did find Giant's China website and was able to navigate it in its Chinese language version, with a little help from Google Translate. The models are pretty much totally different than the ones found in the States, but I am knowledgeable enough to know what I am looking at, as long as the component list is in english.

RAGBRAI

RAGBRAI XL 2012 by Channone Arif on Flickr

Well, my partner's dream is coming true.  We are going to ride RAGBRAI. This is the ginormous supported party on bicycle wheels. 10,000 people converge on Iowa to ride about 470 miles from the Missouri River on the west side of the state to the Mississippi on the east. Added bonus, we formed a team with another couple and their grandson, who will be almost 2 years old.

I will blog the adventure, so people looking for a feasibility study on taking small children in trailers on RAGBRAI will have some well grounded research.  Now I know small children have done epic road trips with their parents, because I see references to those journeys online and in Adventure Cycling's magazine. It is quite difficult to find references to small children on RAGBRAI events, however.

So many questions revolve around this.  How often do playgrounds or fields to play in occur? I am hoping there will be one per hour in the small towns set up to receive us. Can we tire him out enough? Will he be able to sleep surrounded by 10,000 potentially noisy people in the campground? What kinds of entertainment will engage him for 5 hours a day in a trailer?

And a few solutions. We will have a SAG vehicle, in case he needs to escape. We will cycle (hahahahaha, sniff, sniff) his toys out of the SAG vehicle daily.  We have an older iPhone with audio books and hardcover book accompaniments.  The audio will be recorded by his parents.  His trailer has a full sun shade and netting to keep him from burning and from throwing his toys and books out :)  We are also rigging a hydration bladder above and behind his seat and he has mastered the bite valve (smart boy).

Stay tuned: This will be awesome.