There really is a Boondocks, USA

Birthday girl Sandy Mensen, 47, of Delhi (with the black gloves) celebrated the day with Team KYBO at the Boondocks, just off Interstate 35.

Team KYBO member Ryan Daniels of Waterloo “fuels up” during Day 3 of RAGBRAI on Tuesday.

Is it ironic that Team KYBO stopped for a bathroom break at the Boondocks gas station and diner just off Interstate 35?

Maybe, maybe not. But team member Ryan Daniels of Waterloo certainly understood the irony of refueling is bicycle at one of the gas pumps, which he did while his teammates snapped photos just before noon. When a reporter took his picture, he quipped, “Wait — my boss doesn’t know I’m here.”

But apparently Daniels, a banker, wasn’t too shy to tell the reporter he was both 28-years-old and single. So there you go, readers: You heard it here first.

First-year KYBO rider Sandy Mensen of Delhi was celebrating her 47th birthday, much to the giddy enjoyment of her teammates, who made a point to announce it whenever they could. They handed out freebie chapsticks with labels that bore Mensen’s photo — promotional swag from the Manchester Regional Medical Center, where she works.

Before Daniels “refueled” his bike, the team refueled themselves with chocolate milk from the convenience store, where one of the clerks, Scotti Peterson, had been helping riders since 7 a.m.

“I never knew anything about chocolate milk. I never knew it was such a replenisher,” she said.

Other popular items included Boondocks T-shirts and free bumper stickers that said “There really is a Boondocks, USA” and, for the more faithful motorists, “Honk if you love Jesus. Text if you want to meet him.”