No sooner did I think up and down than the road did just that. Days 4 and 5 are days spent working up more steep short hills and rolling down the other side. Certainly more work than Day 3 but not as much climbing nor as many miles per day as Day 2. The mass of riders seems to have thinned a tiny bit and the riders that are still on the road - maybe 20,000 instead of 25,000 - seem ready to spend a lot more time exploring the sites along the roads.
Day 4 began with a beautiful ride through Des Moines and Joanne asking me to have Siri google the population of the city. (203,000 at the last census.) Then out into the suburbs up and down through pretty neighborhoods and off into the country. When our team was discussing the ride on Day 4 tonight (Day 6) none of us really have any specific recollections. Just riding over hilly and beautiful countryside.
What I do remember about Day 4 was watching all the people riding this event. There are people here with ever imaginable level of ability and with any number of disabilities. The courage exhibited by some of the riders who are facing visible challenges such as amputation or partial paralysis but still riding is inspiring. The person that struck me the most was a fellow riding with his wife. She was on a recumbent type seat in front of her husband who was sitting on traditional biking seat on this custom tandem. She was small, frail and apparently a person suffering with MS, but they were still riding together up and down over 50 miles of hills. I think that at the end of the day, every person on RAGBRAI will have times that they felt like a champ, that they will have passed someone else and felt strong and every single person will be passed and see someone demonstrating skill, ability, courage, kindness or some other trait to be admired and will be inspired.
Day 4 ended at the Knoxville Catholic Church, camping at the parish priest's lawn. The Church fed us an amazing super and as suited the location, the evening was quiet. A good night's sleep was had by all - not a common occurrence for our group.
Day 5 began with the authentic Dutch town of Pella - also the home of Pella windows and doors. Pella was only a few miles from the prior night's campsite, but the town was one of the most compelling stops on the ride. Central Iowa College had open its doors to guests. people in Dutch costumes roamed the streets 
and the town's authentic windmill loomed above the streets. 
Everyone seemed to stop in Pella to enjoy the canal, 
the Dutch treats or a view from above of the community. We watched the wooden shoe races and the cheese races. 
This one stop alone was longer than all the stops put together most days. Of course, this is RAGBRAI, so the treat in Pella did come at a price as the temperatures continued to rise while we played in town.
We got back on the road with more than 40 miles still to cover! The only thing to do at that point was to go with the flow. We stopped when the need for water, corn fields or shade demanded. We stopped for pie!!! We stopped for cute furry critters. The result was a leisurely ride and some special experiences. Sadly, I do not have a photo of one of my favorite moments from Day 5 - the puppy named Rascal.
Someplace around noon, I was getting too hot. There was not much out on this section of road but on the left hand side there was a family sitting in their yard selling water by the bottle and offering a silly wiggly kids water play sprinkler for anyone who wanted to cool off. I stopped, walked through the sprinkler a few times - while the family took photos and laughed as the ice cold water hit my back. I bought a bottle of water from a little girl who brought her young dog over to say hello. I petted the little cattle dog - I need a dog fix too! The girl's brother, seeing me pet the girl's dog became very concerned and asked if I would pet his puppy as well. Of course, I said yes. The boy ran off into the house and came out with a 3 month old looking cattle dog puppy and handed the puppy to me. After a few minutes of having my face washed by the puppy (I felt so grimy and dirty I was worried my face might not be safe for the puppy to lick.) and lots of petting the little puppy, I handed her back to her proud owner who seemed so excited that the biker liked his girl Rascal.
Day 5 also included a stop at a beautiful home that sits on top of a small hill. It was later in the day and again, I was really hot. My music had just started playing some old acid inspired Beatles song when I topped the hill to see a beautiful sheep, freshly shorn and groomed as though for show tethered by a bright orange strap to the ground in a field shaded by enormous trees. Next, I saw a goat and a couple baby goats similarly cleaned and tethered. I saw bunnies in a pen and bikers sitting in ordinary charges on the lawn. I just had to stop and enjoy the menagerie and make sure it was not a hallucination. All animals were again petted.
Day 5 ended in a fairgrounds where we were treated to lots of music and a late night deluge of rain. The volunteers had warned us a heavy rain storm was heading for us but there were no tornado warnings. I slept pretty well until the rain woke me up. Listening to the rain hitting the tent was pretty wonderful, even though the inside of the tent felt like a steam room. The rains of Night 5 continued through until around 5 am on day Day 6 - but Day six had a few real treats in store for us.
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