Rural Towns with Big Hearts Greet Team BOB
We just finished Day 2 – 65.4 miles from Atlantic (Iowa’s Coca-Cola capital) to Carroll, Iowa. When we pulled into a city of 10,000 people with a volume of riders and support vehicles that make up RAGBRAI, I thought it would once again overwhelm this city. But Carroll showed its worth – in how they welcomed the ride (with families lining the streets applauding each biker), offered their homes and lawns to riders to sleep overnight, and provided anything it took. Their excitement for being part of RAGBRAI was palpable, and their appreciation was so sincere. Bikers in Kimballton The ride was...
Read MoreTeam BOB Starts Their 454 Mile Journey
With the past week’s reports from the Midwest describing intolerable temperatures and humidity, we had trepidation about the start of this year’s RAGBRAI ride. Luckily, the weather cooled last night (a blessing) and off we went – a 454 mile journey across the state of Iowa to raise money for America’s great pastime: baseball. If you missed my note last week, Team BOB is a group organized by my 16-year-old son, Robert Hellman III. Robert created Team BOB as a fundraiser for Build Our Ballpark, an organization founded by his grandfather, dedicated to providing today’s youth with baseball and...
Read MoreTeam BOB to Raise Funds for More Ballparks
The Build Our Ballpark Board of Directors and staff are thrilled to announce that Team BOB will again be riding RAGBRAI to raise funds for our nonprofit organization building baseball/softball parks throughout America. Eight cyclists from across the United States will ride 454 miles across the great state of Iowa. As the cyclists come together for this historic ride, they will capture a glimpse of Iowa life and how the Midwest is keeping the spirit of baseball alive in the local communities. Along the route they plan to visit area baseball and softball fields, chat with Iowa youth about...
Read MoreLuxury in Waterloo
Yesterday we rode 82 miles from Charles City to Waterloo – the longest ride of the entire trip. It was chilly when we hit the road at 6:00 a.m. but starting that early paid off – it was less crowded so we made good time. It was HOT when we finally got to Waterloo – 6 hours later because we stopped in every town. The ride overall was not too bad except for one 20 mile stretch which took 2 hours in the heat. We passed through Parkersburg, Iowa – a town which had been hit by a bad flood and then a Force 5 tornado, which means the winds had hit over 200 miles an hour. Amazingly they had rebuilt...
Read MoreThree days, 198 Miles
Today we road 60 miles from Algona to Clear Lake, Iowa. While this was shorter than the 68 and 79 miles of the previous two days, we had a headwind coming right at us for about half of the ride, which was very difficult! We left at 6:00 a.m. and pulled into Clear Lake at around noon. I’m really glad we got here early as it is now about 100 degrees here in Clear Lake. Each day we’ve ridden hard, had some great food along the route, and gotten into the overnight town hot and tired. But the towns have all been very, very friendly and opened high school showers or public pools for the riders to...
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