RAGBRAI bicycling and flying all of next week.

It is time for the www.ragbraicubs.org and yours truly to make our annual trek across Iowa on our bicycles. There are about 10,000 riders taking part in the www.ragbrai.com event sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper. This year my daughter, Erika, is joining our group as a crew member. I am greatly looking forward to RAGBRAI this year!

My powered paragliding equipment will be making the trip with me and will be used as much as possible during the week also.

There was a 'rider profile' in the Des Moines register featuring yours truly. It can be found at http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090713/LIFE/907130301/1039 if you are interested.

My office will be closed for patient treatment but Lori will be in from time to time to check for messages and return calls.

Flying last weekend

The weather was great for flying last weekend. The only problem was that one of my best friends in paragliding couldn't make it. He was sorely missed.

It was at the Kankakee Regional Airport for an ultralight flying event. Photos that I took during this event can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/davidmcw3/PPG090711KIKKFlyIn?authkey=Gv1sRgCLfXjoeJ6Yz7BQ# at your leisure.

There were people from Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and of course our local Illinois group. There weren't any significant incidents. There were 2 engine failures that I found out about though. John Stovall from Indiana had a throttle bracket break that caused him to land in a bean field just across the road from the airport. Cindy Adkinson had a major engine failure about 5 miles from the field and had to be retrieved.

It was a great weekend!