Jenny’s Journey: Days 6 and 7

Washington resident Jenny Morgan celebrated her 40th birthday by riding RAGBRAI for the first time. Morgan provided The Washington Evening Journal with her firsthand account of her ride.

Friday, July 26

Last night in the RV, I can tell you I will appreciate my bed and my shower so much tomorrow. I miss my house. Today we started in Fairfield, we stayed at my friend's parents' house and got off about 6:30, 6:45 and we headed to Stockport, Salem, Houghton and then we found some hills. Geode State Park was pretty, it was shaded, but it was a little hilly.

We saw a couple people down on the pavement, a lot of wrecks. Everyone's getting tired and making a lot of bad decisions. I hit my brakes a lot going down hills today because when I'm only a day away from finishing, I sure don't want to end up in an ambulance or crashed.

Got into Burlington and, man, it was the long cut to get in here. We went clear around town and finally ended up staying with some friends on South Main Street, so only 1,500 feet of climb today, 1,521 to be exact. Sixty-five miles, but we had more than that. West Burlington to Burlington where we ended up was a long haul. It was flat, but man it took forever. All in all, a good day. Really feeling good that we have one day left at 62 miles and we can say we did the whole thing. Pretty excited about dipping that tire and holding my bike above my head and saying I did it, so tomorrow we probably will push hard because see the end and man, home's going to feel great.

It's been a fun ride, it's been tiring, my legs are really starting to feel it, but I've got a lot of power behind me now because I can see the end. It feels good. I feel accomplished, so, one day to go and I can do it.

Saturday, July 27

Well, I write this last message sitting in my home that I missed and that I appreciate a little bit more now. Today started out in Burlington and all I had was the determination to get through the 62 miles that RAGBRAI climbed, but it was more like 72 by the time we finished. Only 1,736 feet of climb. We pushed pretty hard this morning, we started at 6:30, and when you're that close to the end, you just want to be done and you just push.

We had a head wind this morning, so that was rough. We didn't get out of it much, but it was a really pretty ride. Pretty flat, and then we were down by the river from Montrose to Keokuk and we just curved around the river and that was really pretty. There were some pretty big hills before we got into Keokuk, that were really a good calorie burner and got the heart pumping but we made it.

It was everything hit me at the end. There was a lot of people cheering the last mile and a half at the hill, people ringing cowbells and it all just hit me and the tears started flowing because I put my mind to this and said I could do it, and of course you always doubt yourself and you always wonder can I really do it, but I did do it and it felt really good.

So, as I was descending down the hill into Burlington, I knew my husband was waiting for me on the left side, so when I saw that finish line, the tears really started. As soon as I crossed the finish line he ran up and hugged me and he had a few tears as well. It was just great to have somebody that helped me all week accomplish something I really wanted to accomplish. I couldn't have done it without him, and I couldn't have done it without my friend pushing with me and training with me as well.

I got a lot of cool texts from family and friends saying they were proud of me, but it's hard to explain the amount of accomplishment that you feel when you complete something that not everyone can do, and it felt good. Got home tonight and my legs are sore, my knees are sore, but I did it and I'm proud of myself. I'm also thankful that I can do it. A lot of people would love to and maybe can't because of other issues, so I'm very thankful that I'm able to. If I can do it, I'm telling you, anyone can.