RAGBRAI daily preview, Day 5: Des Moines to Tama-Toledo
There's no getting around it: This could well be the most challenging day of RAGBRAI's 50th anniversary ride, with the longest mileage and the most elevation gain combined with excessive heat.
Thursday's route
Des Moines to Tama-Toledo, a journey from Iowa's biggest city to the smallest overnight host on the route.
What to know
The ride will retrace its route out of Des Moines, but continue east past the Iowa Capitol and take a detour through the Iowa State Fairgrounds, where there will be opportunities for photo stops and, potentially, picking up some fair food. The climbing starts quickly after that, as the ride ascends out of the Des Moines River valley.
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Beyond the Des Moines suburbs, it will pass through a pair of towns with interesting histories. Newton was the birthplace and for many years the home of the Maytag appliance brand. The factory and headquarters shut down after Whirlpool acquired Maytag in 2006, and the buildings are finding new uses, including as a satellite campus for Des Moines Area Community College and the home of Gezellig Brewery. The Maytag family also was behind the creation of America's first successful blue cheese. Maytag blue is still made at Maytag Dairy Farms on Newton's north side and sold at Nostalgia Wine & Spirits in the Maytag Hotel in downtown Newton.
Grinnell is another interesting stop, the unlikely home of a famous liberal arts college by the same name with a vast endowment and alumni including actor Gary Cooper and musician Herbie Hancock.
Even combined, the twin overnight towns, Tama and Toledo, are the smallest overnight towns on the ride. But they have big ambitions as hosts, taking a cue from the night's entertainment headliner, classic rock act Foghat, to put on a '70s-themed party.
Weather: Not much fun here. The high is expected to be close to 100 degrees with a heat index as high as 103, and a south wind won't help as the riders chart a northeasterly course.
Entertainment: As mentioned, Foghat, best known for the hits "Slow Ride" and "I just Want to Make Love to You," is the headliner. Also among acts scheduled for the RAGBRAI Music Festival: Let's Groove Tonight, which bills itself as the nation's No. 1 Earth Wind & Fire tribute band.
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Looking forward to: Tama-Toledo's outsized enthusiasm.
Not so great: Heat and hills.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: RAGBRAI Day 5 route from Des Moines to Tama-Toledo will be challenging
